Do you even bother trying to persuade the other side anymore? DO YOU EVEN TRY???

[True Dough]

Other online discussion boards or forums?

Friends, family, co-workers in person or via social media?

If they're on the right, do you even take a serious stab at trying to help them see the merits of being more tolerant, fairer and less bigoted?

So many discussions quickly deteriorate into name calling and insults. It just seems futile.

I get dragged into it at times (okay, I allow myself to type away inconsequently), but I can't help myself. It's like I believe that if I finally stumble upon those key words, that one touching incident, that overwhelming statistic, I might finally break through. But it never seems to happen.

Have you won anyone over? Ever?

[ecstatic]

1. No. Not even on forums. I don't have the patience, also

98% of the time it's a waste of time.

[SharonAnn]

26. Not only that, I avoid them. I can't stand them.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

53. Me neither

Can't stand to be around them. Which is tough when you live in Texas. And three of my close family members are rabid wingers.

[Cracklin Charlie]

2. Only the ones I care about.

And only if they appear ready to learn.

I won't waste my time on any others.

[dhol82]

3. Nope.

Only have one right wing person I communicate with.
Last week I sent him a link from a neutral site. He is a retired cop. The story was about cops fucking over some pizzeria owner.
The link had a bunch of links to verify the story.
He just emailed me back that it was fake news.
I give up. It was a neutral site with a bunch of valid proofs. He only believes Fox and Breitbart.
I can't fight anymore.

[sharedvalues]

34. Go after Fox: "Fox lies to help Murdoch and GOP billionaires"

that line of argument is surprisingly effective

[mreilly]

57. Yep, that's their favorite tactic...

... because they're intellectually lazy and brainwashed. It used to be if you debated them they'd post links to their opinion-based, wishful thinking sites to try to "refute" your facts.

Now they just sneer "fake news" at anything they don't like. No attempt to discredit the source. No effort to explain why. No facts to justify their position.

These peopel are beyond recovery or redemption.

[Eko]

4. It worked once

that I knew of. Had a friend that I debated on Facebook before the presidential election, was anti Clinton and pro Stein, finally got through to him and he ended up voting for Clinton. At least he said so,,,,

[sharedvalues]

33. Like most Democrats, he was able to learn new things

[Eko]

35. Nope

Independent. Not even close to a Democrat.

[sharedvalues]

37. ed

Sorry, most non-republicans. GOPers are always so damn sure of themselves.

[tavernier]

5. If they don't know by now

then they truly don't care enough to pay attention.

[jrthin]

6. Trying to reason with someone lacking reason

is the same as giving resuscitation to a dead man. It's pointless.

[LuckyCharms]

7. No. I cut them out of my life and never speak to them again.

Like the meme says... When someone shows you who they are, believe them...or something like that.

I don't care if they're family.

I have a life to live. I'm not going to spend my time trying to convince people not to be a fucking asshole.

[bluepen]

8. Used to try when I was younger. Now? Never. But I also do

not live and breathe politics 24/7. I can’t imagine how horrific a life that would be, while also allowing partisan bullshit (most of which is hysterical nonsense created for TV ratings) to come between friends and family members.

[LuckyCharms]

15. It's not partisan bullshit...

but rather, it has to do with family members and friends finally letting out their previously hidden disdain for people who are different from them. Has nothing at all to do with politics.

[bluepen]

46. Okay

[LuvLoogie]

9. I no longer have any desire to win them over. Voting for Trump has to be the ultimate litmus test.

I don't care. They stepped in dog shit. It was pointed out it was dog shit. They knew it was dog shit, and they stepped in it anyway--on purpose.

[DonViejo]

16. You took the words right off my keyboard...

I ended a thirty years long relationship with my best friend and his husband over Trumpty Dumpty.

[VOX]

54. Yes! This is so insane! I cut loose a friend I'd known since childhood...

He was all into tRump, and I just couldn't figure it out. We haven't talked in over a year now. Sad.

[Ccarmona]

10. No

Not worth the effort. The Right Wing propaganda machine has squashed the intellectual curiosity of its believers.

