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People whose parents have become fascist, how are you dealing with it? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 day ago by pep@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I have 2 GOP parents, one that voted Trump originally and one that did not. Over the last 9 years, I have watched them both travel down the MAGA pipeline to become visibly fascist. The parents who taught me racism was wrong and to have empathy for others, have become openly hostile about immigrants, Muslims, and even parrot the Nazi "great replacement" theory.

Part and parcel with this, they refuse to have any discussions about the facts -- like immigrants not stealing and eating people's pets. They won't hear it, they won't even engage in the conversation...they just get angry and loud the second they hear anything that doesn't fit into the Fox News narrative. Can you relate? How are you dealing with it in your relationships with your parents?

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[–] comfy@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I've looked briefly into the equivalent of antifascist projects, and former neo-Nazis talking about how their minds were changed. From what I've seen:

People can and do leave political cults
There's no universal recipe. A common factor among former neo-Nazis seems to be having someone close to them who doesn't tolerate the bullshit, so to me it seems the best approach is to stand firm, but leave a door open in the rare case that they have a revelation on their own. (Historically, this sometimes happens if/when their own personal reality begins to clearly contradict the propaganda.)
Many people simply don't leave, so it's unfair to demand those around them spend so much time and effort trying to make it happen. It can be a waste of time. It's a gamble, really, so again that's why I say leave a door open, as long as it's safe.

Obviously these are just second-hand observations, I don't have much personal experience with this, so if any of it sounds wrong then I'd like to know.

[–] pep@sh.itjust.works 1 points 17 hours ago

All 3 are great points. Thank you!