by Ken Hiebert
Ah, conversation. That thrilling interplay and exchange of ideas that make all parties involved that much more adept at navigating the complexities of life.
Who doesn’t relish this time spent with peers over a steaming mug of coffee or an icy beverage? How many problems have been solved and mysteries unravelled by simply opening oneself up to new ideas or patterns of thought?
Surely the ancient Greeks were masters of this art as well as being masters of the thought process that accompanied it.
My, how times have changed…
These days I often find myself amused when in discussion with certain types of people on social media. I suppose it could be argued whether that should even be considered “conversation” at all. Regardless, in matters of politics or religion (and sometimes it’s difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins) it’s quite common to see both parties take very strong positions (obviously). Anyway, it seems there’s usually at least a brief moment of respectable dialogue where each party makes some manner of effort at stating reasonable sounding points. Then, (and remember I’m talking about a certain type of people here) from out of nowhere come the BIG BAD THREE and you know they’ve completely run out of intelligent sounding things to say.
The BIG BAD THREE are words or phrases that are meant to simulate the proverbial “mic drop”. An answer that is so complete, so final in its judgement as to be without equal in the realm of conversation or debate. The BIG BAD THREE are swift and lethal, a complete dismissal of all things contrary to humanity and intelligence. To drop any of these truth bombs is to verily assure instantaneous and resounding victory.
So, without further ado, here are the BIG BAD THREE in a commonly occurring order:
1. “Conspiracy theorist”
Often this one is used in conjunction with “Denier” and sometimes is just implied because the person is not sure if they really want to commit, although quite often these types of people will skip right over the usual pleasantries such as asking for clarification, or finding out what the hell you’re even talking about and go straight for the kill shot with this gem.
2. “White Supremacist”
Often “white privilege” is substituted for this if the person is still feeling their way through the conversation. Really, “white privilege” is the more common version, but it generally means almost the same thing to the person using it. What this does is let you know in no uncertain terms that the person knows exactly what colour your skin is and that they’re not afraid to use it against you. Usually this word is used right after you provide facts or a credible news article to back up what you’re saying.
Then, if you’re still there and haven’t gone running back to your evil lair, you can pretty much count on them pulling out the big guns. That’s right - the R-word and I’m not talking about the musical term that means “to gradually slow down”.
Yup, it’s:
3. “RACIST”
This is undoubtedly the most powerful of the BIG BAD THREE because it’s arguably considered to be the absolute WORST thing a human could become. This mic-dropping bomb of truth is generally reserved for the end of the argument and usually shows up after the second or third time you present actual facts or a peer-reviewed study to support what you’re saying. The beauty of this one is that it can pretty much be applied in any circumstance because most people don’t even know what it means anymore due to its overuse and broad application.
I’ve found that it really doesn’t matter much what the topic of discussion is, these words are all zingers. They’re versatile and malleable enough to pretty much cover it all - especially since even the ones that actually have a real definition have been essentially stripped of any meaning due to language dilution.
So there you have it - the BIG BAD THREE.
A guaranteed winner when you run out of facts.