We Americans who value history at least a little are familiar with both the Civil War and the Cold War. Right now, we are in the middle of a Civil Cold War. It’s not a phrase I can claim to coin (it’s been used since at least 2011), but it’s worth proliferating.

Why? Because we can learn from the Cold War to end our Civil one. The USSR collapsed because many citizens after 45 years were finally disillusioned about the communist doctrine. Government propaganda stopped being able to explain away its failure. Luckily for the U.S., the conservative propaganda machine is sputtering just a month into this term, because of the absurd subject it’s tasked to defend. So how we can learn from history? Imagine if those eventual Soviet castaways had a constant stream of their opposition’s gleeful mockery of them for being so foolish to believe the failing Soviet doctrine. Would that have helped?Studies indicate political ideology is rooted more deeply in the emotional area of the brain, the limbic system, which associates with religion, rather than the analytical portion, in the frontal lobe. For this reason, anyone attempting political persuasion must tread carefully. Mormons don’t knock door to door in African villages insulting African gods.

A collaborative 2016 study from several European universities showed analytical reasoning as the most effective rhetorical tool, as opposed to derision, or the least effective tool, empathy (this should mean progressives must avoid the phrase, “both sides are bad” at all costs). And considering today’s divisiveness and ridicule’s impotence during the 2016 presidential campaign, the progressive conversion methodology is clear: Disseminate information, ask questions, and reserve ridicule for exceptional situations (i.e., for legitimate white nationalists). I’ll be the first to admit I ridicule Trump voters. In fact, I can’t even bring myself to write “ridicule” in the past tense. I slip often as I tell myself it’s not helping. Can you blame me? Look at our president. He makes it so easy. However, I’m getting better.

But right now, the president’s incompetence is barely an asset. His voters are a constant subject of ridicule, giving them a motivation to affirm their reasoning, for ego preservation, to justify their votes. We’ve all seen it.

Because of this, we have to let them reach their own conclusions.

The president is making that part easy. Imagine having to wake up each morning and defend whatever word salad he tweets at 6 a.m. after another sleepless night. That’s on the agenda of every vocal conservative in the United States, and it’s not looking like it will get easier for them anytime soon.

Soviet rebels arrived at their own conclusions and imploded a government acting against their best interests, leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. To win the current American Civil Cold War, progressives must follow this blueprint, holster their ridicule, focus on indisputable issues events, and allow this administration to do its own dirty work.

-— Chris Steinke is a UI alum and former columnist for The Daily Iowan.