With many regions in the United States still struggling to control this plague, attention has not surprisingly focused on the minority of Americans who have, for various reasons, refused to get vaccinated. A dark and sardonic corner of the internet, the r/HermanCainAward subreddit captures the rage and outrage of presumably vaccinated, mask-wearing individuals, many of whom have either been infected with Covid-19 in the past or have watched friends and family become ill — and even die.

This push to revel in schadenfreude, and to assign collective blame, is understandable and more than a little expected, especially on the internet. But this so-called award also captures the collective loss of empathy that colors so many of our political and personal conversations right now. Like soldiers who have been trained to see their enemies as less than human, we have forgotten that those who disagree with us are, despite everything, still people…

Ultimately, the Herman Cain Award fulfills a primal wish to say, “I told you so.” And it is a foreseeable internet response to feeling powerless in the face of a dangerous, vocal minority. But dehumanizing one another will not heal the split between anti-vaxxers and mask-wearers, or between the political right and left. Many of the stories on Reddit describe the sadness, confusion and pain of individuals who realized they were dying. Turning them into demons who “got what they deserved” could reinforce the hatred that is already dividing families, communities and really our entire country. And that divide could ultimately turn us all into soldiers, fighting a war that we will all lose.