(This article and the previous part 1 are meant to be a bit of fun, and not to be taken seriously.)
Part one looked at the need for memes and how they can be used effectively. Part 2 now explores rhetoric and further meme ideas.
Rhetoric
To quote Vox Day: “Remember, the most effective rhetoric communicates truth without necessarily being literally truthful in the details. It persuades through emotion, not reason, which is why it cannot be analyzed in the same way as a logical syllogism.” To quote Aristotle “there are some who cannot be taught.” This means that some people do not respond to logical, factual arguments, only emotions and feelzTM e.g. socialists. For some, facts bypass them like the implications of free movement does for Remainers. This perfectly describes the Left in the U.K. at the present time. It doesn’t matter that you point out Corbyn’s flawed economics time and again, or point out that free stuff isn’t actually free. They won’t listen, because they are emotionally hooked on the thought on change and freebies. You need to emotionally cut through, and trigger them.
It takes a while to understand this that there are those that cannot/will not engage in discussions using purely facts (dialectic), but only in emotions. Once you realise this, you understand much of Socialism. Some arguments cannot be won with logic, because the opposition possess none. Look at the constant calls of “racist” or “Nazi.” These are in emotional appeals in spite of, or perhaps because of, any facts to the contrary. They have no other arguments, so shout and scream and appeal to emotion. Anything to avoid thinking.
Your memes also need to be targeted to the specific audience. What may work on one group, may not work on others. This is where it pays to know your enemy. Yes, these can be dark arts, and I know some of you will be uncomfortable with that. But sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. And we’ve been losing the culture wars, badly. We need to be offensive, not just reacting. These type of memes can immediately put the opposition on the back foot. My advice is if you are not comfortable with this, stick to the funny memes. Which brings us to…
Another example from our very own Maximum Overdrive on the Going Postal blog Disqus forum.
Again, the reference point is a well known sci-fi film, Starship Troopers. It references the classic scene when a telepathic character reads a bug mind, and declares it is afraid. Maximum Overdrive expertly photoshops Tommy Robinson’s head onto the body. He then labels the bug as the notorious blog Guido Fawkes, which refuses to publish anything by Tommy, and is always anti anything he says or writes and ran a series of articles against him. This meme looks very simple, but is highly effective in what it conveys to the viewer. Tommy is clearly in a position of dominance, while Guido is netted and fully under his control, and afraid. Guido in the bug’s position is clearly the enemy of humanity. Excellent work.
You get bonus points for any sci-fi and fantasy related geekery. Lord of the Rings is another favourite, as well as Star Wars and Star trek, etc. Take your pick. And you can meme about anything:
We Need to Talk About Pepe…
The face that triggered a thousand lefties. And many more since. He has now been labelled a Nazi hate symbol (no, really). How did this come about? (From knowyourmeme.com):
Pepe the Frog is an anthropomorphic frog character from the comic series Boy’s Club by Matt Furie. On 4chan, various illustrations of the frog creature have been used as reaction faces, including Feels Good Man, Sad Frog, Angry Pepe, Smug Frog and Well Meme’d.
On July 22nd, 2015, Malaysian artist Maldraw posted an image on 4chan’s /pol/ board of Smug Pepe as Donald Trump overlooking a fence at the U.S.-Mexican border holding back sad Mexicans drawn as the Feels Guy. As the association of Trump and Pepe continued to gain popularity on 4chan and Reddit, on October 13th Donald Trump retweeted an illustration of Trump Pepe.
On May 26th, 2016, The Daily Beast published an article titled “How Pepe the Frog Became a Nazi Trump Supporter and Alt-Right Symbol.“ The creator of Pepe killed him off to end Alt-Right association, and reclaim the character. But that didn’t go so well…
(Meme courtesy of Vox Day)
Praise Kek!
(From knowyourmeme.com)
Allied to our friend in green is the internet deity of Kek. The Cult of Kek, also known as the Church of Kek, is a satirical religion based around the worship of the ancient Egyptian deity Kek (also spelled Kuk or Keku), an androgynous God of darkness and chaos who is often depicted as a frog or frog-headed man in male form or a snake-headed woman in female form. The character Pepe the Frog is often considered a modern avatar of the deity, who uses ancient Egyptian meme magic to influence the world, often by fulfilling the wishes of posts that end in repeating numbers.
Both Pepe and Kek drive the Left insane. Extra trigger points. Groyper is the new frog on the block. One to watch out for.
Harambe
Harambe can be included in a meme, but his name must be followed by P.B.U.H (Peace Be Upon Him). It is particularly poignant to include him on the anniversary of his ascension, 28th May. I know, it seems to come around quicker every year!
Spicy Memes
Spicy memes are edgy, can be a bit out there and controversial. They are the type that could get you a twitter ban. There are worse ones than this, but I wanted the piece to get on the blog.
Scrump Monkey
Scrump Monkey Manages to pull off a 9/11 meme against CNN in the wake of the doxing scandal. He uses the well known reference of 9/11. CNN is the towers, with one already hit. This shows CNN as already weak and damaged. Trump is the second plane, coming to finish the job.
He walks the line here. Showing the plane hitting, or people falling, would probably be too much. The meme would upset people other than the target, and cause backlash. It would also cease to be funny for many. You need to trigger the opposition, while keeping your audience on board. Also, if you go too far you may get banned from the platform you are using. If you do, you have lost an outlet through which you can meme. It is no good just showing them to a small circle of friends. They need to circulate widely to have an effect. It is no good having the mother of all memes if you have nowhere to post it.
A traditional British Christmas: pic.twitter.com/uOQOskfu49
— Jonathon Davies (@JonathonDavies6) December 18, 2017
How not to Meme (the Left)
The left cannot meme. Fact. We don’t know why, exactly. Latest research by scienticians suggests that the virus Spazmodius Twattockus, commonly known as ‘Socialism’ blocks the memetic part of the brain. The Left. Cannot. Meme. All they have is vulgarity and violence. Their memes just don’t work. Take a look:
Culture Wars
So, there you have a few meme basics. This should be enough to set you on your way. The culture wars are there to be won. The left cannot meme. We have the upper hand. We can seize the moral high ground. We can take it from the left and the social justice warriors. We can delegitimise their propaganda. We will do this with wit, humour, cunning, creativity and cleverness. We will win the internet, today’s modern battlefield. Memes are modern media mass information weapons, and need to be deployed. And remember if you get a good meme, spread it around, because…
Post your memes below to spread online…
© Jonathon Davies 2018
(Part 3 will look at how to actually make memes, after getting reader feedback.)
