This is a question not of political philosophy but one of psychology.
Among the biggest differences between trolls and regular message board posters is the genuine desire to not only begin a debate, but to actually participate in it. With only a few restrictions (lack of access to a computer) any asshole can be a troll. Theoretically any piece of shit can troll any message board.
So why do wing nut trolls like to hit-and-run so much? Business, education, health care. Every troll I know believes that they can do these things better than anyone else. But they have no interest whatsoever in backing up baseless accusations and name calling.
How does that equate into knowing what’s best for the rest of us?
Because they lack the ability to do anything else. Look what happens on the occasion some guy actually stays and tries to defend the claim that Obama isn’t American, that Jews are Behind it All, that the Moon landings are a hoax, that anarchy will work or anything like that; they get eaten alive. They tend to have few debate skills, and are trying to defend the indefensible anyway. Their natural habitat is the message board run by people who ban anyone who disagrees with the party line; not one where people are allowed to argue with them.
I think some of them believe they just need to leave thier shining nugget of pure logic and all who read it will see how unassailable the truth of it is. No need to hang around.
I suspect that for a lot of them it’s not about the claim anyway. It’s all about the reaction, and the pet topic may have little to do with it. The guy may be a liberal democrat but he posts a drive by about how Obama is going to hire homosexual illegal immigrants to take the elderly off of life support. He doesn’t believe a word of it, but he’s laughing his ass off at everyone falling over themselves to refute his claim. He doesn’t defend it, because that wasn’t the point to begin with.
Think of him as the type of asshole that will tap on the glass of a fish tank or toss pebbles at the gorillas in the zoo.
I agree that 99% of it is the reaction. Watching people go ape shit on a message board is fascinating.
Post a criticism of Obama and shit flies, add in homosexuality, illegal immigration, abortion, guns… People so easily lose their shit when a topic touches too close to a nerve.
The other 1% is to find cracks: People piling on to defend Obama will inevitably slip and say one thing wrong. That means everything else they’ve said is wrong. With means the OP is correct.
A sadly successful debate tactic because people can’t keep their shit together. Kind of like playing Hearts, when some times your hand sucks so bad you shoot for the moon, do it right and you’ll win. An alternative example is playing poker, bluff all the time then drop a pair of aces.
Spoken like the mindless puppet of the Catholic Church that you are. I would try to explain how the Elders of Zion have used Israel to seize control of the Papacy, but I know that you’ll just handwave it and continue your ignorant attack on the Hari Krishnas.
I’ve seen how “debating” goes on a site that is dedicated to dismissing such claims. It’s not very pretty, and I can fully understand how one might not want to repeat the experience on another board.
ps. Most of the opposition to conspiracy theories is what I prefer to call massdebating.
Here’s a novel idea: Work for everything you have and don’t steal from me! If you get cancer, that’s your problem and is probably entirely your fault. Therefore, expecting some government handout just because you just had to get an aggressive neoplasm is not only stealing from people who worked for everything they have, it’s encouraging others to get sick so they will be able to stop working.
Now, you adolescents will whine and bitch and moan about how life is random. Well, so what, children? If life is random to your misfortune, that means you aren’t working hard enough. People in the 1950s survived cancer with no socialist hand-outs at all. Did the randomness prevent them from maintaining their society and destroying Communism? Did it prevent them from utterly obliterating North Korea? Work harder, children! Honest labor is the path to liberty!
Finally, even if life is random, and you get a disease that makes it impossible to work, how is that my problem? Life is not fair. If you get robbed, or if you get assaulted, do you expect the government to step in and solve your little problem and kiss your boo-boo and make it better? If you do, you are a child and deserve to be sent to a boot camp until you learn the value of honest labor.
(Don’t get me started on the so-called American ‘Military’, our Fully-Socialized Welfare Force, our On-The-Dole Brigade. They can’t even put down rebellions like they used to, and it’s all down to the fact we are wasting our money on their healthcare! Paying for the VA Hospitals is just encouraging them to get shot so they can come home early instead of fighting, like soldiers. Liberty through honest labor would solve Asia once and for all.)
I have seen statements made which the poster seemed to believe were obvious and true. However, the reaction from the rest of the forum was a tad bit lackluster. If that reaction appears to be hand waving away or accusations of untruthfullness to the OP, then the original poster becomes disinclined to continue the discussion.
Example: Arizona’s immigration law 1070.
One poster might say that the folks who came up with the law did so because the Federal government does not appear to be taken an active enough role in stopping the flow of illegal immigrans into AZ. Another poster may reply “Lies! They just hate the brown people!” There does not seem to be much room to work with here, for a meaningfull debate. Thus, the original comment ends up being a drive-by.
Also, if a poster tries to make a point, and someone else does not reach the same conclusion, than the OP might be “Where do I go from here? This guy says water’s not wet!”