Cynicism is the tool of evil. It is the pathway to apathy and depoliticization. There is nothing that autocrats and would-be tyrants want more than for people to through up their hands and say: “Democracy? Dictatorship? What difference does it make?” In fact, this is the goal of the political propaganda of tyrants. It’s why regimes like Putin’s sells cynicism — “we’re not worse than America. Look at what they’ve done.” Too many people in these conversations are playing along.