How to Argue and Win...or at Least Be Right!

Would you rather be happy or right?   Obviously, it would be best if we could be both.  But many times we argue with people who are just as convinced that they are right as we are.  They may wind up playing a game of verbal “chicken,” in which they try to force you to get out of the way of their message and be declared the “loser.”   When you get involved in a heated argument, consider your two choices.  If you really, really need to be right all of the time, be prepared to do the following:
  

• Determine why everyone who disagrees with you is wrong.  When you debate person after person and keep declaring yourself unequivocally right, you will have to satisfy your own mind as to how this could be so.  Are the other people stupid, uninformed, biased, bought off or perhaps playing the devil’s advocate to annoy you?
   
• Always choose the subject for debates.  You will need to determine how to keep those wrong-headed people on their toes and challenge them on issues you know something about.  Remember that if they fire back at you about something you know nothing about, you’ll have to fake it or say those words you love to hear other people say “I don’t know.”
   
• Borrow some stereotypes to help you when you get stuck in your righteous arguments.  You can tell people their “liberal” ideas are against what they mainstream public needs.  Or, if need be, you could tell people their “conservative” or “Tea Party” ideas are not what the mainstream public needs.  Go ahead and be a “switch-hitter” - just keep track of your audiences!
   
• Keep a few phrases handy when you fear you may be wrong, or, well, not quite right.  Practice telling your opponents that they “don’t get it,” they “do not have one iota of proof” or they suffer from a disorder no one has heard of.  The saying that "it is what it is" is perfect because it is so hard to argue with.  If you can’t be right, you can at least sound like it.
   
• Don’t forget to imply things.  Telling the other side that people like them have “closed minds” or that they are borderline racist sends the message that they can fight back at their risk – you can always say you referred to other people and not them.

Being right all the time is difficult.  Admitting that your opponent’s argument has any merit is for fools.  You must not give in, compromise or say “whatever.”  That is for those crazy people who want to be happy.  Once you convince yourself that you have all of the answers, you’ll be too far gone to care!