What topic are you wanting to discuss? Facts don't actually convince the one you argue with outside of rare cases, but are usually useful for onlookers.
this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2026
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askchapo
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What topic are you wanting to discuss?
Any and all common talking points.
Facts don’t actually convince the one you argue with outside of rare cases, but are usually useful for onlookers.
Yep. Especially online, where the people starting arguments are usually not open to other ideas. There are usually far more onlookers, many who can be engaged. But also, prepared answers are good for quick replies that don't take time to write out and check, just for people to not end up reading it
outside of rare cases
Interestingly, I've seen at least three people confess to being former US-Libertarians who read the Manifesto of the Communist Party to better dunk on commies, only to realize Marx was making good points. Like you said, this kind of thing is rare, but if there are low-effort ways to find the curious ones, then might keep it as a tactic.
I'd say the 3 most important things to get across are
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Pro-socialism
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Anti-imperialism
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AES is actually good
All 3 are useful to distill into a common collection of sources and arguments. For example, I explain socialism as a mode of production where public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy, and the working classes are in control of the state. This is simple, verifiable, and doesn't require reading theory to get across. The rest depends on how they respond to that.
general stuff
[This graph about socialist policies comes in handy too]https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/855e848b-3057-4fe0-9964-47cb8a4fb42a.jpeg)
NATO is full of nazis
NATO is built on nazis
Israel killed israelis during october 7th and another one
Harris lost the election because of Gaza
When talking about being propagandised by the CPC I like to talk about how this is just modernised version of the concept of Brainwashing that was cooked up to explain soldiers growing a class conscience.
When talking about fentanyl or US foreign interventions I often refer to this post about the US facilitating the global drug trade
or This thread
About voting for the lesser evil
I like quoting this guy from 1848:
"I hear the old political saw, that "we must take the least of two evils." My friend from Ohio [Mr. Giddings] has already riddled this excuse, so that I might well leave it untouched; but I cannot forbear a brief observation. It is admitted, then, that Cass and Taylor both are evils. For myself, if two evils are presented to me, I will take neither."
Or Hunter S. Thompson
That's the real issue this time," he said. "Beating Nixon. It's hard to even guess how much damage those bastards will do if they get in for another four years."The argument was familiar, I had even made it myself, here and there, but I was beginning to sense something very depressing about it. How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame, but "regrettably necessary" holding actions? And how many more of these stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?
Now with another one of these big bogus showdowns looming down on us, I can already pick up the stench of another bummer. I understand, along with a lot of other people, that the big thing this year is Beating Nixon. But that was also the big thing, as I recall, twelve years ago in 1960 – and as far as I can tell, we've gone from bad to worse to rotten since then, and the outlook is for more of the same.
—Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72
For critiquing the concept of "authoritarianism"
I like to talk about Gene Sharp. Here's three articles shitting on him
Gene sharp I
Gene sharp II
Gene sharp III
I also like to point out that the country that fosters an academic class busy with crying about chinese "authoritarianism" it is clear that these prominent acadmics do not actually care about said concept, since their own country do far worse stuff.
For discussions about Ukraine
- Ukraine did Nordstream 2
- Libfriendly article about ukraine being full of nazis
- Ukraine is full of nazis
Hope you get some more good stuff. I need to update my stores, especially on Ukraine
@Cowbee@hexbear.net Maybe there will be something for you here, though I doubt it since you read everything
Oh, thanks! And no I don't read everything, haha, so there's good stuff here!