A touch of despair after talking to my neighbor...

[steve2470]

As a MHS host, I try hard to avoid politics in this forum. However, we are *mainly* at DU to discuss politics, so it's not a huge stretch to mention it in here.

Why did I feel a touch of despair after talking to my neighbor ? First, some background. I have known this guy for almost 8 years. He has been unfailingly kind and neighborly to me during that time. He is a good man, overall. Just for context, he is a 75 year old Caucasian male from the south.

During our conversation about my upcoming trip, for some reason he mentioned that he now watches OANN because, paraphrased, CNN and CBS etc. do not give him the full truth. Thank god I kept my mouth shut during that extraneous comment.

I know I *should* not feel any despair from this one encounter, but it just amazes me that this man, who is pretty intelligent, would reject the standard crazy KoolAid of Fox and go to the hardcore heroin craziness of OANN. As we all know, there's thousands and thousands more like him.

That's all. Most of you can probably identify with that encounter. I wish you well.

Steve

[RKP5637]

1. I just don't get it, why people listen to and believe that crap. And millions listen to

endless BS all day/night. I really find it depressing. And really, what is the future of the US with this decay from within.

[cilla4progress]

2. I'm about to reconnect with old friends

and these fears can't help but surface.

I've already decided to be out and proud about my political beliefs. If they don't want to be friends then, it's on them! Maybe I can have some positive impact.

[luckone]

8. +1 good for you I don't understand people who stay silent . The other person is telling

them their beliefs and they don’t say a word to make them consider differently or offer an alternative view
As you said you may have a positive impact on them by speaking up .

If someone is bringing it up in discussion, how can it be rude to truthfully reply and say I don’t believe that or I don’t agree ?
What is the fear of speaking a person’s own mind? People won’t like by them anymore for not agreeing on everything? They don’t want them to know they are not of the same mind?

If that is the fear that they will instantly ostracize a person for not accepting everything they say who wants to talk to such a bully ?

If someone stays silent they appear either to be agreeing or have no knowledge on the subject

[Rorey]

3. I've got one of those too

I don't know if my neighbor as gone "to the hardcore craziness of OANN", but she's a Republican who was in great despair over the election. She really is a sweet person, but she's always been a Republican and at her age I'm not going to argue with her about it. It just does no good to ruin a very nice relationship with a neighbor over politics, no matter how misguided she is.

We never, ever talked politics in the 17 years we've been neighbors until this last election. It was awkward. I just listened, mostly, and inserted a few gentle comments once in awhile.

[brush]

5. You handled that well. I hope I could in a similar situation but I don't know...

[Rorey]

9. We didn't talk for awhile after that

I feel bad for her because she's surrounded by Democrats, though nobody in the neighborhood is very overt about it as far as putting out yard signs and such. This past year was the first year I've ever seen a political yard sign on my one-block-long cul-de-sac.

Sometimes we'll talk often, and other times we might go a month or two without much more than waving hello. I know she's having more and more age-related challenges, and she knows I'm always here for her. When we do talk, our conversations usually turn out to be LONG, and that's just fine.

I'm just not going to cause her stress because it really serves no purpose. I know that at the end of the day she's really a Republican based on economic policy, and I can respect that she has her reasons. I'm sure she voted for trump just because of the "R" after his name, but I know in my heart that if she had all of the facts about him she wouldn't have done so.

So, it's complicated, but I just know I have to choose my battles and with whom I'll battle.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Watch "The Brainwashing of My Dad", a documentary

by Jan Senko.

I gave you a link for free viewing with ads. https://www.amazon.com/Brainwashing-My-Dad-Matthew-Modine/dp/B01C6AFDM6

When it happened to my father, I felt it was more like Invasion of the Body Snatchers with the Pod People. My father was unrecognizable to me and he had an umbilical cord to FOX News.

Just accept it's happened and has nothing to do with you at all.

[CrispyQ]

6. Sadly, this scenario has played out millions of times across America.

I have a cousin who was like a brother to me growing up. He's college educated, retired now, & a trumper. He's not a total nut job like my other trumper cousin, but I thought I'd reach out & ask if he thought the 2020 election was stolen & he does. That said, he was one of the first in line to get vaxxed.

Our nation is more divided than it's ever been, IMO. Forty percent of our fellow citizens deny reality. No matter how bad it was in the past, we at least shared a common reality.

[mopinko]

7. i have a handsome, single, next door neighbor. my age.

not hard core wing nut, cuz this is chi, but...
def watches fox, (chi fox station is not bad, solid local news.)
hates the city, thinks everyone is a crook.
i like the guy. as you say, always a good neighbor.

it's a shame. the 2 of us cooped up all alone, 30' apart, but...
he's very cynical about women too, tho. it shows.

i find myself saying- we are a fucked up species.

[traitorsgalore]

10. "Unfailingly kind" Nazi supporter, LOL

It's an act for Rs, always has been. Dig beneath their surface of fraud and you see a person that, if told to, would make you dig your own grave and kick you into it, then put a bullet in your head.

I don't say this to be cruel, I say it because it's true. At some point the real person emerges and our current age of Trumpism has allowed them all to come out. Rs are not as susceptible to the "koolaid" brainwashing as people think they are, Rs are really that hateful at the core of their being and all the RW hate speech validates them. It's a massive mental health problem in the U.S. and worldwide, always has been.

Universal/single payer would go a long way towards getting a lot of people the mental health help they, and many of us, need. OANN is a symptom, not the cause. Hate speech like OANN wouldn't exist in a healthy culture, it'd instantly be banned.

[SWBTATTReg]

11. I talked to a fellow collector and friend of mine, and he spouted off that dinosaurs died out...

155,000 years ago or some other nonsense. His whole thought process is along this line and he is paranoid beyond belief, almost too much. He is one to utter such wild and fantasy land facts right and left, so much so, that (he owns a bar) the bar manager told him to stay away, he's driving customers away.

I told him that No, dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, maybe birds or an offshoot survived afterwards, but I will continue to call down these people and their disturbing statement of 'facts' and other ridiculous nonsense.

[Midnight Writer]

12. Hmmm. All of my neighbors think I'm the crazy one.

Because I don't buy into the Right Wing Hate Machine.