I got a good one yesterday talking to a lib when I described herding in the context of polling (when pollsters drop outliers to conform to what other polls say). Yes he trusts polls in 2022. They're "reputable companies." He really, really wants to believe the Dems will win the midterms.

Anyway I wanna hear your best ones!

    • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I got so mad arguing with libs at reddit - I made the following comment for them. I slightly edit it when I re-share it. But only tiny changes are needed. To save space - I'll use the spoiler tag in this comment...


      The US is a beacon of democracy? Really? Do you have receipts for that? I have receipts that it's not and you don't need to read a book to see it. You can learn that in less than a minute. Sorry, I can't prove it in seconds. The US and the CIA has done too much vile and evil shit to make that possible.

      United States involvement in regime change

      1941–1945: World War II and the aftermath

      I know, I know. "The page is too long." I'm ready for that. Please just scan the table of contents from WW II to now. At least scan it for ~20 seconds to see how bad the US (and the CIA in particular is). I'll make it easy as pie...

      List
      • 1941–1945: World War II and the aftermath

      • 4.1 1940s

      • 1941–1952: Japan

      • 1941–1949: Germany

      • 1941–1946: Italy

      • 1944–1946: France

      • 1944–1945: Belgium

      • 1944–1945: Netherlands

      • 1944–1945: Philippines

      • 1945–1955: Austria

      • 1945–1991: The Cold War

      • 1940s

      • 1945–1948: South Korea

      • 1945–1949: China

      • 1947–1949: Greece

      • 1948: Costa Rica

      • 1949–1953: Albania

      • 1949: Syria

      • 1950s

      • 1950–1953: Burma and China

      • 1952: Egypt

      • 1952: Guatemala

      • 1952–1953: Iran

      • 1954: Guatemala

      • 1956–1957: Syria

      • 1957–1959: Indonesia

      • 1959–1963: South Vietnam

      • 1959–1962: Cuba

      • 1960s

      • 1960–1965: Congo-Leopoldville

      • 1960: Laos

      • 1961: Dominican Republic

      • 1961–1964: Brazil

      • 1963: Iraq

      • 1965–1967: Indonesia

      • 1970s

      • 1970: Cambodia

      • 1970–1973: Chile

      • 1971: Bolivia

      • 1974–1991: Ethiopia

      • 1975–1991: Angola

      • 1975–1999: East Timor

      • 1976: Argentina

      • 1979–1992: Afghanistan

      • 1980s

      • 1980–1989: Poland

      • 1981–1982: Chad

      • 1981–1990: Nicaragua

      • 1983: Grenada

      • 1989–1994: Panama

      • 1989: Paraguay

      • 1991–present: Post-Cold War

      • 1990s

      • 1991: Iraq

      • 1991: Haiti

      • 1992–1996: Iraq

      • 1994–1995: Haiti

      • 1996–1997: Zaire

      • 2000s

      • 2000: FR Yugoslavia

      • 2001–2021: Afghanistan

      • 2003–2021: Iraq

      • 2005: Kyrgyzstan

      • 2006–2007: Palestinian Territories

      • 2005–2009: Syria

      • 2010s

      • 2011: Libya

      • 2012–2017: Syria

      • ElGosso [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Someone on /r/Chomsky got mad at me because I asked if they were joking when they demanded an example of a single successful regime changed by America :data-laughing:

      • jkfjfhkdfgdfb [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        how did that get past the wikipedia liberals anyway

        or is this the edited down version already?

        • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
          ·
          2 years ago

          is this the edited down version already?

          I'm not sure what you mean. I never checked the talk page but I assume there were edit wars. I'm really shocked the table of contents didn't look like the following with no sub-categories at all and it still doesn't...

          • 1941–1945: World War II and the aftermath

          I suspect that a few people (or maybe just one person) has been fighting the MIC because they certainly don't want an easy to grasp, damning list.

    • Orannis62 [ze/hir]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Their response when I point out that the CIA has literally admitted to this shit is always "oh now you believe the CIA?"

      • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Man kills 672 people without directly admitting to it or being caught MOST of the time

        A: I don't trust him

        B: Why not? He says he's doing good things to help the community

        Same man confesses to 45 killings

        A: I knew it

        B: So you trust his word now??

      • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I got that with the report about soviet nutrition being better than American's.

        Like UHH what? How would that benefit them by lying about it? To make the soviets look good?

      • Glass [he/him,they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        This is the time to do a complete 180 character switch and go "well why shouldn't i believe the CIA? Are they untrustworthy or something?" And just keep calling them a conspiracy theorist if they express anything but 100% support and credibility for our brave wholesome James Bonderionos.

        Why yes I am a lazy fuck who likes to needle other people into making my points for me

    • Beaver [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Me casually mentioning the CIA invading Cuba. I admit that I probably sounded like a Qhead when I was ranting about how "they literally did the bay of pigs invasion". I definitely got some eye roll reactions at that, like that's the craziest shit they've heard in awhile.

