When I was in elementary school there was a kid who played a joke on the class by spraying the room with “fart spray.” This made the whole room smell awful, created a large distraction, and gave everyone a good laugh.
The social stigma tactic was identified by Ayn Rand sixty years ago in her essay, "The Argument from Intimidation" published in the _Objectivist Newsletter_, July, 1964:
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There is a certain type of argument which, in fact, is not an argument, but a means of forestalling debate and extorting an opponent's agreement with one's undiscussed notions. It is a method of by-passing logic by means of psychological pressure. Since it is particularly prevalent in today's culture and is going to grow more so in the next few months, one would do well to learn to identify it and be on guard against it.
This method bears a certain resemblance to the fallacy ad hominem, and comes from the same psychological root, but is different in essential meaning. The ad hominem fallacy consists of attempting to refute an argument by impeaching the character of its proponent. Example: "Candidate X is immoral, therefore his argument is false."
But the psychological pressure method consists of threatening to impeach an opponent's character by means of his argument, thus impeaching the argument without debate. Example: "Only the immoral can fail to see that Candidate X's argument is false."'
In the first case, Candidate X's immorality (real or invented) is offered as proof of the falsehood of his argument. In the second case, the falsehood of his argument is asserted arbitrarily and offered as proof of his immorality.
In today's epistemological jungle, that second method is used more frequently than any other type of irrational argument. It should be classified as a logical fallacy and may be designated as "The Argument from Intimidation."
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Rather than comparing this argument to fart spray (a vivid metaphor!), Rand goes on to compare it to the argument that only the morally depraved can fail to see the _Emperor's new Clothes_, and gives many other examples of its use, identifying its effectiveness as a product of the widespread belief in 'social metaphysics': a person's notion of “the consciousness of other men as superior to his own and to the facts of reality." You could call this Rand's 'prophesy' of the subsequent postmodern intellectual fad for the "social construction of reality".
Yes, once you understand their tactics, it is easy to see that they are psychologically fragile people trying to deflect attention away from the fact that they have no logical argument to support their case.
What we are actually dealing with are Cluster B personality disorders that are organized, targeted and rationalized by ideology:
The Bigotry Accusation is maybe the most significant and quintessential phenomenon of our time, akin to Elvis and the hula hoop in the 50s and disco and polyester in the 70s—though of course much less fun, much more punitive, and much less overtly discussed, which I think also shines some light on the zeitgeist: America's schizophrenic lurching between moralism and libertinism and our endless racial obsession, which creates intolerance in the name of tolerance and race hate in the name of racial reconciliation.
The Bigotry Accusation is rooted in the moral revolution of the Civil Rights Movement, which when combined with both rising secularism and tribalism, made Race/Bigotry the pivot of all modern American morality, with Racist taking the place that Blasphemer or Heretic held in our Christian past and the fault line of our entire culture. Now there are only 2 kinds of people: those who acknowledge and center the pain of the "marginalized" (most esp black people) and those who don't, with the latter being rendered a caste of backwards bigots who deserve only surveillance and re-education.
It was a brilliant masterstroke of the New Left to piggyback on the Civil Rights movement and portray themselves as the Official Defenders of the Oppressed—it has made opposing them like fighting a skunk (or a kid w fart spray), meaning that you know they will cover you in the stink of moral pollution, which is why most people wisely steer clear and why they've conquered our entire culture.
The Bigotry Accusation seems to be losing some of its sting, but it still remains the go-to move in politics and culture for smearing and silencing your opponents or getting yourself out of trouble. The Boy Who Cried Racist! is the song of our age and will be until we experience another major moral shift akin to the social revolution of the 1960s.
Lisa Bond. An obese woman with self-esteem issues, projects her inner self-hatred and victim mentality on the rest of the world through co-opting this insane ideology. Jon Stewart you are a shameful POS for emboldening her.
When I was a gay child the deep south I was hounded on and off by christian youth for being a heinous sinner. I pointed out that to be a sinner you have to believe in sin.. There was something about that simple statement which confounded them. I didn't believe in the supernatural - a supernatural god or ghosts or pixies - and they were stumped by childs logic.
Racism is similar - you have to "believe" in race to have a racial bias. Being accused of a phobia has the same flavor - phobias are diagnosed, not accused.
This post is amazing! Of course leftists call anyone who doesn't fully support them "racists", so much so that it's losing some of its power. Not, of course, for the over-woke audience of Jon Stewart. But the image of the kid you described spraying fart spray and comparing it to leftists' name calling is powerful. It almost rivals the cat-eating memes for me.
Another word for it is bullying. The people who are the most self-righteous about "othering" engage in collectivist bullying on a daily basis.
The social stigma tactic was identified by Ayn Rand sixty years ago in her essay, "The Argument from Intimidation" published in the _Objectivist Newsletter_, July, 1964:
=======================
There is a certain type of argument which, in fact, is not an argument, but a means of forestalling debate and extorting an opponent's agreement with one's undiscussed notions. It is a method of by-passing logic by means of psychological pressure. Since it is particularly prevalent in today's culture and is going to grow more so in the next few months, one would do well to learn to identify it and be on guard against it.
