Owning the libs

The phrase "own the libs" comes from a slang usage of the word "own", meaning "to dominate," "to defeat," or, "to humiliate." Variant phrases such as "triggering the libs" The phrase dates back to at least 2015. In his 2019 book Triggered, Donald Trump Jr. says that the purpose of triggering liberals is to oppose political correctness. The strategy is associated with confrontational political slogans such as "fuck your feelings" and "make liberals cry again." == History ==

Beginning in the 1980s, conservative talk radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh eschewed the intellectualism of earlier conservatives like William F. Buckley, instead using a more aggressive and confrontational rhetorical style that frequently employed ad hominems, taunting and hyperbole to attack liberal ideas. Conservative student activist groups like Turning Point USA and remixes of campus speakers like Ben Shapiro played a key role in developing the strategy during the 2000s and 2010s. Palin marked a merger between politics and entertainment, causing an anxiety among educated elites that her voters found thrilling. Wilson says owning the libs assuages insecurities of people on the American political right, and has become central to the Republican Party because of its success at this. The method was adopted by the alt-right and alt-lite as a form of trolling and antagonism in the mid/late 2010s. == Goals ==

Far-right conspiracy theorist Jacob Wohl has stated that the goal in owning the libs is to evoke in people "the type of unhinged emotional response that you would expect out of somebody who is suffering a serious mental episode." Users of the strategy sometimes seek to be deplatformed in order to gain notoriety. The phrase "the cruelty is the point" was coined from the title of Adam Serwer's 2018 article in The Atlantic about Trump supporters building community together by delighting in the suffering of those they consider outsiders. The phrase and the observation about shared joy in cruelty have been written about in the media as the purpose of owning the libs. Art critic Ben Davis has written that the painter Jon McNaughton's stated goal of creating work that "triggers the left" undersells the sincerity of his work. McNaughton's paintings communicate a "real and popular viewpoint" sincerely held by conservative or reactionary consumers of art, even as the paintings also function as memes intended to upset perceived political enemies. ==Criticism==

"rolling coal" The strategy of owning the libs has been criticized by both liberal and conservative observers as an unsuccessful strategy, or as leading only to counterproductive Pyrrhic victory. At a 2018 Turning Point USA event, Republican Nikki Haley remarked: Exhaust from rolling coal is sometimes directed at drivers of fuel-efficient cars and cyclists, in order to offend their presumed liberal environmentalist values. Marcotte argues that rolling coal has no value outside of trolling liberals. It costs the coal-roller money, increases fuel consumption, can void the warranty of their vehicle, and may violate air-pollution laws. Hence, Marcotte argues, rolling coal is an expensive and counterproductive way to misconstrue environmentalism as an identity marker instead of a policy matter. In 2020, Paul Waldman opined that "hatred of liberals is all that's left of conservatism." He argues that owning the libs has pushed aside all policy goals previously central to Republicans, such as small government and lower taxes, as well as Republican commitment to democracy and patriotism. Waldman gives the example of the Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit and the physical violence threatened against Republicans who refused to join the suit. == See also ==