Young liberal needs assitance

[Syn_Dem]

Alright, so Im going to be a sophomore next year and Im taking 20th Century World History which Im pretty excited for. We're going to be studying Fascism, Socialism etc. The thing is...I go to a school full of right-wing kids and usually Im the lone liberal in the class defending my position. And most of the time with the shit that comes out of them I get....lets say very passionate and I lose my train of thought and I just end up making a fool of myself and my ideas. Any ideas for keeping my cool?

[searchingforlight]

1. Don't say anything for the first several discussions.

Get to know your opponent, how they think, whether they have a few key phrases or whether they are really studied. Ask for sources. The ones who don't have them or who repeat the same stock phrases are the ones who are mouthing what they learned at home or heard on FAUX etc.

Eventually you will come up with some shutdown phrases for the non-thinkers and you will know where the one or two thinkers are focusing their study. That will give you an advantage in that you can beat them with their own material and you will not have played your hand too early.

[newyawker99]

11. Congrats brigadoon!! 400 posts

:toast:

[Stephanie]

2. Join the debate team

Seriously. You'll learn the techniques of debate and you'll be able to kick RW butt.

[TheReligiousLeft]

7. Agreed! It does wonders

Debate is what it is all about for the high school years. You will enter debate as a boy and leave as a man (or enter as a girl, leave as a women). It changes you, makes you think, argue, makes you stronger, faster, better.

[devin79]

3. Just be true to your convictions.

Well, I am 24 and I am majoring in Political Science, also as a Sophmore. Having served in the Marines, I can tell you that being confident in your convictions, is the most important thing. For instance, take that moron Ann Coulter. She only does well in an argument when she is going up against someone who tolerated her bullshit, like Bill Maher or that punk Chris Matthews. But when she goes up against Alec Baldwin or Christopher Hittchens, she gets her bony ass kicked. So what you need to do is just realize that you are right and the morons, you are arguing with are wrong, they are just to ignorant or stupid to realize it.

[vixengrl]

4. Just keep in mind where the other guys are coming from.

I recall taking Political Science 101 at the small Catholic college in NE Philadelphia where I was the sole liberal. I realized that these were all local (neighborhood) young folks, Catholic-raised, parochial-school folks with little experience beyond the (mis)conceptions they were raised with. They were just plain out of touch--some of them never knew any black or gay or real working poor people, and they just plain didn't have any experiences to back up their prejudices. (This was 1991-92, to give you an idea where we were in time). They knew nothing but Reaganomics and Bushism and thought Bill Clinton was *so* liberal. So I realized that *defending* my position wasn't the point--they never *heard* my position before. The trick was to ask them where they got *their* position from. Sometimes young conservatives are just repeating what mom or dad or their pastor or the preist or Rush told them...and they really don't have much of a basis in experience for their viewpoints. It's sometimes putting them on the defensive that gets them (usually pretty shocked) to see another point of view.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi vixengrl!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[fishnfla]

5. Use you ears and your mind more than your mouth

Listen to what they are saying, think about what they are saying. Ask questions, make them clarify what they are saying. Attack their arguments on a point by point basis. Frame the argument around claims they have made, terms and phrases they have used. Remember positions they have taken for future arguments, point out hypocrisy. If you give someone enough rope they will often hang themselves.

For your own points be consistant. Avoid personal attacks. Fight the battles you can win, not every battle. Do your research. When you make an argument, try to anticipate what the response will be ( the counterpoint) so you have a response ready.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Step outside of yourself

observe your speech, your interactions, and your feelings as you argue your points. You can't suppress your feelings, but you don't need to act on them either.

From the outside, you don't merely feel that you are right, you know you are. That's where you have the advantage. Don't relate to them as "the enemy", but see them for the misguided people that they've become by accepting lies as absolute truth.

It's going to be tough on them; because they don't want to question their faith in the things they've believed in for so long. Exhibit compassion for them; because arrogance rarely spawns converts. The idea isn't to show them that they're wrong; but to show them that you're right.

When they produce irrational or unsubstantiated material to argue their points, call them on it. And study your ass off...be sure of your facts. Know what you're talking about.

Go baby, go! :bounce:

[OneBlueSky]

8. kill em with facts . . .

pick up a copy of Joe Conason's new book as a resource ("Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth") . . . you'll find things like this:

"Liberals value the dynamism and creativity of democratic capitalism, but they also believe in strong, active government to protect the interests of society. They understand that markets function best when properly regulated, and they also know that unchecked concentrations of private power encourage environmental pollution, financial fraud, and labor exploitation. Liberals see a broad social interest in ensuring real opportunities and decent standards of living for everyone, while requiring basic responsibility from everyone.