  • newmou [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    That the CIA has done literally anything they have openly admitted to doing

  • prolepylene [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Most Reasonable: That the media was overstating the violence in the streets during the George Floyd protests

    Honorable Mention: Reminding liberals that the cold war is over, that the US won, and that Bill Clinton personally gave Putin the thumbs up as Yeltsin's successor.

  • CoolerOpposide [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    That the wealthy exert ANY influence over our politics.

    I didn’t say “control”

    I didn’t say “run”

    I didn’t say “are”

    I said they have influence, period. Got called a conspiracy theorist so I said “you really think you have the same say in policy as Jeff Bezos?” And then the person replied with something like “well obviously no but that’s not what influence means.” I’m sorry, but what in the fuck DOES influence mean then?

    • GenderIsOpSec [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      :blob-no-thoughts: Well in Kotor 2, influence gains with your companions just meant approval points, and because policy makers don't actually like rich people, thus OBVIOUSLY they have no influence on policy :blob-no-thoughts:

      this could be plausible actually, there's a depressing amount of people who learned of concepts and history through vidya :sadness:

    • duderium [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I’ve found that bringing up Iraq’s WMDs and actually researching the supposed genocide on a computer with libs (letting them google whatever they want) really helps with this. Of course the problem is that they go back to believing in the genocide more or less the instant you stop talking with them, because otherwise that would mean that their lives have been a lie.

  • a_fanonist_hexagon [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    When Warren first entered the race I predicted over dinner with PMC friends that she would just draw votes away from Bernie then drop out

  • UlyssesT
    ·
    edit-2
    15 days ago

    deleted by creator

    • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The way I like to explain it to people is: media isn't very good at influencing your behavior...but it is good at influencing your thinking.

      Someone who plays a ton of call of duty or a bunch of shooters probably isn't more likely than anyone else to become a mass shooter. They probably have some eyebrow raising ideas about the military and violence though.

      • UlyssesT
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        deleted by creator

    • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      "BuT vIdeO gAmEs DoN't CaUsE vIoLeNcE"

      First of all, yes they absolutely do. You never started a fight with someone irl because they pulled your controller right when you were about to beat them in Mario Kart or because they fed mid one too many times? People punching holes into walls because they suck too hard at CS:GO or OW is not people being violent somehow.

      Second of all, the claim is actually pretty narrow ie "playing Mortal Kombat won't make you want to perform real-life fatalities on random people." It doesn't mean you'll not be desensitized to violence and gore, which has unforeseen circumstances. Mortal Kombat animators get PTSD for having to animate all the blood and gore, but somehow gamers are completely immune to all this.

      People seek entertainment after a long day or long week of work, where they are at their most relaxed and thus most mentally vulnerable. Of course, it would have a tremendous effect on people. If entertainment was truly that unimpactful, the US military wouldn't constantly vet out films.

      • UlyssesT
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        deleted by creator

    • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      It's a sticky subject for a lot of people but I agree. Redditors and people like them make references to Harry Potter and Marvel for a reason. It really does shape a lot of people's world views.

        • UlyssesT
          ·
          edit-2
          15 days ago

          deleted by creator

          • Zuzak [fae/faer, she/her]
            hexagon
            ·
            2 years ago

            Remember when a bunch of people on Twitter thanked the main character of that show after Bin Laden was killed? Wild.

      • UlyssesT
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        deleted by creator

    • The_Walkening [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      There's also the absolutely corrosive effect of all stories being about individuals so you get people who are literally

      :so-true: I'm the Main Character

      When real life isn't a narrative.

  • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    That the 2000 election was illegitimate and Dubya stole it and the media machine and everything else went along with it "for the sake of the kids" like an unhappy marriage.

  • WoofWoof91 [comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    that there is no chance of someone who promises to be tough on the rich getting elected into power because the rich own the media

  • GingusBingus [any, any]
    ·
    2 years ago
    1. mentioning the French dude that was behind the narrative that "cgombulism killed 100 billion" and saying that the five other dudes writing their book tried to distance themselves from him because of his dishonesty and

    2. mentioning that the version of the holodomor that was being told in the west was told by a dude that never even set foot in the USSR and that the narrative of how the USSR ran shit is WAY propagandized

    • kfc [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      mentioning that the version of the holodomor that was being told in the west was told by a dude that never even set foot in the USSR

      same dude spent his time praising Nazi Germany and the Japanese occupation of Korea in western media (someone dunk on me if I am misremembering this right fucking now)

  • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Anything that came out of the Snowden leaks or the Panama Papers makes you sound like a raving lunatic, no matter how well documented and evidenced they are.

    • kfc [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      it's insane that you still can't talk about basically anything Epstein related without sounding like a weirdo even though it was all very big news like what, a year ago?

  • UlyssesT
    ·
    edit-2
    15 days ago

    deleted by creator

  • Ho_Chi_Chungus [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I wasn't labeled a conspiracy theorist, but my dad said "Well you're the only one who knows the true story of anything" when I said that people in the 60s considered MLK to be a "violent protester" and that his story has been extremely whitewashed since his time