This method bears a certain resemblance to the fallacy ad hominem, and comes from the same psychological root, but is different in essential meaning. The ad hominem fallacy consists of attempting to refute an argument by impeaching the character of its proponent. Example: "Candidate X is immoral, therefore his argument is false."
But the psychological pressure method consists of threatening to impeach an opponent's character by means of his argument, thus impeaching the argument without debate. Example: "Only the immoral can fail to see that Candidate X's argument is false."'
In the first case, Candidate X's immorality (real or invented) is offered as proof of the falsehood of his argument. In the second case, the falsehood of his argument is asserted arbitrarily and offered as proof of his immorality.
In today's epistemological jungle, that second method is used more frequently than any other type of irrational argument. It should be classified as a logical fallacy and may be designated as "The Argument from Intimidation."
=======================
Rather than comparing this argument to fart spray (a vivid metaphor!), Rand goes on to compare it to the argument that only the morally depraved can fail to see the _Emperor's new Clothes_, and gives many other examples of its use, identifying its effectiveness as a product of the widespread belief in 'social metaphysics': a person's notion of “the consciousness of other men as superior to his own and to the facts of reality." You could call this Rand's 'prophesy' of the subsequent postmodern intellectual fad for the "social construction of reality".
Good discussion, but you need a proofreader - lots of spelling and usage errors in this article.
Yes, once you understand their tactics, it is easy to see that they are psychologically fragile people trying to deflect attention away from the fact that they have no logical argument to support their case.
What we are actually dealing with are Cluster B personality disorders that are organized, targeted and rationalized by ideology:
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/where-does-ideology-come-from
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/radical-ideologies-feast-on-mental
The Bigotry Accusation is maybe the most significant and quintessential phenomenon of our time, akin to Elvis and the hula hoop in the 50s and disco and polyester in the 70s—though of course much less fun, much more punitive, and much less overtly discussed, which I think also shines some light on the zeitgeist: America's schizophrenic lurching between moralism and libertinism and our endless racial obsession, which creates intolerance in the name of tolerance and race hate in the name of racial reconciliation.
The Bigotry Accusation is rooted in the moral revolution of the Civil Rights Movement, which when combined with both rising secularism and tribalism, made Race/Bigotry the pivot of all modern American morality, with Racist taking the place that Blasphemer or Heretic held in our Christian past and the fault line of our entire culture. Now there are only 2 kinds of people: those who acknowledge and center the pain of the "marginalized" (most esp black people) and those who don't, with the latter being rendered a caste of backwards bigots who deserve only surveillance and re-education.
It was a brilliant masterstroke of the New Left to piggyback on the Civil Rights movement and portray themselves as the Official Defenders of the Oppressed—it has made opposing them like fighting a skunk (or a kid w fart spray), meaning that you know they will cover you in the stink of moral pollution, which is why most people wisely steer clear and why they've conquered our entire culture.
The Bigotry Accusation seems to be losing some of its sting, but it still remains the go-to move in politics and culture for smearing and silencing your opponents or getting yourself out of trouble. The Boy Who Cried Racist! is the song of our age and will be until we experience another major moral shift akin to the social revolution of the 1960s.
Lisa Bond. An obese woman with self-esteem issues, projects her inner self-hatred and victim mentality on the rest of the world through co-opting this insane ideology. Jon Stewart you are a shameful POS for emboldening her.
Great piece. Thanks for the advice.
In the spirit of being helpful, I want to point out that there were a few minor typos you missed that you might want to correct:
* "By stigmatizing a position as racist, sexist, bigoted, and so fourth..." (it should be "so forth")
* "This is being do so Bond and Stewart..." (...is being *done* so...)
* "...stop being fooled by those rhetorical tricks" (you left out the closing period)
* "The kicker is this: he woman who called Andrew Sullivan a racist " (should be "*the* woman who...")
When I was a gay child the deep south I was hounded on and off by christian youth for being a heinous sinner. I pointed out that to be a sinner you have to believe in sin.. There was something about that simple statement which confounded them. I didn't believe in the supernatural - a supernatural god or ghosts or pixies - and they were stumped by childs logic.
Racism is similar - you have to "believe" in race to have a racial bias. Being accused of a phobia has the same flavor - phobias are diagnosed, not accused.
Ad hominem should provoke a laugh and a "sizzle".
This post is amazing! Of course leftists call anyone who doesn't fully support them "racists", so much so that it's losing some of its power. Not, of course, for the over-woke audience of Jon Stewart. But the image of the kid you described spraying fart spray and comparing it to leftists' name calling is powerful. It almost rivals the cat-eating memes for me.
Excellent read, thank you!
Fart spray! A wonderful rhetorical counter ironically putting the bad guys into a bad odor.