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« on: April 19, 2016, 08:36:20 PM »
Trev,
Thanks for raising this problem here. Hopefully, my experience can be of some help, but I know that there is no perfect answer to this question and I hope others will add their input.
When someone raises such an irrational objection to freedom, the reason is rarely a failure to see the logic. You can put the logic in front of them, they see it, get it, aaaaannnnddd go back to the same objection while your forehead gets ever bloodier if you are unfortunate enough to have walls around. Pointing out the logic more eloquently, forcefully, or with better memes will rarely if ever help. Have you noticed that turning up the logic actually usually makes things worse?
If you have someone who is seeking the logical answers, they may keep asking frustrating questions and (sidebar) it's very important to be very patient with these people. Do not get upset with them. They may already be on the path and this can only slow them down. They may be playing devil's advocate in their own mind, and in those cases, slowly, patiently, showing them around your worldview will make them more comfortable there. However, your question was not about those people, but about someone who is running away from freedom with open arms (and perhaps spread cheeks) to the state.
You're correct in pointing out that no amount of logic can change something that is not caused by a lack of capacity for logic. In these cases, there is some emotional hook to statism that requires either therapy, or stepping way back to see a bigger picture. You may eventually be able to fill in gaps in their logic, but first, they must be receptive to it.
Part of this problem may come from the approach taken by the messenger. Most of us have been fooled into thinking of this beautiful philosophical ethical message as a political message, and therefor we need to argue with people. Most people never change their minds during arguments. Of course, we are sharing something we find beautiful, and therefor we shouldn't have to be arguing with anyone! This is critical to having a productive conversation to help someone get the message: IF YOU'RE ARGUING WITH SOMEONE ABOUT FREEDOM, YOU'VE ALREADY LOST! If you take the approach of sharing something beautiful, you will always have a positive, "Hey, check out this awesome idea!" kind of attitude.
In order to get to this point with someone who is already throwing up emotional attachments to the state in defense of irrational ideas, you have to LISTEN to them, and understand where they're coming from. I often joke that a lot of people will need therapy before they're ready to embrace a new worldview, but that's a lot more than just sitting on a couch in an office. Some of them just need you to listen to whatever way they have mentally enslaved themselves and feel understood before they'll trust you to show them a potential way out. For example, if someone just had their life saved by a cop from someone who just killed the rest of their family, just you saying that there should be no cops is extremely terrifying. (Most people get some of this vicariously from watching the news.) When you've discovered what their hook is, you can address it in the form of, "You're right to be concerned about people being able to ____. (protect each other, provide for the poor, build roads, keep you waiting in line at the DMV) Would you be interested in hearing about a better way to achieve that which would eliminate the unfortunate side effects of using government to do that?"
Now I know that sounds like a lot. It is. It took me ten years from going from "I'm a Libertarian because Republicans and Democrats are lame!" to actually understanding the philosophy of freedom. Practice patience. Practice polite persistence. Practice Nonviolent Communication. (Communication without judgement. See the book by Marshall Rosenberg or one of his seminars on YT.) If there are about a million of us now, and we rub off on just one other person per year on average, the paradigm shift will be here within a couple decades. I know we all want to end the violence of statism sooner, but the only other thing you can do is go after the more receptive people first, like in triage. This will also make the more stubborn ones easier because they'll see others embracing freedom first. Fortunately, we still have millions out there for whom just reading FREEDOM! will be enough, so I'll be focused on getting it out to them! Hopefully, this helps for those who you can't convince to read a free 100 page book/free 3 hour audiobook.
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