DRAFT OF “THE TECHNIQUE OF CRITIQUE”
(understanding dishonest debate tactics and propaganda)
The complex deceptive argument structure called Critique, it consists of these tactics,
(a) Straw men points of advocacy as mere vehicles for criticism and attack,
(b) Avoiding support of their argument, and using empty verbalisms defend it, confirming it with criticisms by returning to the attack rather than the demonstration of the strength of their ideas.
(c) Using the “reasonable man” argument including moral appeals, appeals to reasonableness, to making individual exceptions to cases on an individual rather than facts and the problem of the consequences of exceptions at scale.
(d) “Psychologizing” an ad hominem attacking the motivations of the opponent rather than the facts and structure of the argument.
(e) Attempting to invoke guilt however possible.
(f) Use of Ridicule, Shaming and Rallying as Moral Authoritarianism;
(g) Overloading (saturation), Loading and Framing. (Use of suggestion)
(h) Use of Verbalisms (analogies, moral reasoning, and pseudoscience);
(i) Use of terminology as a logically authoritarian truth, rather than convention and claiming ignorance or incomprehension of alternatives.
(j) Retreat into Dogma, and moral offense, and return to critique
(k) Appeal to heroic figures with unworthy praise;
(l) Flooding a market with confirmatory propaganda.
(m) Use of dogma and verbalism to create a sectarian language with sectarian meaning and thereby constructing in-group/out-group conditions (a cult).
(n) Offering in-group membership for compliance, and threatening out-group membership for non-compliance.
In other words, they don’t defend their ideas (because they aren’t defensible) they merely use any weak idea, and the weaker the better, because it is easier to defend verbally and harder to attack logically, as a means of attacking your idea. (See Lew Rockwell’s most recent book as an example of a promised solution but delivering nothing but chapters of criticism without any solution provided.)
The strategy of Critique is to use western altruism (exaggerated universal morality) to create a sense of guilt against in-group members, and to invoke western altruistic punishment against in-group members, and therefore create an environment where out-group members can use deception, trickery and verbalism to employ systemic parasitism, rather than engaging in mutually beneficial production – while arguing that the approach is for the good of all.
In effect it is an elaborate set of deceptions and lies in order to overload the conversation such that we must rely on moral intuition rather than reason.
It is another assault on truth telling, and the aristocratic society. An attempt to cast immoral as moral.
Understand that the Misesian/Rothardian “Austrian” split is not Austrian at all, but yet another avenue for Critique. The only Austrians are the classical liberals at GMU etc.
COUNTERING CRITIQUE
1) As in any argument counter with the truth by calling out their tactic, refuse guilt for what is in your group interest, then return to the central argument.
DONE
So, it’s done. They’re done. It’s just a matter of putting in enough hands, and filling it all in.
Put a fork in it.
Ready to serve.
Source date (UTC): 2014-07-30 13:31:00 UTC