"Those who regard such ideals as naive today should remember that America in the 20th century was built on liberal policy, from the Progressive Era through the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the GI Bill, and the Great Society. The modern economy -- a private enterprise system that relies on government safeguards against depression and extreme poverty -- is the legacy of liberal leadership, from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson. (And more recently Bill Clinton, who erased Republican deficits that were sending the economy into a spiral of recession and began to pay down the national debt.) Liberal policies made America the freest, wealthiest, most successful and most powerful nation in human history. Conservatism in power always threatens to undo that national progress, and is almost always frustrated by the innate decency and democratic instincts of the American people.

"If Americans have a common fault, however, it's our tendency to suffer from historical amnesia. Too many of us have forgotten, or never learned, what kind of country America was under the conservative rule that preceded the century of liberal reform. And too many of us have no idea whose ideas and energy brought about the reforms we now take for granted.

"If your workplace is safe; if your children go to school rather than being forced into labor; if you are paid a living wage, including overtime; if you enjoy a 40-hour week and you are allowed to join a union to protect your rights -- you can thank liberals. If your food is not poisoned and your water is drinkable -- you can thank liberals. If your parents are eligible for Medicare and Social Security, so they can grow old in dignity without bankrupting your family -- you can thank liberals. If our rivers are getting cleaner and our air isn't black with pollution; if our wilderness is protected and our countryside is still green -- you can thank liberals. If people of all races can share the same public facilities; if everyone has the right to vote; if couples fall in love and marry regardless of race; if we have finally begun to transcend a segregated society -- you can thank liberals. Progressive innovations like those and so many others were achieved by long, difficult struggles against entrenched power. What defined conservatism, and conservatives, was their opposition to every one of those advances. The country we know and love today was built by those victories for liberalism -- with the support of the American people."

[0rganism]

9. You aren't arguing with students, you're arguing with their parents

Chances are, most of those kids don't have a clue what they're talking about, but say it because their parents say it, and their parents say it because Rush Limbaugh or one of his many immitators says it. So stop arguing with the kids, they're probably on your side and they don't even know it.

Instead, bookmark these two websites:
Liberalism Resurgent
Logical Fallacies

Don't memorize the ideas presented there, merely make sure you understand them. And use that understanding to steer any rogue debates towards civil, rational, clear discussions. Remember that Liberals have principles too, and don't let any Coulter wannabe tell you otherwise.

[sujan]

10. which school do you go to?

"And most of the time with the shit that comes out of them I get....lets say very passionate and I lose my train of thought and I just end up making a fool of myself and my ideas. Any ideas for keeping my cool?"

-Best way is to research and inform yourself on the topic.

[Syn_Dem]

15. I go to Whitefield in St. Louis

Small private school with 450 kids....tuition is 16,000 a year :crazy:. Not my choice to go there, I'd be just as happy with going to public school, which my district is 2nd best in the state. Ive seen Hummers being driven by TWO of the students here...:grr:

[Breezy du Nord]

13. Try to listen more then talk

Speak softly, carry a big stick, let that be your motto.

If you start jabbing non-stop, you'll probably end up making a fool of yourself.

I can relate, I live in Freeperville, population, me.

[Aristus]

14. Learn to look at events of the Twentieth Century, not just in terms of

ideology, but the practical merits behind the ideology. For example: The Marshall Plan. On the surface, it was a post-war plan to rebuild Europe after a devastating war. It could be argued that only the U.S., which came out of the war wealthier than it went into it, could do such a thing.

The actual practical fact of the matter is that it was one of the greatest and most effective acts of liberalism in history. And it had a very practical and serious purpose: Preventing the spread of Communism to Western Europe. The Europeans after WWII were cold, hungry, demoralized, jobless in many cases, and with little prospect of restarting their farms, small businesses, and national economies. This would have been fertile ground for the spread of Communism. "Hungry?" the commissars might ask them. We'll feed you. "Homeless? We'll put a roof over your head. Just swear loyalty to Comrade Stalin." You can see where this is going.

Well, the U.S., under the direction of the brilliant George C. Marshall committed billions of dollars to the restoration of Europe and its varied economies. Homes, factories, businesses, railways, roads, telephone systems, farms, you name it. Just another big government liberal giveaway. But it worked. The people of Western Europe, given a chance to see American style capitalism and democracy in action before the Stalinists could get to them, became models of free government and social progress that stand to this day.

Liberalism, not 'shoot from the hip' right wing aggression, prevented a Communist takeover of Western Europe.

Learn to look at events in that way, study, do your homework, and never let your opponent think he's right about the right-wing way of life. Hope that helps. Good luck!

[Fixated]

16. ....

Read the 20th century version of Zinn's People's History of the United States. Seriously, it'll serve you well.

[Syn_Dem]

17. Ive already read 3 chapters of that

very good book, tells a lot of what happened that would take away from "America's greatness" that most history books skip