Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2018 is off to a flying start for you all.

What’s that I hear you say? It’s been too long since my last post and you’re starting to feel triggered? And you want me make up for it with a multi-part special on debating leftists?

I’m so glad you asked!

Foreword

If you haven’t done so already, do yourself a favour and watch this video that did the rounds the other week.

It shows Doctor Jordan Peterson artfully taking apart leftist interviewer Cathy Newman (who apparently graduated with a ‘first’ in her arts class at Oxford no less) on topics such as the ‘gender pay gap’ and ‘the patriarchy’. It’s a little slow to start, but well worth investing 30 minutes of your time in. Alternatively, you can just read the next 5,000 or so over the next 6 parts and get the general gist of things that way (or do both) – it’s up to you…

(H/T Adam Piggott)

I’m not writing for the purpose of deconstructing why I agree with Doctor Peterson’s arguments. Goodness knows there are hundreds of videos and articles out there already on this (such as this excellent one). Instead, I’m going to highlight some of the useful debating techniques Doctor Peterson has used to deal with this particular leftist – techniques you can try for yourself at home, parties and gatherings, or even at a local university somewhere!

Leftists are lurking everywhere and the potential debating situations you may encounter with them are numerous. In the above video, the debate was organised and both sides knew what was coming. It was also structured at face value as an ‘interview’, so the questioning mainly came from the interviewer (NB: there nothing wrong with this in terms of quantity – of course, the quality of questioning is another story). These situations are pretty rare for most people.

A far more common situation you will face will be at a gathering of friends mixed in with some acquaintances you rarely see or have never met. In this setting, there’s a good chance you will come across a vocal leftist, hell-bent on administering an unwanted dose of political virtue to any innocent victims standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For example, someone might mention how hot (or cold – it really doesn’t matter anymore) the day was and the leftist will say something like ‘I can’t believe there are people who still don’t believe in taking action on climate change’.

Other examples include: ‘I can’t believe Trump was voted in’ or ‘I don’t know anyone in favour of Brexit’ (because democracy is still a bit of a Bermuda Triangle for many leftists).

If you’re really lucky, you’ll get someone busting out the well-worn ‘I can’t believe that there aren’t more women in power/powerful positions’ (NB: the word ‘power’ will invariably be used by these bloodthirsty leftists and totalitarians – it’s a great word to use against them down the track).

The poor people standing around will generally be apathetic to the subject matter being foisted on them. That’s because they’re simply there to have a good time and most people (including leftists) have little idea or couldn’t care less about boring things such as:

• how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere and how much of it is impacted by humans;

• the historical aggregate pay gap between male and female graduate lawyers under the age of 25 in Australia (negligible); or

• the fact that, in 1985, female graduate lawyers were paid 16.5% more than male graduate lawyers in Australia – and between 1977 and 2012, female graduate engineers were paid (slightly) more than male graduate engineers in Australia (see page 17).

Consequently, on being subjected to an unwanted advance by a leftist, most non-leftists will either wait for the leftist to tire themselves out, move elsewhere or appease the leftist by nodding and agreeing insincerely – in the hope that they will stop. While this represents the path of least resistance, it regrettably leads to people within the leftist’s event horizon becoming brainwashed (including the appeaser). Repeated untruths and lies are very powerful things (see: propaganda).

Of course, if you’ve made it this far, there’s a good chance that you’re different. The question is: what are you going to do about it? (PS: it’s your civic duty to do something about it). Are you going to let the leftist carry on with their propaganda? Or are you going to have a go at entertaining and persuading those around with the truth… and an agitated leftist?

The upcoming techniques will help you achieve the strategic aims of:

• balancing attack and defence during the debate;

• successfully persuading listeners; and

• discharging your civic duty with relish and aplomb.

Regardless of the debating situation you face, the core principles and techniques will remain largely the same. If you find yourself new to debating and wanting to get better, it’s best to start off with one-on-one and family debates, before moving on to debates in front of small crowds and working your way up to larger platforms.

Next up: Part One – Read and Prepare.