I have spoken about the need for a shared and reasonable dialogue, I’ve lauded the rise of nonpartisan, moderate movements, I’ve even admitted the diversity of conservative voice. But at the same time, sometimes rich white racist asshole needs to realize that he’s a rich white racist asshole.
It’s been shown that Republican lawmakers and conservative media outlets are, in fact, the problem.
Why is the point constantly made that Muslims need to apologize, inform on, take responsibility for their dissident zealots, but conservatives don’t need to do the same?
Perhaps we need a concerted movement to shame their dogmatic, to counter their foundless trickle-down economics with trickle-up economics, if only as a pseudo-tongue-in-cheek response. If they promised us trickle down, but only made money move upwards, maybe this reverse psychology is in order. Because look at what actually trickled. Let’s make the shit and piss roll uphill.
If you’re planning some corporate ladder-climbing, don’t screw over your peers. Dig up, stupid! Tattle upwards, sabotage upwards, undermine upwards. Comply maliciously.
We need to use the public for public power, and remind everyone what our American values are. We don’t want anyone to have unfettered control of us. No honest actor on either side wants corporations to own us, many are (sometimes justifiably) paranoid about imbuing too much power on the central authority. And the central authority only opts to use its power to empower the corporatocracy. So fight corporate action and inaction with boycotts and protests. Fight discrimination in the workplace with direct labor action and strikes. Remind everyone that laws like FISA turn put everyday Americans and humans everywhere in the same category as Al-Qaeda.
We must all be zealots in preserving our own individual civil and human rights, and those of every other, and in not placing one above the any other. If we are to accept that corporate entities are afforded similar rights, they should not be granted more rights, and living beings should not be granted fewer. Justice should hold for every party, regardless of income, status, gender, sexuality, race, religion, nationality, political affiliation or creed.
I hasted to add that FOX News has been so reliable precisely because they are so unreasonable. One can be stubbornly unreasonable and also happen to have facts and evidence on their side. If progressives want to “fight dirty”, there’s no reason they can’t appeal to the other side’s constituency in the same authoritarian fashion that FOX does, and still be aligned with evidence-based reality.
And to add that in so using their own tools against them, one need not abandon justice, fairness, sportsmanship or unity; only utilize the rules of the game as set forth by it’s most pernicious players. Do not sow division, merely exist within their framework while re-defining a broader game that implies your own framework. Resist ‘othering’, all the better to point out when they do it. If you understand logical fallacies, you not only see when others are misleading you, can use their intellectual dishonesty to direct people to an honest point.
Many would be quick to point out that if the truth is on your side, one does not need to play such games. That FOX news and conservatives have to use such self-delusion and trickery to arrive at their often ridiculous conclusions. Not so; most of what happens (at least in the audience, perhaps not the media executive level) is subconscious, and all of us only work with the best tools we have. It is always possible to break free from denials and superstition, but many times people are not willing to do so on their own. Their own psychology will not allow it. It demands every stop to be pulled, every play in the book, and every ounce of showmanship to draw them out. Find that toehold. And especially if those devious peddlers of deceit are going to use their own brand of trickery and persuasion, no reason exists not to use what we know works.
And anyway, it is not dishonest to use rhetorical devices to drive a point derived from a factual basis. Just so long as your reality is not based on such fallacies, and they are merely temporary tools used for necessary argumentative interest. Do not use them to self-delude or confirm your biases, but as a gonzo way of breaking the hypnotized from theirs. Others may think that playing on ‘their level’ is icky, or perhaps even weakens the position, as any opponent could point out logical inconsistencies and flaws in rhetorical argument, gish-galloping, or appealing to emotion. However, it never seems to impede the opposition forces one iota.
Powers of culture jamming to unveil the hypocrisy and ludicrosity of the world, jolting people out of their waking comas. Use hyperbole to make your point, by spreading disinformation and planting conspiracy theory to expose just how ridiculous many of our preconceived notions are. Don’t be afraid to “wag the dog” or severely play devil’s advocate in shaking up status quo America; the frogs slowly boiling in water.
Flyering campaigns, street art, street theatre, hacktivism – their medium is inherently political in message. Wear a suit. Take your opponents seriously. Read frenetically. Speak out vociferously. Show people just what the credit card companies do to their privacy and rights. Take these broad issues and relate them personally, hit them at home.
If you must, spread information between Republicans, not between us and them. Have them defensively creating distance between themselves and their most radical components, it will do so in their own minds (“I don’t want to be thought of like them!”). Show them the progressive version of Dinesh D’Souza’s fear-mongering post-apocalyptic conspiracy visions. Give lessons on framing and how to effectively reason and communicate with the other side. Identify umbrella themes not just within the left, but over the entire left-right paradigm.
With the gentle and scientific mind of a critical thinking skeptic, guide people away from their false premises allow them to align themselves with correct conclusions. Be firm, be persistent, but be understanding, never condescending.
Don’t be afraid to write your congressman or woman telling them that on a particular issue, you won’t vote for them. Don’t be afraid to write ten or fifteen such letters, under other names from different addresses or emails. Don’t be afraid to have entire groups do this.
Really show that you are trying to falsify your own beliefs, based as they are on facts and not idealogy (idealogy should spring from an evidence-based approach to understanding the world). Hear out the opinions of others, whether they be close to your own, slightly different, far-left anarchist, far-right Tea Partier, and moderate center-right and center-left.
Always strive to be the more reasonable one when debating, always be outrageous in defending the truth.
The truth is not relative; our understanding of reality only improves over time as we develop the tools and comprehension to do so. Values do differ with era and region, but as with facts, we can do our damnedest to uphold the very best our current moment has to offer. Liberty of thought and speech, the equality of man, the autonomy of self, and for justice to prevail when one entity hurt or takes advantage of another.
Absurdist Noir 