[marylandblue]

11. Yes I try, you never when you will succeed or wish you tried harder

I had my father-in-law convinced to vote for Clinton. He kind of a centrist, but he does watch a lot of Fox News. I thought I was done, so I didn't talk to him again about politics until after the election. He ended up voted for Trump.

[femmedem]

55. Does he regret it now? My husband has a co-worker who voted Trump

and after defending him for months, is finally voicing some misgivings. My husband fought back the urge to say, "I told you so" or "how could you have voted for that monster?" Instead, he said, "Fool me once, shame on you..." and his colleague nodded.

[marylandblue]

59. Not sure, he keeps.saying he didn't like Hillary

[NRaleighLiberal]

12. It is hard to reach into the mind of a cult member - the teflon around their belief system is

powerful.

The last 250 days have been too painful to me - I've actually not been in a position to change minds, since I can't be around people who support Trump...it makes me physically ill.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. I won't argue with them. If they still support Trump, I just refuse to

talk politics. Anyone who still supports him won't be swayed by anything I could say.

[LAS14]

14. I won someone over in 2012. She was a life...

...long Republican. She was unhappy about the ACA because she thought it would increase the number of welfare cheats. She was not going to vote for Obama on these grounds. This came out at a lunch with friends. Afterwards I wrote her an e-mail where I acknowledged that some people cheat, but made the case that medical care has become so technically complicated and therefore expensive that no one of ordinary means can be expected to go without insurance, and insurance can't be expected to pay unless the pool includes lots of healthy people. She e-mailed me that she was persuaded and would vote for Obama.

I sure wish I could say this happened more than once in my life. But I do see it as evidence that sometimes showing that you listened is better than the approach of others at the lunch who just privately sighed and dismissed e=her.

[Girard442]

17. Up until 2016, I really believed many people had given up racist thinking.

Come to find out that people had just shut up about their segregationist-era views because they thought they were unpopular, but when Trump told them it was cool to let their prejudice flag fly, they did.

Forget about trying to win them over. It'll never happen. Instead, reach out to people you can make common cause with, even if you don't agree with them on absolutely everything.

[The Genealogist]

21. I was pretty surprised about racism coming back out in the open

I knew before last year that racism is still rampant, but people kept their ignorance to themselves. Now that Dotard McShitstain has made it cool again, all the bigots are showing their true colors. Disgusting.

[The Genealogist]

18. Not very often

If it is someone who seems to otherwise have some common sense, I will engage them, but for the most part no. My Dad's side of my family are fire-breathing wing-nuts who have a very, very narrow view of the world. THEIR specific brand of religion is the only TRUE one. THEIR specific brand of wingnut politics is the only RIGHT one. They're all really smug and self-righteous about it. I learned long ago to avoid engaging them in conversation when possible, though that is no easy feat; politics and religion are all they care about.

[sharedvalues]

32. Do they watch Fox News? Listen to Limbaugh?

[The Genealogist]

43. Both. Religiously.

My father listened to Rush too, from the time he appeared on the air locally, back in the early 90s. I guess I should also say here that my older step brother is one of these constitutional convention nutters. I tried to get through to him, but it was fruitless.

[sharedvalues]

44. Don't talk politics. Talk about Limbaugh and Fox

Limbaugh scares people for ad money
Fox scares people to advance the agenda of GOP billionaires like Murdoch

They say when you want to get through to a cult member you need to give them new information. Show them some of the Fox videos or articles on Fox out there.

[Cartoonist]

19. I try, but I'm not good at it.

I get infuriated at their ignorance and racism. I'm the one who usually blows his cool.

What is it about politics that makes it different from everything else? I can hold a rational discussion over the merits of sports teams or musicians, but not politics.

[TomSlick]

20. But only in person - not online.

Occasionally, people will find it difficult to justify insanity in person - online, not so much.

[True Dough]

23. It's true

It's almost impossible online. People resort to memes, gifs, YouTube videos, or they resort to personal attacks very quickly.

