It’s hard to argue with willful ignorance. And I no longer try. I have come to the conclusion that leftists are intellectually impenetrable.
Robert J. Avrech
January 4, 2017
Deranged Lefties
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
The View From North Central Idaho
Ramblings on explosives, guns, politics, and sex by a redneck Idaho farm boy who became a software engineer living near Seattle.
I have used the following gedankenexperiment (mental exercise) with anti-gun proponents, with some very minor success.
I tell them to imagine that I am going to kick them in the balls for no reason at all, as hard as I can, unless they do something specifically meant to stop me, like block my kick with their knee. Then I tell them to imagine that I am kicking them in the balls as I described. Then I ask them if they imagined pulling their knee up to block my kick into their balls. Uniformly, they say they did imagine doing so.
Then I ask them to imagine I am going to rob them, rape them, and kill them for no reason at all, as hard as I can, unless they do something specifically meant to stop me, like pulling a knife or gun to prevent my attack, or fighting back as hard as they can to incapacitate me. Then I tell them to imagine I am robbing, raping and killing them as I described. Then I ask them if they imagined defending themselves. They usually waver, deflecting their answer into an attempt at discussing crime rates or some other drivel.
Then I imagine kicking them in the balls as hard as I can. While I imagine them writhe on the ground, I imagine telling them that self defense is an inherent, inalienable, individual right. I tell them what I imagined, and ask their opinion. Uniformly, they say it is wrong of me to even think of doing that to them, rather than assessing what they could do to stop such a lesson to their crotch.
One day I will have to overcome my natural kindness to others and instead of imagining the kick, actually try it, and see if it makes any difference to the recipient’s opinions.
Perhaps an easier and more effective example would be: “What can you do to keep a random stranger from picking up your child or pet and just walking off?” You’d be surprised how fast the warhammers will come out.
Good one. Even people who think (before the event) that it’s better to be raped than to resist are likely to rethink their answers when the subject is their child rather than themselves.
They feel required by PC mentality to say violence is bad and firearms are horrible.
Except in their defense by agents of the state. So they are hypocrites.
You just have to understand Left-Speak. When they say “violence never solves anything” they mean “shut up, sit down, and take it…or else!”
I think they associate violence with “those people,” preferring instead to perpetuate their disputes through pointed comments and passive aggressive behavior.
They are intellectually impenetrable. That’s another way of saying that you can’t reason someone out of a position he never reasoned himself into in the first place.
They run on emotion. Our culture has promoted the lie that says emotion is what defines your humanity. This is what we get as a result. So when you attempt to use reason on them, they feel attacked, and react only with emotion. It won’t work.