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1: I feel like we need to change the way we talk to each other, ASAP. Over the last week, I have seen thousands of posts ridiculing folks with different (or bad) politics. This is revolutionary sabotage.
2: Say you post a very funny meme that calls [folks with bad views] stupid irrational babies. Okay cool. Maybe it’s even true! But now [folks with bad views] literally cannot change their mind without undermining their own rationality. You made yourself impossible to agree with.
3: If you actually care making CHANGE in the world, you have to care about not alienating people who disagree with you from your politics. Otherwise you are not a revolutionary, you’re a good-intentioned bully.
3: There are more people in support of the status quo than there are people fighting to change it, more liberals than leftists, more apathy than care.
This is painful. Sometimes it feels better for me to imagine those people are just stupid. But if we don’t stop, we will lose.
This is painful. Sometimes it feels better for me to imagine those people are just stupid. But if we don’t stop, we will lose.
5: It should go without saying that people who commit atrocities need to be accountable. But most people who disagree with you have never committed an atrocity.
We need to make our side as appealing to those people as possible without sacrificing content. or else we will lose.
We need to make our side as appealing to those people as possible without sacrificing content. or else we will lose.
6: Stop sneaking secret conditions like “if you think x you are brain dead” into your arguments. Folks can admit to making mistakes, they can’t admit to BEING mistakes without sacrificing dignity.
No one should have to sacrifice their dignity to change their mind.
No one should have to sacrifice their dignity to change their mind.
7: If I say “the reason you don’t agree with me is because you’re an asshole!” you’re not just going to turn around and say “you’re right!” because admitting I’m right would be admitting (1) that your an asshole and (2) that your assholery defines your beliefs.
That’s no good.
That’s no good.
8: I’m afraid that if we don’t overhaul the ways we talk to people who don’t agree with us, we aren’t going to succeed at changing the world.
9: It is already hard enough to admit you were wrong. Surely, we should talk to people in a way that incentivizes them to agree, not in a way that incentivizes them to save face no matter the cost.
