Does it surprise anyone to learn that a libertarian can go into a bar, knock back a few, and then find himself in some political arguments?
Yes, strangely enough, it happens. And I have a new strategy for winning. Winning these disagreements before they even become a disagreement. WINNING at the Sheen level. It's not about converting the person you're arguing with, but trying to convert other people who hear your conversation.
I call it "evangelism through misunderstanding". You intentionally misunderstand someone's statement, and flip it around to the libertarian position on the topic.
- A bartender says "I support a woman's right to choose". Most people who make this statement say it with a level of conviction and righteousness that implies you are a misogynistic oaf if you dare think differently.
Turn to the bartender and say "You're damn right a woman has a right to choose. Look at the sorry schools here in zip code _ _ _ _ _. A woman should have a right to choose which school her kids attend. It shouldn't be based on the zip code where she happened to buy a house. Her kids shouldn't be a slave to a system dominated by the teacher's unions. Give her a choice, and the schools will either improve or go under. And anybody who disagrees with me hates women."
If the bartender tries to steer the conversation back to abortion, the intended topic, act as if the fate of one- ounce blots of protoplasm is irrelevant. Take it back to our lack of choice in numerous government programs. "Seriously, dude, why don't we have a choice in schools? You mean, you support the right to choose in abortion, but not schools? Why?"
Here's another one, probably my favorite. The guy down at the end of the bar says "We need to cut out all of this foreign aid."
Lift your glass or bottle upward, and begin your rant.
"Precisely. Exactly," you say. "We've got 60,000 troops in Germany, and the f-ing Krauts don't pay us a dime for them. We should bring every one of them back to the house. 30,000 in South Korea, and they're costing us a fortune. We don't charge the Koreans a thing for defense. 25,000 soldiers and sailors and marines in Japan. My taxes don't cover the expense of even one single soldier, and we've got 25,000 people defending Japan fergodssakes. You'd think they could provide for their own defense, but no. Barack Obama has to defend his empire."
"Now if someplace is having a famine or an earthquake or a typhoon, yeah. We should help them out. But that cost is just a drop in the bucket compared to what we're spending on our overseas empire."
If your victim tries to get back to the relatively small amount that we send to places in dire need of relief, divide the dollar amount in question by $125,000.00 (that's the approximate amount we spend per soldier/sailor) and take the conversation back to our "Free For Everyone Who Asks" military services. Chances are, the dollar amount we're spending on real aid is less than the amount we still spend defending England from Hitler. (We have 6,000 people stationed in England. I swear to God, we do.)
Here's another one. My friend Mike Coyne got me thinking along this track. I've used this twice, and it's loads of fun....
If some loudmouth is holding court at the bar or the next table, and lamenting the number of illegals who are coming into the U.S. and taking American jobs, you should agree with him that it's a low-down dirty shame. Tell him that you've got friends who lost computer programming jobs to foreigners from Toronto. You know someone who lost an accounting position to an immigrant from Quebec. The head of your company's software department is from Serbia.
Without fail (for me in Texas, anyway) your new acquaintance will make it clear that he was talking about Mexicans. Illegal Mexicans. He'll say we should put up a fence with guards and dogs, all along the border.
Look surprised.
Say "Oh, I misunderstood you. Hey, if one of those poor Mexican bastards can swim the Rio Grande and do your job? You're already screwed."
Go back to your seat and don't say another word to him. Can you imagine how little there would be in the Social Security fund if illegal Mexicans weren't paying into the system?
Remember, we're libertarians. We'd rather be right than popular.
Yes, strangely enough, it happens. And I have a new strategy for winning. Winning these disagreements before they even become a disagreement. WINNING at the Sheen level. It's not about converting the person you're arguing with, but trying to convert other people who hear your conversation.
I call it "evangelism through misunderstanding". You intentionally misunderstand someone's statement, and flip it around to the libertarian position on the topic.
- A bartender says "I support a woman's right to choose". Most people who make this statement say it with a level of conviction and righteousness that implies you are a misogynistic oaf if you dare think differently.
Turn to the bartender and say "You're damn right a woman has a right to choose. Look at the sorry schools here in zip code _ _ _ _ _. A woman should have a right to choose which school her kids attend. It shouldn't be based on the zip code where she happened to buy a house. Her kids shouldn't be a slave to a system dominated by the teacher's unions. Give her a choice, and the schools will either improve or go under. And anybody who disagrees with me hates women."
If the bartender tries to steer the conversation back to abortion, the intended topic, act as if the fate of one- ounce blots of protoplasm is irrelevant. Take it back to our lack of choice in numerous government programs. "Seriously, dude, why don't we have a choice in schools? You mean, you support the right to choose in abortion, but not schools? Why?"
Here's another one, probably my favorite. The guy down at the end of the bar says "We need to cut out all of this foreign aid."
Lift your glass or bottle upward, and begin your rant.
"Precisely. Exactly," you say. "We've got 60,000 troops in Germany, and the f-ing Krauts don't pay us a dime for them. We should bring every one of them back to the house. 30,000 in South Korea, and they're costing us a fortune. We don't charge the Koreans a thing for defense. 25,000 soldiers and sailors and marines in Japan. My taxes don't cover the expense of even one single soldier, and we've got 25,000 people defending Japan fergodssakes. You'd think they could provide for their own defense, but no. Barack Obama has to defend his empire."
"Now if someplace is having a famine or an earthquake or a typhoon, yeah. We should help them out. But that cost is just a drop in the bucket compared to what we're spending on our overseas empire."
If your victim tries to get back to the relatively small amount that we send to places in dire need of relief, divide the dollar amount in question by $125,000.00 (that's the approximate amount we spend per soldier/sailor) and take the conversation back to our "Free For Everyone Who Asks" military services. Chances are, the dollar amount we're spending on real aid is less than the amount we still spend defending England from Hitler. (We have 6,000 people stationed in England. I swear to God, we do.)
Here's another one. My friend Mike Coyne got me thinking along this track. I've used this twice, and it's loads of fun....
If some loudmouth is holding court at the bar or the next table, and lamenting the number of illegals who are coming into the U.S. and taking American jobs, you should agree with him that it's a low-down dirty shame. Tell him that you've got friends who lost computer programming jobs to foreigners from Toronto. You know someone who lost an accounting position to an immigrant from Quebec. The head of your company's software department is from Serbia.
Without fail (for me in Texas, anyway) your new acquaintance will make it clear that he was talking about Mexicans. Illegal Mexicans. He'll say we should put up a fence with guards and dogs, all along the border.
Look surprised.
Say "Oh, I misunderstood you. Hey, if one of those poor Mexican bastards can swim the Rio Grande and do your job? You're already screwed."
Go back to your seat and don't say another word to him. Can you imagine how little there would be in the Social Security fund if illegal Mexicans weren't paying into the system?
Remember, we're libertarians. We'd rather be right than popular.
3 comments:
You had me at "A libertarian walks into a bar."
....and the bartender says "......"
"Hey Mack! We don't allow short libertarians in that bar!"
Post a Comment