Four Political Lessons from Milo Yiannopoulos
Last week I had the chance to talk to Milo Yiannopoulos (aka @Nero on Twitter) on the Political Punks Podcast. Milo is one of the best-known technology and media commentators in Europe. My cohost, artist Brett Smith, and I have a bit of a Milo-obsession. Brett started following Milo’s writing after reading his Sexodus series. I’ll be honest, I don’t even read any of his stuff. I just enjoy his fabulous persona. (That is obviously a joke. I love his writing style just as much as his hairstyle.)
It’s worth listening to our entire conversation with Milo, but here are a couple political lessons we learned in our 55-minute threesome.
1. Mock, Don’t Reason
One bad habit of those on the Right is to accept the narrative put forth by the Left and then try to use reason to prove that it’s wrong. That gives the Left too much credit and too much power. Instead, be like Milo and mock them. As you’ll hear on our podcast he does an amazing impression of a LGBT social justice warrior. Much like fellow political punks Greg Gutfeld and Andrew Breitbart, Milo is a master at dismissing and mocking the Left.
2. Stop Virtue Signaling
In our interview, Milo correctly identifies the Left’s tendency to use the Right’s chivalry against them. In December Milo tweeted, “Virtue signaling, like social justice, is usually cover for something.” (See: Every televangelist who should be kneeling before God rather than kneeling before his vices.) The Right doesn’t gain anything by playing the virtue signaling game. It is owned by slacktivists who immediately have whatever avi filter is new on Facebook. Saying you’re a caring, unselfish person is like saying you’re a lady. If you have to say it, you’re not.
3. It’s Good to Be Banned
We coined the term “political punk” to describe those who go against the political right and the cultural left. On the podcast Milo tells a brilliant (Oh, geez, now I’m starting to talk like him) story about a debate in which he was uninvited. Whether it’s a PC-obsessed college or CPAC or a media outlet, all the cool people on our side — Ann Coulter, Gavin McInnes, Greg Gutfeld, myself, among many others — have felt the sting of being fired or banned and it made us all more badass. If you’re a college kid who wants to start a ruckus on your campus, invite Milo to speak. Making the administration and your tenured, hippie professors mad is totally punk. Gavin will tell you that it might even get you laid.
4. Milo is the Master of Many Domains and You Should Be, Too
When we booked Milo for the Political Punks Podcast we intended to talk about how feminists are ruining everything. However, it was soon apparent that Milo has insight into lots of issues. We all have our pet issues, but we shouldn’t tune out all the other things that are happening in the world. Andrew Breitbart often said many conversations he had with liberals were about British New Wave music. When we step outside our media, pop culture and issue bubbles we become stronger and more knowledgeable. We also gain credibility from potential converts.
Click here to listen to our interview with Milo. Click here to listen to past episodes with Greg Gutfeld, Nick Gillespie, Chuck Dixon, Ann Coulter, Thaddeus McCotter, Terry Schappert.
