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uspol, memetic warfare, serious 

Ok. You've probably seen the news: we are gearing up for an honest-to-goodness ideological war in 2020. Propagandists, homegrown and otherwise, are already gearing up to sow discord and confusion on the left.

And, um, bad news: you and I are basically the remaining counterculture. If people at our level don't prepare themselves to fight, we're probably not going to win.

Start thinking about it NOW. For instance, it wouldn't hurt to get an elevator-pitch sized case against Trump into your head. Personally, I'm thinking of starting a list of undeniable Trump "fun facts" we can use to steer forum threads back on track. (e.g.: "Hey, isn't Trump ALREADY a known fraudster because of that Trump U thing?" "Hey, didn't Trump's own biographer say he's probably a Kremlin agent?") (I know, the base is hard to crack and never admits it's wrong. We're not _aiming_ for the base.)

Next: be wary of anything you see that turns you against a fellow Trump opponent. Remember that we KNOW FOR CERTAIN some of that is deliberate sabotage. Save your ire for the opposition-- and even then, think ahead to how we can draw them into the fold if Trump is ever properly defeated and humiliated.

And most importantly: for fuck's sake, don't despair. I grew up with the sincere expectation we would all be reduced to radioactive ash by the time I was 20. Instead, the Big Bads collapsed. Granted, they came back in a new form, but... here we are, still breathing.

This is a new era. We are the FIRST. GENERATION. EVER. to face this kind of targeted memetic infiltration online. You don't even know what we're capable of. The memetic immune systems we develop now could protect American humanists and progressives for generations. Quit fixating on a doom that will only become truly inevitable *if* we keep fixating on it.

uspol, memetic warfare, serious 

@zebratron2084 Personally, I think that we need to consider putting the "Despair" option back on the table.

uspol, memetic warfare, serious 

@zebratron2084

What is ideological war?

And I'm not sure that hillbillies aren't the remaining counterculture.

As for bashing Trump - it's not enough to do that as such. You also have to build the case that the plausible alternative isn't worse by the lights of your hearer, otherwise they'll just say: "But at least he isn't a commiepinkogungrabberwhatever."

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