There's some dumb stuff in this piece, but I'm glad SOMEONE in Washington with influence is speaking out against the emerging consensus. Hooray for Succdem Grampa

:bernie:

  • MarxMadness [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    3 years ago

    The main point is that there's a difference between being right and being persuasive. If you're right but not persuasive, nothing changes. Roger Waters can be right on all sorts of issues, but he's not persuading anyone of anything, so what has he really done? The goal isn't to simply be right; the goal is to change how the world works.

    When people are dug in on an idea -- and most people are dug in on China due to the pervasiveness of anticommunist propaganda -- telling them they're wrong on all counts isn't persuasive. Think of a topic where you're really confident that you have the right take. If I tell you that everything you think you know about that topic is wrong, are you going to take that under serious consideration? Or are you going to hear two or three or four points that you strongly disagree with and write the whole thing off? Look at how you responded to my original comment.

    Now think again about that topic where you're really confident you have the right take. If instead I tell you that I agree on X, Y, and Z, but that there's one point I think you have wrong, are you more likely to take that seriously? And if I manage to change your mind on that one point, would you be willing to listen to me about another?