askchapo

Realizing I can get shot for not being white and all of my fellow conservatives would cheer, not think about it, or spread rumors about me being a Hollywood Beijing crisis actor. And literally everyone on the right was obsessed with SJWs and “gamergate.” I admit, I found some of those SJW compilations funny. But then after a while I found it really pathetic that grown ass men who get upset at ‘unemployed people’ going around debating children and getting angry over video games

Also everyone kept complaining about communists ruining the world when they haven’t had influence for like 30 years. Also finding out old government policies and propaganda about how being against the KKK, racism, segregation, unfair wages, imperialism, and homophobia made you a loyal KGB agitator

Also, in high school I was a self proclaimed conservative libertarian capitalist anti communist. But during an activity, I was the only person who stood up when the teacher asked who would prefer if rich people should be forced to redistribute their wealth so poor people suffer less. She said “congratulations. You’re a socialist. The rest of you are capitalists” (she was a well intentioned socdem). Anyway, it made me think about what drew me into the so called “libertarianism” sphere and it was because I liked guns and didn’t hate anybody because of their race or gender or orientation or low income, but much of the libertarians aligned with the GOP

Dumbass take, feel free to disregard:

Shitposting. Maybe never stop being a chud, just start being chuddy toward the right groups?

I had a lot of anger at the world and could only see it through a myopic lens. Lib opinions felt light gaslighting, telling you that everything is good actually and that you should just shut up and learn to love the system. Seeing chapo shitposting felt so fucking validating. Seeing libs called out not just for being some reactionary slur but actually dressed down for their poorly formed opinions on very obviously unjust systems. Thanks to shitposting on libs I was able to be opened to the idea that it is not wrong to be angry at the hierarchies I see around me, but instead to realize what processes and structures actually control those hierarchies. Its capitalism.

Similarly, being mad about "woke culture", "diversity quotas" may be able to be channeled into an idea that it is unjust for some group to have say on who gets to do what, and who even gets to define those groups? Its probably not even members of those supposed groups making up those quotas, but some who is using it to boost revenue. You can cite black thinkers who agree that fighting capitalism is best done with solidarity across working people.

In short, allow them to be angry, help lift the veil as to what is actually making them angry. Its capitalism.

I was a fascist in terms of my cultural chauvinism, I had to lie to myself to bury my trans identity and cope with being in the US military. I deradicalized through many steps, but a key moment was Dr. Richard Wolff explaining the pyramid scheme structure of capitalism with Abby Martin.

Hit them with one critical economic point per conversation. Economics underpins every aspect of the cultural crap. And economics effects every single facet of all of our lives. And when you nail exact material reasons why they're suffering economically piques people's interest very quickly.

I had gamer brain for a little while in my 20s. Never full chud but very "why does it always gotta be about gender" stuff. Realizing how unmoored I was after graduation pretty much power washed it out of me and forced me to learn that my mindset lacked compassion. That and lsd TBH

I used to be a full blown "the status quo is fine, things are getting better all the time, technology will inevitably save us all when the Singularity(tm) happens" tech liberal.

Actually going to "futurology" conferences in my local area changed that. One too many DoD contractor booths and from-their-own-mouths terrifying statements from the ruling class and their minions made me realize the future they wanted was not Star Trek; it was something much closer to Silent Running, or even Rollerball.

You have to start with things you agree with. Don't get hung up on specific details, if you have to misinterpret them in order to agree with them then start there. Then once you establish agreement, find out why they believe what they believe in an issue, and repeat back to them what you think you understand (very important, and its okay to guess if not sure). Then connect it to why you agree, how those things are connected, and how this connects to what they value, bonus points if you can add class analysis.

Granted, the minute you walk away they could just put on fox news and undo it all. If your family member is merely backward, then you can help them catch up. It's a long term strategy, there's no shortcut, and you might never turn them into a full fledged lefty, or it might take a long time.

Look up nonviolent communication strategies to drill down on some of the fundamentals. And don't forget to connect over shared interests! Music and books and shows are easier to find points of agreement, since they are engineered to have broad mass appeal, than political points which are engineered to sow division. Only a real social connection can dechuddify someone.