Gaddafi's Failure of Rhetoric

I'm sure we have all been following the protests in Libya with intense interest for the past week. Hopefully, I'm not the only one constantly refreshing Al Jazeera's live blog of the protests. Of particular interest is Gadaffi's remarks during this whole event. During a speech on Tuesday, he referred to the protesters as "rats" and "mercenaries" and accused them of being on hallucinogenic drugs. Unsurprisingly, this speech has actually been blamed for further angering the protectors, and accelerating Gadaffi's inevitable downfall. Not to mention the widespread condemnation it brought from the rest of the world.

Now, the fact that Gaddafi's speech failed to rally Libyans to his side is unsurprising given his harsh despotic rule and the the fact that he's widely considered to be insane. But it does illustrate a key point when trying to persuade people to your side. Don't insult your opposition. First off, by making the argument personal all you'll end up doing is adding to your opposition resolve, who will be more determined to prove your wrong. A similiar situation was during the Iranian protests of 2009 where the President of Iran referred to protesters as "dust in the wind", which only furthered increased the protests who angrily chanted "we are not dust". And, as Gadaffi showed us, insulting your opposition hurts the legitimacy of your arguments. Granted, Gadaffi had few legitimacy left at this point but worldwide condemnation did seem to increase after that speech.

So basically, when you're in a debate with someone, remember to not make the argument personal. All it will do is hurt any legitimate points you had. This can be applied for a variety of situations, such as an informal debate with a friend, an organized debate with a debate club, or if you end up a leader of a third-world nation through a military coup and are trying to brutally suppress a popular uprising.