How to unnerve right wingers with open questions
They don't know how dumb their ideas are. Open questions help them find out
The power of a well-directed open question
“No. I’m not going to disavow someone NOT wearing a mask like a muzzled dog,” said the right wing guy.
“You seem to think bad analogies such as ‘like a muzzled dog’ are good arguments against masks,” I replied, “What made you think that bad analogies were the same as good arguments?”
And he answered, “Okay. Let’s dispense with analogies….”
In this argument, I didn’t just challenge his absurd characterization of mask wearers, and I did not, repeat, did not engage the analogy. I asked him an open question which would have required him to defend that position in some detail. By using open question and forcing him to justify the crude verbal bomb he was counting on to cause the most damage, I defused it—and him.
But most importantly of all, the required him to think about and evaluate what he was saying.
Open vs closed questions.
Closed questions are ones you can answer with a yes, no or other simple phase “What time is it?” is a closed question, as is, “did you put gas in the car?” or “what was that guy’s name again?”
Open questions are designed to prompt reflection and discussion, so they require more work on the part of the person who asks and answers. “When did you realize you wanted to marry your spouse?” is an open question. “When do they start serving dinner?” is not. “How was your day?” seems like an open question, but as anyone with a school child knows, it’s easy to answer with a single dismissive word: “fine.” By contrast, “what was the most interesting thing a kid did at school today?” is more likely to elicit a story.
Open questions vs right wing talking points
Bigotry, fact denial, and authoritarian hero worship are cognitive shortcuts by which mentally inflexible people simplify a complex and uncertain world. Open questions require thought and work to answer, which is what makes them so powerful against right wing talking points.
So how do you pose open questions effectively?
First, to repeat the obvious, don’t play defense. When a right winger says something dumb, offensive or just plain wrong, never explain what makes it dumb, offensive or wrong. Never show your disgust at the horror behind their words. Instead, remember that every time a right winger says something incendiary to ‘own the libs,’ (you, in this case) they’re really making a position statement. Take a deep breath, ignore the provocation and figure out what they’re arguing for.
Pay attention to their use of the word, “should.” This is an admission that
whatever they say next will bear no relationship to reality.
because their ideas aren’t grounded in the real world, they don’t take into account any of the suffering they inevitably produce
because their plans always create suffering, they can only be enforced with even more coercion and cruelty.
These three elements are almost always present in any right wing vision of the way things ought to be. Your job is to uncover by asking a question starting with “what,” “how,” or “tell me about.”
Some examples
Right winger: They should kick all those bums off welfare and make them get jobs to support their families
You: How many children would you want to see starve because they had irresponsible parents?
Right winger: That’s what charities are for!
You: And before there was welfare, how many children with irresponsible parents went hungry?
Right winger: Well, they shouldn’t have sex and get pregnant if they don’t want kids!
You: Tell me about a few times when you gave up the chance to have sex because you thought it would be irresponsible. I really want to hear about your amazing self-control.
In the fictional (but all-too-common) conversation above, the right winger speaks in thought-terminating cliches. Open questions force them to justify the absurdities and contradictions of their beliefs, which is a far less comforting place to be. Open questions won’t stop a right winger from believing and saying stupid and cruel things, but they can halt the momentum of their bullshit in the moment. And sometimes that’s the best you can hope for.
Fingers crossed that a variant of COVID-19 appears that specifically targets right wingers. Oh wait, that's already happening! Right-wingers always end up being their own worst enemies in the end.