I'm confused about how this comment applies. In this controversy, who is it that is failing to understand something, for salary-dependent reasons?

It is even harder when there is an ideological block. In the first case, you get stonewalled, and ultimately ignored. In the case of ideology, you get shouted down, mobbed, and subject to various preemptive attacks intended to discredit and demoralize you before you even get to make your case.