on being persuasive
@ciggysmokebringerCertainly we can't rely on the kindness or openmindedness of our enenemies, but yeah you can't write off your opponent either in favor of some cartoonish good vs evil narrative where are enemies are mindless robots and we are the morally perfect heroes. No, any given person can be on either side of a picket line, a cop or outlaw given the basically random circumstances of our life. And if we are interested in something like a social revolution then that means a great number of people have to be able to change their minds, to change and grow. And all of our political action should consider the dimension of persuasion, we should always ask what our actions communicate? That doesn't mean some shallow concerned for 'optics' or appealing to the CNN target audience, the fictitious silent majority, no, but consider the real people you've met, at school, at work, people who go to bars etc. What do they value, what do they believe, what would change their mind.
Re cops we also shouldn't underestimate their intelligence and profficiency, many highly intlligent, educated and ambitious people become cops along with the C student bullies that make up the rank and file. Bonanno says in Locked Up
"I've met many stupid anarchists and many intelligent cops."Don't think you can outsmart a cop or turn them into a double agent, this isn't a fucking movie, llol, tell them nothing. Literally just sit there, make it awkward , make them not want to talk to you, or if you can't not say anything speak completely off topic, ask them questions, get them to open up and then just ask for a lawyer lol. It's still a battle of will, and they will fuck your mind up if they fell like it, because they're sadists / murderers, thugs, there is really no convincing them, many cops are fanatatics in more ways than one there's no convincing. Still siscipline and courage is impressive, especially to people who become cops, in fact they have nothing to contempt for informants, they hate them almost as bad as cops that defect, so there are serious, brutally violent consequences to leaving the police. But when you're ultimately right, factually morally, there's a certain power that has that can't really be measured, contrasting that with the heinous brutallity of the police, stripping the moral/cultural legitamacy by dispelling all the myths, exposing the true nature of hte system and proving that anarchists are right.
As with any personal confrontation, a cop, like a nazi, a politician a capitalist, or some other class enememy, it's not about persuading them per se, as much as being persuasive to the observer, it's the same principle as with internet arguments