America has gone mad, it has lost its way, and lost its mind, the killing of a ultra right wing fanatic with views that are not mainstream, is not an excuse to attack anyone who has different values, pull yourself together and stop 🛑 fighting with each other! 🤷♀️🤐🤬😖😡😤🤦♀️
I was engaging with conservative family last week, and it's interesting to me that while before the killer was identified, they were saying in the same breath that it is the left that has gone mad and in the same breath they were concerned about fascism. I am glad I was able to engage with them before the conversation went sour, but one person stated how socialism is a slippery slope toward fascism. I'm currently trying to navigate my boundaries with this line of thinking but also gain understanding to how people get there so I have the knowledge to make sense of it / engage. If anyone has books, readings, recs of any kind, feel free to drop them here.
It would be a little foolish for me to prescribe a single way to change someone’s perspective but my general advice is to tread lightly when emotions are high. Furthering discord is a risk that marginalized groups are rarely in a good position to take in the US, this is a material truth for the “left”. However, I do think there are positive steps to disarm the majority of conservative’s fears. This is simply to remind them of the value of your circumstantial bonds and history. Despite our political disagreements in the US, we are neighbors of some kind and the reality of our interconnectedness is inescapable and evident with a little investigation.
If your politics or worldview runs left of your family’s, this fact is known to them, and your relationship is in good standing, this fact would be a useful reality check for them if they start declaring the “left has gone mad”. Why would they think anyone left of them, anyone with contrary beliefs like yourself, would have “gone mad” as they say. Does anything your behavior prove to be any more or less mad than the extreme reactions taken from a random selection of the general population in the wake of the murder or (insert any world event)? Have you ever demonstrated any intent to do harm? Have you gotten in arguments or fights and shown a willingness to forgive or apologize? These are two totally different things! A lot of our responses to extreme events are quite abnormal and aren’t even fair indications of our average behavior.
So I’d really question whether or not their generalization of the left being mad is fair at all. There’s a surplus of poor speech from all angles of life these days and an exceedingly low emphasis on productive speech overall. Emotions are high and it’s truly difficult for any of us to regulate and maintain sensibility in the face of severe changes regardless of who may or may not be responsible.
If you care deeply to improve the world but have a different perspective on how to do it, maintaining your community bonds, building rapport and living your beliefs is a good first step. You’re being the ambassador for this new way.
PS — You did a wonderful thing interrupting your family conversation and challenging unhelpful ideas. However small it may seem, it’s a start.
Thank you for this thoughtful and deep comment! I want to continue to be an ambassador while maintaining care for my own nervous system, and I will come back to this comment again when I need some grounding.
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. "
-Martin Niemöller, German theologian and pastor, arrested by Gestapo and imprisoned in concentration camp as a political prisoner
America has gone mad, it has lost its way, and lost its mind, the killing of a ultra right wing fanatic with views that are not mainstream, is not an excuse to attack anyone who has different values, pull yourself together and stop 🛑 fighting with each other! 🤷♀️🤐🤬😖😡😤🤦♀️
I was engaging with conservative family last week, and it's interesting to me that while before the killer was identified, they were saying in the same breath that it is the left that has gone mad and in the same breath they were concerned about fascism. I am glad I was able to engage with them before the conversation went sour, but one person stated how socialism is a slippery slope toward fascism. I'm currently trying to navigate my boundaries with this line of thinking but also gain understanding to how people get there so I have the knowledge to make sense of it / engage. If anyone has books, readings, recs of any kind, feel free to drop them here.
It would be a little foolish for me to prescribe a single way to change someone’s perspective but my general advice is to tread lightly when emotions are high. Furthering discord is a risk that marginalized groups are rarely in a good position to take in the US, this is a material truth for the “left”. However, I do think there are positive steps to disarm the majority of conservative’s fears. This is simply to remind them of the value of your circumstantial bonds and history. Despite our political disagreements in the US, we are neighbors of some kind and the reality of our interconnectedness is inescapable and evident with a little investigation.
If your politics or worldview runs left of your family’s, this fact is known to them, and your relationship is in good standing, this fact would be a useful reality check for them if they start declaring the “left has gone mad”. Why would they think anyone left of them, anyone with contrary beliefs like yourself, would have “gone mad” as they say. Does anything your behavior prove to be any more or less mad than the extreme reactions taken from a random selection of the general population in the wake of the murder or (insert any world event)? Have you ever demonstrated any intent to do harm? Have you gotten in arguments or fights and shown a willingness to forgive or apologize? These are two totally different things! A lot of our responses to extreme events are quite abnormal and aren’t even fair indications of our average behavior.
So I’d really question whether or not their generalization of the left being mad is fair at all. There’s a surplus of poor speech from all angles of life these days and an exceedingly low emphasis on productive speech overall. Emotions are high and it’s truly difficult for any of us to regulate and maintain sensibility in the face of severe changes regardless of who may or may not be responsible.
If you care deeply to improve the world but have a different perspective on how to do it, maintaining your community bonds, building rapport and living your beliefs is a good first step. You’re being the ambassador for this new way.
PS — You did a wonderful thing interrupting your family conversation and challenging unhelpful ideas. However small it may seem, it’s a start.
Thank you for this thoughtful and deep comment! I want to continue to be an ambassador while maintaining care for my own nervous system, and I will come back to this comment again when I need some grounding.
I’m glad to have helped in some way! Your discretion is always warranted. May your days ahead be bountiful.
Noticed how quick was Musk to blame the undefined “Left“ on X?
Almost as quick as they blamed Soviets for JFK..
***
"We Will Coup Whoever We Want!"
-Elon Musk, aka "Heil Imperialism!"
youtu.be/MguxV2HZWVk?t=863