Snarky or Sarcastic Put-downs Can Turn People Into Permanent Enemies
(From the Persuasion Powerpoint section in Volume 19, No. 18 of the Liberator Online. Subscribe here!)
Have you ever been in a political argument where the other person acted like you hadn’t made a single 
valid point?
Ever debated morality or economics with someone who ignored everything you said?
Frustrating, isn’t it?
Beware. This is the moment in many political conversations where you or I turn to put-downs: insults, rude remarks, or sarcasm. These remarks will stick and sting. They will hurt.
Instead of a forgettable political discussion, you will leave them with an unforgettable put-down. Perhaps one that’s unforgivable.
People remember rudeness. They remember those who inflict it on them. And they tell their friends all about it.
Is this the way you want libertarianism and you to be talked about?
So, instead of lashing out — smile, thank them for an interesting discussion, say goodbye, and walk away.
Talk politics with someone else. A person who is receptive and responsive to libertarian economics or politics.
That’s the way to win people to liberty.
valid point?
Ever debated morality or economics with someone who ignored everything you said?
Frustrating, isn’t it?
Beware. This is the moment in many political conversations where you or I turn to put-downs: insults, rude remarks, or sarcasm. These remarks will stick and sting. They will hurt.
Instead of a forgettable political discussion, you will leave them with an unforgettable put-down. Perhaps one that’s unforgivable.
People remember rudeness. They remember those who inflict it on them. And they tell their friends all about it.
Is this the way you want libertarianism and you to be talked about?
So, instead of lashing out — smile, thank them for an interesting discussion, say goodbye, and walk away.
Talk politics with someone else. A person who is receptive and responsive to libertarian economics or politics.
That’s the way to win people to liberty.
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Michael Cloud’s latest book Unlocking More Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion is available exclusively from the Advocates, along with his acclaimed earlier book Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion.In 2000, Michael was honored with the Thomas Paine Award as the Most Persuasive Libertarian Communicator in America.
Michael Cloud’s latest book Unlocking More Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion is available exclusively from the Advocates, along with his acclaimed earlier book Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion.In 2000, Michael was honored with the Thomas Paine Award as the Most Persuasive Libertarian Communicator in America.
Because if new, young students make progress, they will keep practicing and keep coming to the dojo.
And, if they are able to learn with, and train with, those with comparable skills and experience, they will become more and more confident — and they will stay with the program.
But if older students are allowed to bully and intimidate younger and weaker and less skilled students, the young students will drop out. And, if this happens often enough, over a long enough period… the number of students will stall and shrink. Finally, the school will close.
We have this same challenge in libertarian organizations.
We must nurture and protect our newest libertarians. Our beginners.
They will misapply libertarian ideas. They will say things that are not libertarian.
Because they have not read as many economics, history, and libertarian books as longtime experienced libertarians have read.
Because they haven’t been to two or four or more libertarian conferences — as more experienced libertarians have.
Because they haven’t discussed and debated the implications and applications of core libertarian concepts.
When they make mistakes — just like you and I did — we need to be caring teachers and mentors to them — while letting them learn and develop at their own pace.r,
They need our knowledge and guidance. We need their excitement about liberty — and hunger to learn more.
For the growth and development and progress of the movement for liberty.
“Help some of them see that they are already libertarians,” says Perry Willis, former Executive Director of the National Libertarian Party and current vice president of 
Have you ever said something and wish you had bitten your tongue?
Have you ever exploded on someone for no good reason?
I have.
Probably you have, too.
Maybe you were abrasive.
Maybe you were self-righteous.
Maybe you were argumentative.
Maybe you simply forgot to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.
What do you do when you mess up?
What do you do when you rub someone the wrong way?
Why not apologize?
Admit that you’re human. That you needlessly hurt their feelings. That you needlessly embarrassed or shamed them.
Apologizing well is an art.
By “apologizing well” I mean apologizing in such a way that the other person knows that you ARE sorry. That you do regret what you’ve done. That you want to clear the air and make it right.
That you want their forgiveness and another chance.
If you are sorry, tell the person exactly what you did wrong. Tell the person that you are sorry for what you’ve done to them.
And ask them to forgive you.
Whether you’re working out conflict with co-workers, or debating small government vs. Big Government, it’s easy to get caught up in “being right.”
It’s easy to needlessly hurt the feelings of the other person, or step on their toes.
When you do, immediately admit your blunder. Immediately apologize.
Not some vague, abstract, “If I might have done anything that might have been misunderstood …” phony apology.
A real one.
One you mean.
People are enormously forgiving when you admit your sin, say you’re sorry, and try to make it right.
They give you another chance, a clean slate.
