How to expose the neo-conic view and dismantle it

[Lord Xar]

I try to remember when I was woken up from my neo-conic mind-control, and I am wondering if many of you, who are very learned in the Freedom Movement, are trying to open the eyes of the neo-cons with too much sugar.

I was reading another thread "neo-con soldier" and realized that even though Revolution had some great points, he was fighting an uphill battle where personal reflection will not take place. The neo-con, will just regurgitate what he knows as a defense, to maintain his/her belief.

For me, it wasn't so much all the 'facts' or 'common sense'. I was introduced to the manipulation done to me by the GOP and then I actually became rabid in my need to rail against the GOP corruptness. So, what I am getting at, is not to push forward straight on ---- because all you will get is a defensive wall.. but rather, how to circumvent that wall and play on the neo-cons (and yes, the neo-libs/progressives) pride by showing how he/she have been manipulated that those he sides with. Not sure I am expressing this effectively enough. Basically, exposing that it is us "the common man, the voter, the citizen" that exhibits the true nature of our idealogies not the politicians who we 'follow'. Thus, to try and remove a neo-cons corruption by removing his feeding tube from the very politicians he admires. By exposing them and their ulterior wants/needs we allow the neo-con to gain self-actualization into how he/she has been manipulated.

I just wonder when you "all" woke up. I think it wasn't anything so convoluted as an hour or endless conversations with someone. But rather, some ephiphanic moment - like a light switch. Well, how do we turn on that light switch in a short amount of time?

So, what are some effective ways we can "open the eyes" of others?

[torchbearer]

I've always been libertarian, so I don't really understand the mindset of a neocon.
I never had a "wake up" moment.
Ron Paul helped me put some pieces together... but thats about it.

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

I've always been libertarian, so I don't really understand the mindset of a neocon.
I never had a "wake up" moment.
Ron Paul helped me put some pieces together... but thats about it.

Same here, though I was more paleo-con in my earlier days. Sorry can't be too much of a help OP. That does sound like a better angle to get to them though. Show the ulterior motives for what is currently happening.

Give them a run down of Paul Wolfowitz and that'll be a good start.

[ronpaulhawaii]

Here is my latest foray into Neo-Con hell

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=746697&id=1018295616&comments&alert

Notice that I plant seeds all through the thread... I am not really trying to convert the protagonists and basically am addressing any lurkers. I try to be respectful and walk the tightrope between bashing or overstating... The protagonist tries to get a rise out of me a few times, and baits me with irrelevancies. I ignore them and just keep planting my seeds, always returning to the one point they will have trouble arguing. The skyrocketing suicide rate amongst our troops...

[yokna7]

Neoconservatism and policy in Israel is on the same wavelength. Read 'Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict' by Finkelstein. In the first chapters he paints a picture of the vision of zionism, of the "nation". Or 'From the Jewish Question to the Jewish State: An Essay on the Theory of Zionism'

This I think can be applied to Neoconservatism, this image and responsibility of a "nation".

[Bucjason]

I don't think it's possible to change anyone's mind who is passionate about thier beliefs. They have to come to thier awakening on thier own terms.

[apropos]

I posted the following awhile back concerning this topic:

"First, I think we should acknowledge that the argument we use - that Americans are obligated to follow the Constitution - is ineffective and unpersuasive to most Americans. The founding ideals of this country no longer hold sway on most of its citizens.

If Republicans truly valued Constitutional authority, we would not have seen support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Patriot Act, Social Security, the various foreign policy entanglements, the Fed, or government-run "free trade" agreements. I'll call these "the statist Republicans", who can be the gatekeepers of the GOP's political party or just your average RedState.com blogger.

To start winning statist Republicans over to the side of classical liberalism and smaller government, they must be forced to re-evaluate their current beliefs. Where our pleas to respect Constitutional authority have failed, appeals to their political rancor may succeed....and turn pro-war Republicans into anti-war Republicans.

Most pro-war Republicans believe that spreading the American way (freedom, etc.) is justification for the wars. But what Republicans fail to realize is that they are spreading American qualities that they personally despise. For example: state-sponsored abortions, political correctness, affirmative action, hate crime laws, the usurping of religion in favor of government-as-saviour: these are things most Republicans hate, and these things represent the spirit of modern American times....much more so than the Constitution and classical liberalism. Therefore, where America spreads its influence, it spreads these attitudes. Europe, for example, was never politically correct before America's influence to be PC.

One might ask a pro-war Republican: our soldiers are dying so Obama and Pelosi can spread their influence to an international level? We should rebuild other ungrateful countries while our own bridges fall down? Protect the borders of Afghanistan and Iraq while our own are left wide open?

If pro-war Republicans are convinced that by their actions they are spreading the values they personally hate, pro-war becomes anti-war - and in the resulting vacuum they are much more receptive to a pro-Constitution argument."

[WClint]

Most neocons are supposed to not like commies.
I like to show them this video in which Ron Paul clearly explains that Neocons are NOT conservatives but rather Neo-troskites (Communists).

YouTube - Ron Paul names Neo-Cons on House Floor July 10 2003 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNb_610L0GE)

[Vessol]

Well I really am still a young adult, so I never really woke up from anything. I was raised in a conservative house hold. As a teenager was a liberal I guess, I didn't understand economics but valued social liberties. My economic beliefs expanded when I learned about Ron Paul in 2007 however I still hold similar social liberties beliefs(gay rights, women rights, etc).

Waking up neocons is pretty damn hard. Especially today. The main thing you have to wake them up about is our foreign policy.

[Fr3shjive]

I've always been libertarian minded but was raised a democrat. I used to think that it was the government's job to take care of the people because that is just how I was raised.

Eventually I started frequenting a few forums and people kept posting political positions quizzes. I kept coming up with libertarian results. I didnt think they could be right till I actually thought about the stuff I believed in.

I guess this doesnt really apply to neo-cons but its how I "woke up" from being a democrat to what I believe in today. I just think a lot of people are raised one way and never really think about what their own beliefs.