People often say “why bother” when I talk about how I try to talk to people around me to change their minds. It doesn’t work, they tell me. I even tell them, “Well, not online”. But, that isn’t true. So much of where we are can be traced back to organized efforts by Nazis recruiting people on the dark web and Reddit. They changed minds. Where’s our counter movement? I know there's sources to educate ourselves, where's our organized strategy, our manipulative think tank? Point me there, please.
I hear you BUT -- a "manipulative think tank" presupposes selective reasoning in order to elide a dearth of facts for one's own position, and minimizing the opposition's evidence for X, Y, etc.
This is the reason why the GQPers and their neofeudalist donors are attacking progressive taxation, science, equality, robust public education, et al.
We let the facts speak for themselves through good government and respected, ethical media. Sometimes we must fight w/one hand tied.
@InUnfunky Yeah, a lot of us want to take the high road. Unfortunately, it's leading us into a position where their numbers are growing, and we're giving up. I get far too much feedback of "why bother" and see too many posts saying those who want to actively communicate with the other side are annoying. If we keep fighting with one hand tied, we may end up literally fighting in civil war. I think sometimes we need to remember that persuasion techniques aren't always a bad thing.