Free Capitalist Network - Community Archive
Mises Community Archive
An online community for fans of Austrian economics and libertarianism, featuring forums, user blogs, and more.

a redditor's appeal

rated by 0 users
This post has 14 Replies | 4 Followers

Top 25 Contributor
Male
Posts 3,260
Points 61,905
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
Staff
SystemAdministrator
Daniel James Sanchez Posted: Mon, Mar 8 2010 3:50 PM

"psykocrime" asks...

Why no libertarian presence on /r/politics? I know it's a socialist echo-chamber, but should we not at least try to maintain a presence to offer better alternatives? 

"the obligation to justice is founded entirely on the interests of society, which require mutual abstinence from property" -David Hume
  • | Post Points: 50
Top 25 Contributor
Posts 4,532
Points 84,495

Quick answer: because there's no point going to a place where we're not welcome.

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 500 Contributor
Posts 113
Points 2,255

I lurk around reddit

I have to say it just doesn't feel worth the effort.  Place is stuck your basic political paradigm.  You will get buried or trolled, the ignorance of some of the up voted threads there just makes me cringe.  I often find myself coming directly to Mises after reddit as if I'm drowning and gasping for air.

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 25 Contributor
Male
Posts 3,260
Points 61,905
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
Staff
SystemAdministrator

Solarist:

I lurk around reddit

I have to say it just doesn't feel worth the effort.  Place is stuck your basic political paradigm.  You will get buried or trolled, the ignorance of some of the up voted threads there just makes me cringe.  I often find myself coming directly to Mises after reddit as if I'm drowning and gasping for air.

I think if there was some coordination, it might be different.  Of course we're going to be outnumbered.  But if Mises folk were to tag-team it, the feeling of isolation would be dispelled, and some real impact might be made.  (Especially if we made a distinct effort to be completely respectful and scientific in how we conduct ourselves.)

"the obligation to justice is founded entirely on the interests of society, which require mutual abstinence from property" -David Hume
  • | Post Points: 35
Top 25 Contributor
Posts 4,532
Points 84,495

Grayson Lilburne:

I think if there was some coordination, it might be different.  Of course we're going to be outnumbered.  But if Mises folk were to tag-team it, the feeling of isolation would be dispelled, and some real impact might be made.  (Especially if we made a distinct effort to be completely respectful and scientific in how we conduct ourselves.)

Why such a desperate attempt to save their system?

Just setup your own reddit.

  • | Post Points: 20
Top 10 Contributor
Posts 7,105
Points 115,240
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
SystemAdministrator

i just find reddit so ugly to look at......

Where there is no property there is no justice; a proposition as certain as any demonstration in Euclid

Fools! not to see that what they madly desire would be a calamity to them as no hands but their own could bring

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 25 Contributor
Male
Posts 3,260
Points 61,905
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
Staff
SystemAdministrator

Stranger:

Grayson Lilburne:

I think if there was some coordination, it might be different.  Of course we're going to be outnumbered.  But if Mises folk were to tag-team it, the feeling of isolation would be dispelled, and some real impact might be made.  (Especially if we made a distinct effort to be completely respectful and scientific in how we conduct ourselves.)

Why such a desperate attempt to save their system?

Where do you get "desperate" from?  I swear, you make even innocuous topics unpleasant.

Stranger:
Just setup your own reddit.

It's not about finding a place where people agree with us.  It's about educating through debate.  And /r/politics is a good place to do that.

"the obligation to justice is founded entirely on the interests of society, which require mutual abstinence from property" -David Hume
  • | Post Points: 20
Top 25 Contributor
Posts 4,532
Points 84,495

Grayson Lilburne:
It's not about finding a place where people agree with us.  It's about educating through debate.  And /r/politics is a good place to do that.

Sounds to me like they don't want to be educated.

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 25 Contributor
Male
Posts 3,260
Points 61,905
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
Staff
SystemAdministrator

Stranger:

Grayson Lilburne:
It's not about finding a place where people agree with us.  It's about educating through debate.  And /r/politics is a good place to do that.

Sounds to me like they don't want to be educated.

