5215d7 No.62
This board is probably dead, but I still want to talk about ridicule anyway.
People love to make jokes and make fun of things. And in the political world, this is a useful tool, as you can get people to make fun of your opponents by spreading jokes and creating stereotypes about them. I think that, if we are going to make any headway, we'll need to start our own ridicule campaign.
First, we'll need to make an opening. One way I can think of is to find something that's already acceptable (but not necessarily trendy) to make fun of. For example, hipsters. Specifically, rich, spoiled hipsters who spend all their free time at Starbucks, browsing the internet on their macbook, talking about how communism is the greatest thing; you know, those hipsters. You can make fun of them without people screaming that it's offensive, and since hipsters are leftists, they'd make a good target.
Once you have your target, start making fun of it. Subtly spread jokes about the target and get more people to make jokes as well. Don't make it obvious that the jokes are being forced, or else you'll get outed or people will complain that jokes are stale, offensive, or something else.
Once the jokes and ridicule spread far enough, you'll then have yourself a little stereotype that you can then use as a puppet, kind of like the fedora-trenchcoat combo that goons and such use. Then, you start associating some of your opponents' extreme beliefs with that stereotype, or at the very least, beliefs you don't like. In the hipster example, you've already got one: communism. So you start by getting people to equate hipsters with communism. Whenever you see someone praising communism, make them out to be a hipster. Get your artistically-inclined buddies to make a few comics portraying hipsters with these wacky beliefs. Use your imagination here. The idea is to create a stereotype that everyone will laugh at.
Now that people have the stereotype equated with the belief, you can start tacking on another extreme belief. With the fedora example, it started off being associated with atheists, then it was later extended to people against feminism. Going back to our hipster example, think of another belief that a hipster might have, and throw that on there. This second belief might be easier to force because people already associate a hipster with some wacky communist that nobody takes seriously.
Of course, this stereotype only creates an opening. You can't associate all of your opponents with hipsters, much like how goons don't apply the fedora stereotype to everyone they dislike. But I'm sure someone else can continue this plan.