If you’re like me, you’ll mess up, hurt people’s feelings, and feel very bad about it.
If you want to start fresh, and mend fences, why not apologize?
Persuasion is about building bridges, not walls.
Look for issues where 80%, 90%, or more of the writers and readers disagree with you.
Where conventional opinion is overwhelmingly against you.
Brainstorm the key 3 to 6 reasons why you’re right and they’re wrong.
Sketch out 10 or 20 headlines for your essay or letter.
Pick the headline that absolutely, positively summarizes your strongest point — the one they’re wrong about.
Then, lead your letter or essay with the strongest reason of your 3 to 6 for your point of view or against theirs. Give an example or two of how or why your point is right — or theirs is wrong.
Second paragraph, use your second strongest reason. Give an example or two.
Third paragraph, use your third strongest reason for your position or against theirs.
And so on… until you reach 500 words. Max. Then sign your name — and email it or post it at the website.
Do not pretend or fake disagreement just to get published. Do not make up bogus reasons for disagreement.
Look for issues where you DO disagree with the overwhelming majority — and have good reasons for why you do.
Contrary opinions attract readers and commenters. Contrary opinions trigger responses. Contrary opinions get noticed.
Sometimes it pays to disagree.
* * * * * * * *
Not speeches or seminars, books or white papers, important though they are.
Libertarian understanding usually grows out of talking and listening.
So start or join a libertarian conversation. One-on-one. Or with a small group.
In person. On Skype. Or on the telephone.
Conversation engages us. Draws us out. Brings into play more of our intelligence and attention.
Which makes it ideal for teaching and learning. For grasping and embracing libertarianism.
time he sees me,” wrote George Bernard Shaw. “The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.”
Most of us aren’t as wise as George Bernard Shaw’s tailor.
We see people we haven’t seen for years, and we tell them, “You haven’t changed a bit!”
Or, “You’re the same as you always were.”
Are they really the same?
Or are we forgetting to take their measure anew?
Social psychology has a name for this: the High School Reunion Phenomenon.
At our 10th year reunion, or 20th year reunion, we see people we haven’t seen since high school.
We talk about old times. We relive glory days. We reminisce.
Then we go home and say, “I’ve changed a lot, but they’re the same as they ever were.”
Are they?
When we go to high school reunions, we’re scanning for similarities. Our memories are primed to find people who look just like, sound just like, and act just like the kids we went to high school with. Only older. And wrinklier.
We’re looking for similarities. So that’s what we find.
We know that we’ve changed.
Or have we?
If we rode home with some of the people that we’d just seen for the first time in ten or twenty years, we’d hear them saying, “Boy, they haven’t changed a bit… but I have.”
We didn’t take their measure anew. And they didn’t take ours.
George Bernard Shaw’s tailor was right. People do change. And unless we look for change, we’ll miss it.
This is crucial to persuasion.
People change their values. People change themselves. And events change people.
Changed values and changed lives mean new opportunities for communicating libertarianism.
Changed values and changed lives mean new wants and needs. New situations.
New concerns and interests. New conversational openings.
If we assume that the person we were talking with “hasn’t changed a bit,” we might miss out on the fact that they just got audited by the IRS. Do you think that might make them more receptive to libertarian tax cut and tax repeal proposals?
If we forget to take the person’s measure anew, we might never know that one of their close friends or family members has been sentenced to prison for a marijuana offense. They might be open to the idea of ending the War on Drugs.
If we overlook the fact that people are always changing, we might not hear about a friend being stalked or threatened. We might never know that they are ripe for a discussion of gun ownership and the right to protect themselves and their families.
If we neglect to look for how the person has changed, we might not learn that they are expecting a baby… and might be eager to hear about homeschooling. Or separating school and state.
What can George Bernard Shaw’s tailor teach us?
1. Actively look for what’s different when you meet people again. Actively ask what’s different.
2. Seek and scan for changes in their lives. Explore the changes. Ask them to talk about the changes since you last got together.
3. What’s new in their lives? New activities. New people. New events. New feelings and values. Invite people to talk about the novel and new.
4. Comment on and, where appropriate, compliment them for positive changes. Drop them notes mentioning how healthy and good they look since they’ve lost the weight. Or since they got their promotion. Send them notes and emails giving them warm feedback on the changes.
Change is opportunity. A new chance to build libertarian bridges to other people’s lives.
And we might miss this opportunity.
Unless we emulate George Bernard Shaw’s tailor.
* * * * * * * *
(From the Persuasion Powerpoint section in 
“Big Government is unsustainable,” said one libertarian. “It’ll collapse and that’s when we’ll get liberty.”
“I’m part of the Remnant,” said another. “Liberty is doomed…for now. My job is to quietly share libertarianism until the world is ready for liberty.”
