Michael Pollak wrote:
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> In broader terms, there is no way that you ever change anyone's defining
> convictions, or win an argument over what those convictions imply,
PERIOD! But what follows is profoundly wrong.
Opinions are only in the rarest instances of a few scattered individuals changed by arguments. Arguments are only fruitful among those who share the same basic convicions. That is, if you are both socialists, you can argue, sometimes usefully, over strategy and tactics. But no one is aruged or persuaded by discourse to become a socialist.
When people find themselves inolved in a profoundly different practice, then they look around for someone to persuade them to a belief consonant with that practice.
Forget about persuading people. They don't even know you exist. They don't read your publications because they don't know those publications exist. They don't listen to your radio talk because they don't know your station exists. They don't read your books because they don't know they exist. They don't read your magazine articles. So forget about persuading them with your words until action/practice makes them go looking for someone like you.
Carrol