&&&

This is a perfect example of how political discourse and national policy have been moved further and further to the right - by the Republican Party and neoliberals, the Tea Party, Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and his group of neo-Nazis trying to rebrand themselves as the Alt-Right.

The idea behind the Overton Window is that you start off by asserting something that was once thought completely unacceptable. Something incredibly wild, like “murder people,” but then a ~reasonable~ voice offers a more centrist idea, a compromise like, “just beat people horribly.”

In the example above, although we haven’t agreed it’s socially acceptable to indiscriminately murder anyone, we have agreed that a more centrist, “reasonable” compromise is to indiscriminately assault people, instead of randomly killing them.

Here’s the secret to fighting fascism and other Republican ideas, without being dragged through the Overton Window: Do not debate Republican fascists. Their goal is not to win the debate. It’s to shift the Overton Window of what is acceptable discourse and therefore, what is acceptable policy. When you engage them in a “let’s hear both sides” debate, they’ve already won because they’ve gotten you to show people it’s okay to consider what they’re proposing.

The problem is aggressors (fascists, racists, neoconservatives, Republicans, etc.) have learned to use politeness as a weapon against the oppressed. We’ve been taught that getting angry is always wrong, and politely listening to absolutely anyone & everyone is always the civilized, and right thing to do. But not everything is up for reasonable debate. And often, anger IS the justified, appropriate response. You do not owe it to racists to hear “their side” when their side is to dehumanize others. You wouldn’t debate a 5-year-old about whether or not they get to take a loaded weapon to school for show-and-tell, and no one owes fascists nationally televised “reasoned” debates on whether or not fascism is acceptable.

“In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience.”

Oblique Strategies (subtitled Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas) - created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt and first published in 1975. Each card offers an aphorism intended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking.

7.27.15 - journal