The redditors who debate us probably won't change their minds, but the ones just reading very well might.

"the obligation to justice is founded entirely on the interests of society, which require mutual abstinence from property" -David Hume
  • | Post Points: 5
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 2,221
Points 34,050
Moderator

Stranger:

Grayson Lilburne:
It's not about finding a place where people agree with us.  It's about educating through debate.  And /r/politics is a good place to do that.

Sounds to me like they don't want to be educated.

Believe me, most of them don't.  I've spent time on there long enough to know this.  It helps if you don't make it easy by using labels & terms they can red-flag your posts & completely ignore, though.  

Consequealists arguments do have a chance, but it's not much.  

IMO, don't bother too much with reddit aside from submitting links.  Hacker News is better though, & pretty good debates on Keyenesianism  has been known to spring up there.   

"Look at me, I'm quoting another user to show how wrong I think they are, out of arrogance of my own position. Wait, this is my own quote, oh shi-" ~ Nitroadict

  • | Post Points: 35
Top 25 Contributor
Male
Posts 3,260
Points 61,905
ForumsAdministrator
Moderator
Staff
SystemAdministrator
Not Ranked
Male
Posts 43
Points 850
PEZ replied on Tue, Mar 9 2010 2:08 AM

Nitroadict:

Stranger:

Grayson Lilburne:
It's not about finding a place where people agree with us.  It's about educating through debate.  And /r/politics is a good place to do that.

Sounds to me like they don't want to be educated.

Believe me, most of them don't.  I've spent time on there long enough to know this.  It helps if you don't make it easy by using labels & terms they can red-flag your posts & completely ignore, though.  

Consequealists arguments do have a chance, but it's not much.  

IMO, don't bother too much with reddit aside from submitting links.  Hacker News is better though, & pretty good debates on Keyenesianism  has been known to spring up there.   

You have to also account for that which is not seen. That is people who only read the posts. A lot of the leftist "contribution" to reddit threads are very angry and non-constructive (like I've tried to point out before). If some of the more well versed libertarians leave polite, calm and sensible answers we'll help the cause for sure. Yes, the main battle can be moved to more fertile ground, but at the same time we need to also leave a dent on reddit. Giving up is not an option. 

  • | Post Points: 5
Not Ranked
Posts 100
Points 2,455

I like the idea in theory, but in practice? It seems as if there would have to be a lot of coordination so that the Miseans don't start arguing amongst themselves regarding little points of contention or what not... a lot of effort for a lot of people who care a little.

"It has been well said that, while we used to suffer from social evils, we now suffer from the remedies for them."

F.A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 2,552
Points 46,640
AJ replied on Tue, Mar 9 2010 10:12 AM

Solarist:

You will get buried or trolled, the ignorance of some of the up voted threads there just makes me cringe.

Redditors are opinion-change junkies. They love controversy and surprising answers. Post a well thought-out comment that leaps totally out of left field, and it will usually be upvoted.

There is a reddit style. Look at the kind of dissenting comments that get upvoted for clues. Brevity, avoidance of certain buzzwords, counterintuitive-ness (which individualist libertarianism has in spades), and wittiness are inordinately important. If you choose your posts and your words carefully, it's quite possible to pull off a major contrarian upset, where even people on the opposing side are upvoting you like mad because you made them see things from a new light. Once again, redditors are opinion-change junkies...and I see here on these forums a fervent collection of opinion-change experts.

  • | Post Points: 5
Top 50 Contributor
Male
Posts 2,552
Points 46,640
AJ replied on Tue, Mar 9 2010 10:25 AM

Also, inject posts in carefully-chosen points in the debates on the MAIN PAGE. That's what gets read, and where the more amenable people are.

Not just the obvious threads, but the ones without political titles but that nevertheless devolve into political/economic discussion (an unexpectedly large number of them do). Or the ones where you can make an unexpected libertarian point - remember the counterintuitive! The subreddits are full of hardset ideologues. Even I don't check the politics subreddit, or any of the others. The main page is where the big numbers are (500,000 viewers in a day recently).

  • | Post Points: 5
Page 1 of 1 (15 items) | RSS