Online Opinion

[Previous entry: "Terrorism is not a threat"] [Next entry: "Police State"]

One of the most common tactics in debates is insulting the opponent. Governments opposed to your invasion of a foreign country are "cheese-eating surrender monkeys". Critics of Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands are "anti-semitic". Tabloid journalists are "concentration camp guards". Most Internet message boards will furnish a thousand other examples. Insult is the desperate tactic of someone who has run out of genuine arguments, yet often supplies excellent sound-bites, and is therefore worryingly persuasive in the court of public opinion. If our democracy is to survive, we need more respect for our opponents.

archives :: links :: faq :: feedback

Find out how you can support Online Opinion

Online Opinion is a trademark owned by Graham Robinson. All rights reserved. The copyright on all articles, columns, and letters on this site is owned by the original author. The copyright on all other material is owned by Graham Robinson. Permission is granted to download and store these pages for personal or research purposes only, and only as is consistent with normal viewing of web pages. All other rights reserved. Permission is granted to freely link to any page within this site, as long as ownership of the material linked to is clear. No advertisements may be associated with this site, whether explicitly or implicitly, without prior written permission.