Quote:
Originally Posted by jmakin
He's saying you can't win an argument with a trumper using facts because those don't really matter to them. I think that's a trap a lot of people fall into.
Not that you shouldn't use facts, just that that shouldn't be your sole tactic. It's very true, speaking from personal experience.
The problem comes though when you try to form an argument from pathos against people who already have very little empathy. That doesn't work very well either. You can try speaking to their own interests, but a lot of their interests are pretty horrible. So in my mind there's really no winning and why I am going the troll route.
So obviously there's a non-zero chance of winning, which is best with SOME sort of approach. What is it?
I'm guessing the best, which most of us may not be willing to use, is... "Yeah, eff that Hillary ****, she's a murderous, lying, anti-American corporate shill... Just like Obummer. They're taking our jobs, and they're screwing over all of the regular guys. But, Trump makes me uncomfortable too... He's just a rich guy, and he's said some crazy **** when it comes to race and stuff like that. I mean, can't someone sane just run who's not saying racial stuff?"
So, perhaps some sort of conciliatory tone in which we concede a lot of points, and only argue against Trump's racially charged rhetoric?
"Look, politicians on both sides have been screwing over the average guy for years and it's GOTTA stop. They're stealing our country, I agree... But we've gotta find a sane candidate, not someone involving all this race stuff... Because that's not what we're really about, right? We're about jobs for good Americans of all races, genders, beliefs, etc."
I agree that hitting them on facts doesn't matter, pathos won't work because they don't have enough empathy for others, so maybe it's picking the self-interest that they can share with others. Eventually, after getting some agreement on the jobs for good Americans part at the end, you would delve into how they have a lot more in common with the working class minorities than they realize, and both groups have been getting screwed over by "the man," for years.
It's not the best factual argument, but it mixes some of it in and it may be the most effective for these people.