How to Handle Reactionary Encounters?

[Elect Marx]

So; I came back to the car repair shop today and a man came in while I was talking to the mechanic.
I was wearing my Che shirt that lists the price on his head (50.000 Pesos bolivianos, dead or alive) and of course “VIVA LA REVOLUCION!”
http://www.coven.net/che/storeimages/W-T26.jpg
Anyway this random person states agitatedly out of nowhere, "the guy in that picture killed 3000 people in my country; Argentina."

So yeah; the guy threw me off because he got really upset out of nowhere as I have noticed reactionaries seem to catch you at inconvenient times.
I was just leaving so I said "uhuh" and preceded to leave...

Another exchange I had, going back a few years; was a guy that asked me why I was against the death penalty... when I was wearing a shirt listing reasons for being against the death penalty <_<, So I just listed some of the reasons.

Going even farther back I had met some reactionary asshole at a rally against the Iraq war (early on) and I was wearing my "International Terrorist" shirt that has a depiction of Bush on it. The guy was getting all worked up "your shirt really pisses me off man."
As you might expect, the people at the rally where on him quick, as they didn&#39;t want him fucking the rally up...


I&#39;ve had other quick and pointless disputes with jackasses here and there but I am curious if anyone has ideas on good ways to deal with these situations.

[intrepid]

memorize this quote:

There were two "Reigns of Terror," if we would but remember it and consider it; the one wrought murder in hot passion, the other in heartless cold blood; the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one inflicted death upon ten thousand persons, the other upon a hundred millions; but our shudders are all for the "horrors" of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe, compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty, and heart-break? What is swift death by lightning compared with death by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror -- that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror which none of us has been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves

Mark Twain, writing about the French Revolution,
in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur&#39;s Court. Chapter XIII

http://www.historychannel.com/frenchrevolution/

[Amusing Scrotum]

Anyway this random person states agitatedly out of nowhere, "the guy in that picture killed 3000 people in my country; Argentina."

How did Che kill people in Argentina. I know about the executions at La Cabana, and his desire for revolution in Argentina and that several of his closest aides went to Argentina to persue the goal of revolution. They got killed very quickly and never came close to any form of revolution. There is some debate at to whether Che was going to join them in Argentina once the revolution got off the ground, it is a what if question. However I honestly don&#39;t know of any combat Che was invovled in, in Argentina, or that he killed one person there.

Was the guy you talked to an idiot or did he seem quite normal?

By the way, nice T-shirt.

[intrepid]

Originally posted by [email protected] 6 2005, 11:41 PM

Anyway this random person states agitatedly out of nowhere, "the guy in that picture killed 3000 people in my country; Argentina."

How did Che kill people in Argentina. I know about the executions at La Cabana, and his desire for revolution in Argentina and that several of his closest aides went to Argentina to persue the goal of revolution. They got killed very quickly and never came close to any form of revolution. There is some debate at to whether Che was going to join them in Argentina once the revolution got off the ground, it is a what if question. However I honestly don&#39;t know of any combat Che was invovled in, in Argentina, or that he killed one person there.

Was the guy you talked to an idiot or did he seem quite normal?

By the way, nice T-shirt.
I think the rascal was refering to Argentina&#39;s "dirty war" during the 1970s when after Che was murdered and the left was inspired with his death and started organizing then the rightist, reactionary forces went on the "defensive" and began killing, imprisoning, torturing and exiling leftists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_war

[Amusing Scrotum]

the rightist, reactionary forces went on the "defensive" and began killing, imprisoning, torturing and exiling leftists.

Then the person who blames Che for this is using the kind of logic that would say something like -

"Those bloody Jews, you know if they weren&#39;t Jews then Hitler wouldn&#39;t have had to kill six million of them. Those idiots its all their fault."

[bombeverything]

Originally posted by 313C7 [email protected] 6 2005, 07:19 PM
I&#39;ve had other quick and pointless disputes with jackasses here and there but I am curious if anyone has ideas on good ways to deal with these situations.

My advice is not to worry about it all that much. This is because it doesn&#39;t really matter what you say: they are clearly anti-communist or else they wouldn&#39;t feel the need to comment on a strangers t-shirt.

[Clarksist]

"the guy in that picture killed 3000 people in my country; Argentina."


The "guy in that picture" also gave his services of a doctor freely to poor people and lepers.

Che wasn&#39;t perfect, but I do know he had a reason for doing what he did.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

A good response would have been "no he didn&#39;t."

[Elect Marx]

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2005, 04:21 AM
A good response would have been "no he didn&#39;t."
In public yes but this guy seemed to have a screw loose... he didn&#39;t seem to be vulnerable to the yes/no debate tactic :P

Anyway, the guy seemed to have convinced himself so I was thinking of a more useful approach :unsure: in that particular circumstance it didn&#39;t really matter...

[Amusing Scrotum]

I&#39;ve had other quick and pointless disputes with jackasses here and there but I am curious if anyone has ideas on good ways to deal with these situations.

If their smaller than you point out to them how stupid their comments are and explain "the truth" to them. If their bigger than you, act like a dumbass and say sorry I didn&#39;t realise.
This works well for me, as at only 5 ft. 4 inches everyone is bigger than me, so I never get my head caved in. :P

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

If you don&#39;t correct them how do you expect them to ever know?

Not saying you should go back and forth with them for hours, if they are close minded and don&#39;t want to hear the truth then walk away, but if they just don&#39;t know any better, it&#39;s our responsibility to teach them.

[Clarksist]

Not saying you should go back and forth with them for hours, if they are close minded and don&#39;t want to hear the truth then walk away, but if they just don&#39;t know any better, it&#39;s our responsibility to teach them.


Exactly.

Teaching is the future, and so on. Education is always better than thinking you really "one uped" someone with a Che shirt, because they just acted like they saw the shirt and thought it looked cool.