6 Lessons On How To Argue With A Leftist

Lesson #1: A Leftist has a very child-like understanding of political issues and this must be taken into account when debating with them.

A Leftist will make their mind on a political issue based on which perspective will make them feel good about themselves and support their self-identification as a 'good person'. This binary approach is a very simplistic way to approach complex issues. A Rightist would never think so simplistically because a Rightist knows that things are always more complicated than a Leftist would make out. However, for a Leftist, everything is either black or white and people are either good or Nazis. The Leftist's binary consideration of an issue is very child-like so we must come down to their level when debating them. I will re-visit the childlike nativity of Leftists in other Lessons, below.

Lesson #2: don't employ facts against a Leftist as they don't cut through the Leftist's emotional motivations.

I've had hundreds of on-line 'debates' with Leftists over the years. As you will know, it is very hard to debate a Leftist because they debate in a very different way from Rightists.

We think that someone will change their minds when presented with facts and logic that counter their argument, but while this approach will work against a Rightist, it won't work against a Leftist because Leftists do not use facts to build their political philosophy in the first place. A Leftist's philosophy is entirely built on emotion and so facts have no power over them.

This was brought home to me a couple of years ago when I was having a face-to-face debate with a Leftist in a pub - probably not a good idea - and I stated something the Leftist shrugged off. To this, I pointed out that what I had just said was not just an opinion, it was a fact. To which the Leftist, in an unguarded - drunk! - moment responded 'I don't give a f*** about facts'.

It's easy to think pub-talk cannot be taken seriously but his words were an eye-opening moment for me. Sometimes, rarely, a Leftist will tell the truth!

Leftists will always dismiss facts as being manipulated or biased or funded by bad actors. Or the facts are out of context. Or that other influencing factors have not been taken into account. A Leftist will always find a way to dismiss facts therefore leaving facts with no power. As such, there is no point using facts against a Leftist.

Lesson #3: find a way to present your position as a moral argument.

As a result of seeing themselves as good people, Leftists see themselves as moral people. Whilst they see everyone else as motivated by greed or hate, only they are motivated by doing 'what is right'. This comes back to the child-like simplicity I described in Lesson #1. As a result, in any debate, the Leftist will immediately take up the moral high-ground. This is what makes Leftists virtually undefeatable in a debate. It's hard to win the argument by pointing out cost/benefit ratios - or facts or whatever other logic the Rightist is using to make his case - when the Leftist is appealing to the 'morally right thing to do'.

In order to gain parity, the Rightist also needs to present his case in moral terms. Proposing a moral alternative is the only way to introduce uncertainty on the side of the Leftist. If you're not coming at this from a moral perspective, the Leftist will dismiss you out of hand as a bad person. However, if can can convince them that your approach to political philosophy is the same as theirs, they lose their power. They don't know how to respond. Their usual weapons of ad hominens cannot be used against someone who is making a moral argument. This doesn't mean that they will agree with you. No, their emotional position is deeply embedded but they will find it hard to argue with you.

Lesson #4: Position your argument as being the anti-Establishment position.

Leftists see themselves as anti-Establishment. It is bizarre that Leftists still think they are sticking it to 'the man' when they have adopted the Establishment position on every single issue of the day. Rightists are now the real anti- Establishmentists and this can be used to our advantage. Positioning your argument as an anti-Establishment position renders Leftists useless because they will find it hard to argue with you without being seen as pro-Establishment (which they definitely will not want to be seen doing).

Lesson #5: Use 'Appeal to Minority' to bolster your argument.

You have probably heard of the Logical Fallacy known as 'Appeal to Authority' whereby someone asserts that a claim is true simply because an authority figure or expert said it is true, without providing additional evidence or reasoning. Well, I have come up with a twist on this that is Kryptonite to Leftists. My version is the 'Appeal to Minority' whereby I direct the Leftist to a minority person that agrees with my position on the subject. As we know, Leftists find it very difficult to criticise minorities - only bigots do that. This means your argument is strengthened by the addition of the minority comment whilst you can enjoy watching the Leftist navigate the minefield you have just dropped in front of them.

NOTE: The minority person used cannot be anyone that breaches Lesson #6, below. Calvin Robinson, for example.

Lesson #6: Do not reference terms / people that are triggering to Leftists.

Even if you have followed the other 5 lessons you can still lose the debate if you use a 'dog whistle' term that Leftists associate with the 'Far Right'. Examples of such references include Tommy Robinson; cultural differences where the difference is negative for a non-white culture; Trump (obviously); any Right wing media outlet; any Right wing politician; any Right wing journalist. I was even recently witness to a Leftist clutching her pearls because somone in the debate had referenced 'Elon Musk'. This comes back to Lesson #1: Leftists are child-like so if they have an opportunity to claim a moral victory they will take it and flounce off, especially if they sense they are losing the debate. Do not give them that opportunity.

Some will say that following these 6 lessons means playing by 'their' rules. That it is an example of ceding ground to Leftists in the culture wars. I agree, it is, but you must remember Lesson #1: Leftists are child-like. They are not capable of sophisticated arguments. You wouldn't debate a child in the same way as an adult. You would try to come down to their level in order for them to understand your point. It's the same for Leftists.

You will never change a Leftist's mind, of course, but you can mute them to a large extent and you will gain moral victories

Although I drew these lessons only recently,  I've already had much more success than previously. Just this week I had 4 Leftists  going at me on the subject of cultural differences at play in Northern UK towns and none of them were able to get a bite out of me. (My moral argument was for the victims and, of course, I adopted a strong anti-establishment position). One by one, they all gave up. They knew they had lost. They kept impuning my motives but I stayed tight, keeping to these 6 lessons.

I hope these Lessons can be of use to others.