“I can fix them…” ~Common thought in an abusive relationship
It’s not going to work, at best they see themselves as a “missionary” whose purpose is to convert us from our “ways” and they’re not going to allow themselves to be converted.
What I want, what we all should want, is for the opposing party to at least come to the table with a) defensible positions e.g. I think we should spend our taxes on Y because X NOT “Trans are icky and need to be silenced” something akin to the (facade) of conservatives of ol’
And b) come to the table with at least an open mind
I don’t see any of that happening with conservatives nearly all the time and I have never seen anyone change a conservatives mind anywhere online. Like I said in another reply, I see it all the time, people on the left do engage with them. Presenting hard data, graphs, solid good sources, well structured arguments in all manner of lengths, all to be hand waved away by the Excuse of the Day™️
Once I was in a Reddit thread (might be Lemmy) awhile back where an expert deprogrammer had chimed in, according to them the only real way (their actual post was much more detailed, I wish I could find it again) to get to a conservative was IRL, through various means that boiled down to (heavy paraphrasing) reconnecting them with a “sense of belonging” in their local community. I specifically asked them how one could do it online, and was told that it’s essentially a fools errand.
And now trying on conservatives I know IRL, they were right, it’s fucking hard even when you have direct IRL access
Conservatives do change. Exposure is key. We’re where we are at because the rich have isolated us in echo-chambers. Speaking as a former conservative whose entire family across 3 generations shifted to the left. I caution your thinking they’re a lost cause.
It’s less about an abusive relationship and getting them therapy.
Some can and do, increasingly we’re in an age where conservativism is a dogma akin to a religion (and often entwined with it, of course) and that won’t change. I don’t think we need to shun all conservatives but we need to have a low tolerance for them if they don’t show that inclination. Being conciliatory to these people, by and large, is what has gotten us to this point
There’s a difference between being conciliatory and letting them exist in the space. They should be called out whenever they do something wrong/stupid. They should also be allowed to exist here and we should try to correct them. We don’t need to pretend they’re correct or reasonable. We just need to expose them to different ideas that they wouldn’t otherwise see.
I never said they should be immediately booted from the space, but talking to them - exposing them to ideas - is what got us to where we are now. “Oh, it’s such an echo chamber, that’s bad, everyone needs to be exposed to differing ideas”. The majority do not care, they’re willing to pretend to listen to ideas just so they can call you a slur and parrot their own talking points. They should be minimally engaged with and shunned unless they’re willing to meet a minimum standard of decorum, because nothing else has worked
Of course it would, at least for some of them… You can’t seriously believe that people cannot change their minds, especially conservatives, who often only have their views because of living in a bubble.
whose purpose is to convert us from our “ways”
Let them try. Let them actually lay out and present their twisted worldview. And if you don’t want to see it or hear about it, fine, block their space. It’s much more likely that they will change than it is for a leftist to change because the vast majority of leftists are actually familiar with the right and their believes. The other way around is generally a different story…
I’ve found it to be ineffective, sure some do “see the light”, but is it worth it?
Time and time again I see others lay out (not just here but on Reddit, TT, Xitter, Nextdoor and everywhere else) for conservatives evidence, graphs, good sources, scientific studies, hard numbers, video and photos, well structured arguments that are short, medium and long on length and much much more.
And what are they nearly always met with? That’s just fake news, lies by the deep State, “AI”, biased news!, Lefty propaganda, demoncrat LIEESSS, LIBTURDS etc.
“I can fix them…” ~Common thought in an abusive relationship
It’s not going to work, at best they see themselves as a “missionary” whose purpose is to convert us from our “ways” and they’re not going to allow themselves to be converted.
Right… But it’s the answer an echo chamber? Is that what you want?
What I want, what we all should want, is for the opposing party to at least come to the table with a) defensible positions e.g. I think we should spend our taxes on Y because X NOT “Trans are icky and need to be silenced” something akin to the (facade) of conservatives of ol’
And b) come to the table with at least an open mind
I don’t see any of that happening with conservatives nearly all the time and I have never seen anyone change a conservatives mind anywhere online. Like I said in another reply, I see it all the time, people on the left do engage with them. Presenting hard data, graphs, solid good sources, well structured arguments in all manner of lengths, all to be hand waved away by the Excuse of the Day™️
Once I was in a Reddit thread (might be Lemmy) awhile back where an expert deprogrammer had chimed in, according to them the only real way (their actual post was much more detailed, I wish I could find it again) to get to a conservative was IRL, through various means that boiled down to (heavy paraphrasing) reconnecting them with a “sense of belonging” in their local community. I specifically asked them how one could do it online, and was told that it’s essentially a fools errand.
And now trying on conservatives I know IRL, they were right, it’s fucking hard even when you have direct IRL access
There is simply too much disassociation online.
Conservatives do change. Exposure is key. We’re where we are at because the rich have isolated us in echo-chambers. Speaking as a former conservative whose entire family across 3 generations shifted to the left. I caution your thinking they’re a lost cause.
It’s less about an abusive relationship and getting them therapy.
Some can and do, increasingly we’re in an age where conservativism is a dogma akin to a religion (and often entwined with it, of course) and that won’t change. I don’t think we need to shun all conservatives but we need to have a low tolerance for them if they don’t show that inclination. Being conciliatory to these people, by and large, is what has gotten us to this point
There’s a difference between being conciliatory and letting them exist in the space. They should be called out whenever they do something wrong/stupid. They should also be allowed to exist here and we should try to correct them. We don’t need to pretend they’re correct or reasonable. We just need to expose them to different ideas that they wouldn’t otherwise see.
I never said they should be immediately booted from the space, but talking to them - exposing them to ideas - is what got us to where we are now. “Oh, it’s such an echo chamber, that’s bad, everyone needs to be exposed to differing ideas”. The majority do not care, they’re willing to pretend to listen to ideas just so they can call you a slur and parrot their own talking points. They should be minimally engaged with and shunned unless they’re willing to meet a minimum standard of decorum, because nothing else has worked
Of course it would, at least for some of them… You can’t seriously believe that people cannot change their minds, especially conservatives, who often only have their views because of living in a bubble.
Let them try. Let them actually lay out and present their twisted worldview. And if you don’t want to see it or hear about it, fine, block their space. It’s much more likely that they will change than it is for a leftist to change because the vast majority of leftists are actually familiar with the right and their believes. The other way around is generally a different story…
I’ve found it to be ineffective, sure some do “see the light”, but is it worth it?
Time and time again I see others lay out (not just here but on Reddit, TT, Xitter, Nextdoor and everywhere else) for conservatives evidence, graphs, good sources, scientific studies, hard numbers, video and photos, well structured arguments that are short, medium and long on length and much much more.
And what are they nearly always met with? That’s just fake news, lies by the deep State, “AI”, biased news!, Lefty propaganda, demoncrat LIEESSS, LIBTURDS etc.