ESR's Anti-Idiotarian Manifesto

[Undertoad]

This is an attempt to seed a new cohesive political position on foreign affairs in a country that hasn't had to do so very often. It is to figure out and/or signal whether there is enough agreement to take the movement further.

So if you don't agree with the movement, of course you'll find it silly and stereotypical. By the time you've gotten to understanding what it's talking about, you are in disagreement with it at a very high level.

I felt that the term "idiotarian" was a non-starter, but after I thought about it for a while, I figured it had some kind of viral marketing value. It's terrible form to define yourself by who your political opposite is, and terrible form again to define yourself via an insult. For the purpose of serious discussion of issues, it's totally wrong to start by being insulting. But that's what makes it viral, too; it expresses how serious the matter is, how serious the believers are, etc.

Hey, it's the 2000s, and people are always up in your face to make a point. This is just what you have to do to get attention.

The problem is if it gets too directly insulting, if a serious discussion of issues isn't allowed afterwards, etc. Empty invective doesn't go very far.