My meme primarily uses two forms of rhetoric, that being logos and pathos. My meme is meant to lampoon people who exploit pathos by comparing their opponent’s argument to someone who committed terrible atrocities such as Hitler or Stalin without actually having anything to back that opinion up. I’m saying in this meme people are going more off emotion than actual facts and logic and pretending that’s something someone who is enlightened would do. This adds some irony to it. This is why my meme is using logos to say, “Hey, shouldn’t we use facts and logic to debate these kinds of issues instead of using a scapegoat and the slippery slope fallacy?”
I use the examples of Hitler and Stalin due to the fact that is what many political extremists tend to use to dehumanize their opponent. Right-wingers refer to those they disagree with as Stalin, while left-wingers refer to those they disagree with as Hitler. My point is to say that these people are two sides of the same coin, not because of their political views but because of how they lack actual debating skills.
Like many memes, there are many people who might find this offensive or funny, whether it’s because they are strongly politically aligned, or are someone who simply gets offended that I brought up one of these two men in something as trivial as a meme, people are not going to like it because of those reasons. Those who it might appeal to are centrists and people who like to have civil debates without needing to use low-hanging fruits that don’t really work well in an actual debate.
My meme uses logos and pathos to demonstrate the distaste others and I have for those who can’t debate using facts and logic and instead go for something as extreme as comparing men who have killed in the millions. Though the meme is not meant for everyone, for it may alienate those with strong political views, I do feel like its sense of irony and use of rhetoric gives it a charm.
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