On Losing Arguments/Making Enemies

If you want to lose an argument/make an enemy, conduct yourself as follows.

@FabiusMaximus01: Hi I'm going to cite an article in The Economist magazine that uses a flawed measure of inequality to promote a narrative that supports redistribution of wealth policy.

@MikeDGarrison (the hero of this story): That article ignores existing redistribution of income in the form of social programs, educational subsidies, food stamps, medicaid, and any and all other forms of assistance the lower quintiles receive.  Also, as a share of overall consumption, the consumption of the poor has NOT diminished compared to the rich in roughly 40 years.

@FabiusMaximus01: 1) Analysts do not ignore the transfers of wealth.  2) The top 1% don't want to consume anymore, and the rest of us 99% can't afford to consume anymore because of how poor we are.  Also, the 1% invest their earnings which makes income inequality worse.  Muhaha, see what I did there.  I quoted an article and you responded to the article, but then I made the whole thing about the job of "analyst."  Now, I know that "analyst" is a term used to describe about 45% of all jobs on the planet, but I don't care, I'm just going to change the topic and make the discussion about "analysts" not what I actually mentioned in my initial tweet.  See what I did there?  See how great I am? 

@MikeDGarrison The article in The Economist made it clear that they were referring to shares of income.  Plus, my reference on consumption refers to an actual study by two economists.  Here is their article. 

@FabiusMaximus01: Hahahahahahaha, the WSJ?????  You actually read that silly filth?  They're propagandists, they represent the man!!!!  I get all of my econ information exclusively from Paul Krugman, Brad DeLong, and Nouriel Roubini!  I only need 140 characters to completely refute what two respected economists have to say.

@MikeDGarrison:  Ok, go ahead.

@FabiusMaximus01: Go ahead what?

@MikeDGarrison: Refute them.

@FabiusMaximus01: I did, I said that they wrote for the WSJ!

@MikeDGarrison: That's not a refutation.  That's like saying 2 + 2 does not equal 4 because the mathematician that figured it out was a Jew. 

@FabiusMaximus01: He probably was...you know you can't trust Jews right?

@MikeDGarrison: We're done here.

Note: Some of the twitter exchanges may have been modified to reflect authorial intent.