“Our tax-burdened, regulation-strangled economy can’t last,” said a third. “When it falls apart, liberty will march in.”
Passive waiting is NOT a strategy. Nor even a good choice — if you want freedom in our lifetime.
You have to send out ships — if you want our ship to come in.
Do you know where the phrase “waiting for my ship to come in” came from?
In the 19th Century, English investors and entrepreneurs built huge sailing ships. It took months to build them, months to stock them with trading goods and provisions, and months to hire a good captain and crew.
Then these ships were launched to seek out foreign producers and traders. To exchange English goods for gold and silver and jewels, for silk and spices and other precious things.
Some of the ships hit reefs and sank. Others were destroyed by storms. Some were seized by pirates. Others mutinied — and went to Australia.
There were no shortwave radios. No telegraphs. No cell phones. No way to communicate with the ships until they returned to England.
“Waiting for my ship to come in” was coined by those who sent their ships out.
How many ships have you sent out? How many have you helped make ready to launch?
For our libertarian ships to come in, we must first send out many more seaworthy ships.
Have you acquired an Operation Politically Homeless (OPH) libertarian outreach kit for your local libertarian organization? OPH is a proven, tested way to discover new libertarian-leaning people and bring them into the liberty movement. That’s one ship sent out.
If you’re a student, the Advocates is giving OPH kits FREE to any campus libertarian organization that agrees to use them a minimum of three times in the coming year. Have you requested one for your campus group? That’s a second ship sent out.
Have you volunteered to work at an OPH booth? That’s a third ship sent out. (AND the most fun you can have with your clothes on.)
Have you forwarded thought-provoking articles from the Liberator Online to interested friends? That’s a fourth ship launched.
Have you bought an Advocates book or product — say, Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion — for libertarian friends and acquaintances? For their birthdays? Or just because? That’s a fifth ship. (And a handbook on “shipbuilding” for liberty.)
Work for liberty! Send out more and more ships. And you will stand a much better chance that YOUR libertarian ship will come in — and that you will have liberty in our lifetime.
Fifteen years ago — in 1999 — the Liberator Online published my first Persuasion Point Column.
I had been researching and developing, designing and refining, testing and correcting the Art of Libertarian Persuasion since the mid-1970s — and had published and taught what I had learned at Libertarian Party state conventions and many other libertarian events.
But it was not until I partnered with the Advocates for Self-Government that my work really broke through and caught fire in the libertarian movement.
We were made for each other. And for our fellow Advocates.
Advocates Presidents Marshall Fritz, Carole Ann Rand, and Sharon Harris built an organization rooted in courtesy and civility — while advancing and advocating 24 carat gold, undiluted, uncompromised libertarianism.
Jimmy Harris put together the FUN libertarian e-newsletter: the Liberator Online — featuring writers such as Mary Ruwart, David Bergland, Advocates’ President Sharon Harris, and me… Michael Cloud. Under his editorship we created a libertarian ezine that’s filled with life, love, liberty… and laughter. A publication that takes the ideas of liberty and the best ways to communicate them to tens of thousands of libertarian activists.
It’s been a pleasure and an honor writing and working with these shining stars for 15 years. And I look forward to another 15 years of writing Persuasion Power Points.
But I’m mainly writing for YOU, gentle reader, fellow Advocate… friend.
Because you may be the next Tom Paine or George Washington or Patrick Henry.
You may be the next Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, or Ludwig von Mises.
You may be the next Henry Hazlitt or Harry Browne, Marshall Fritz or Dave Nolan.
You could set in motion the largest political change since the American Revolution.
OR — you could reach and teach the person who will be.
Are you the one? Are you the individual who will take freedom to the Tipping Point?
You give me hope. You and those you talk to about libertarianism.
Thank you for choosing liberty.
You and I simply don’t have enough time to read everything worth reading.
So we skim, sift, and sort a few pages of this and a few pages of that — to determine which, if either, is worth an hour — or more.
Would you like your writing to go to the front of the line?
Would you like busy, overwhelmed readers to read your whole essay?
Write a short, short piece. 300 words.
Or write a short blog or essay. 600 to 900 words.
In a world of long essays, the short essays stand out.
And they can be read in less time than it takes to decide whether to read the 3,000 to 5,000 word essay.
An average reader can read 300 words in 90 seconds — or 900 words in 4-1/2 minutes.
Want to quickly learn how to write brief, to-the-point essays?
First, read How to Write Short by Roy Peter Clark.
Second, read The 30-Minute Writer by Connie Emerson.
Your essays will get read — by the vital, busy, bright readers you want to reach.
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(From the Persuasion PowerPoint section in