[BigmanPigman]

22. As I was thumbing through a news magazine today I noticed there was an

article about "how to broach the subject and go about listening to someone with different views, etc". I laughed out loud since even reading the article would be a waste of my energy and time. I have no desire to make my stress/anxiety any higher than it already has been since Nov 8th.

[MerryBlooms]

24. Nope. All it accomplishes is raising my anxiety and BP. Not worth it.

People are who they are, and I concentrate my efforts in other areas.

[RobinA]

25. The Only Time I Do

is if someone starts up with the, People on welfare drive their Mercedes to their beach houses while talking on their iPhone Xs and watching car DirectTV. I am a social worker and I know my benefits inside and out. I used to keep my mouth shut, but I got so sick of hearing how Moms with 7 kids get $1500 a month per kid I started my education campaign. People have the nerve to argue with me, But, I have this friend whose sister's neighbor gets disability and he can do backflips off his second story roof... But I just smirk.

[Afromania]

27. I've tried, either they love trump or when cornered say they didn't vote for him

but they "hate libs". I'm tired, anybody else tired?

[machoneman]

28. Why?

Why bother?

Once they are rounded up into FEMA trailers and fed cat food, why should we give a fuck?

Just askin'!

[Lifelong Protester]

29. Not going to happen.

Nope and Nope.

[sharedvalues]

30. Yes: "Fox News Lies"

I find that talking about media propaganda is key.

I don't argue politics, I talk about media bias, and how Fox News is lying to push the agenda of GOP billionaires like Murdoch. Fox wants its viewers to vote for destroying the govt so Murdoch and his ilk can have tax cuts.

100% of people tell me I'm wrong.
And 50% of those people in a few weeks have noticeably different views.

[Girard442]

31. I don't always try to reason with someone on the other side...

But when I do, I regret it.

[Kaleva]

36. Are you talking about Hillary or Bernie supporters?

"So many discussions quickly deteriorate into name calling and insults. It just seems futile. "

Most of the juries I serve on have to do with personal attacks and bashing Dem figures.

[True Dough]

40. Yeah, I've done a lot of those juries too

It's tough when you get a post that's been reported and you read the previous posts before making a decision and you realize that one or two of the other posts is guilty of violating DU rules as well. Lots of those are Bernie vs. Hillary, you're right!

[Kaleva]

42. As for Trump supporters, I don't try.

My wife voted for Trump but came to the conclusion on her own a few months ago that was a terrible mistake and she wishes she had voted for Hillary. Had I argued against her decision to vote for Trump, she would have just dug in her heels and it would have caused needless strife in our relationship.

[Glimmer of Hope]

39. No. They are too far gone.

I have an uncle whose FB page is filled with Trumpisms and Buddhist memes. Oh my.

[Lil Missy]

41. Absolutely not, I do not try to persuade or argue. No, I don't cast my pearls before swine. n/t

[doc03]

45. It is a waste of time. They are brainwashed

by Fox News they think anything else is fake news.

[riderinthestorm]

47. Nope. Especially here lol nt

[left-of-center2012]

48. Oh, thought you meant anti-Bernie versus pro-Bernie

[pnwmom]

49. Yes, I do. And I recently had a young woman reach out to me on FB,

telling me about how much she can't stand DT. I know she comes from a conservative family, so that was a big step for her. Also, she mentioned that she and her husband disagree on this.

But she felt safe talking to me because of what I've been posting on FB. Good. That's what I was hoping. I've been careful to distinguish between my loathing of DT and the politicos who are supporting him versus the people who might have voted for him as a Republican and are regretting it.

I welcome those people with open arms.

[RainCaster]

50. Seldom. You can't fix stupid

[radical noodle]

51. I have been able to make them believe

that not all liberals are to be hated. That's a start. I talk to them, I don't shout at them. I don't call them names. I patiently explain over and over and over again. I can't imagine what will happen if their beloved trump <gag> turns out to have colluded with Russia and laundered money for them.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

52. Don't do it

They will just accuse you of thinking

[HAB911]

58. NO