Friend Infected With Right Wing Brain Worms - What to Do?

we solved the irish border issue once we can do it again the same way if they like

anvil what does your friend think of silicon valley?

and I don't know what anyone else's brain-wormed people are like but in my experience they NEVER ask you anything in return. I think this is partly where interviews go wrong when going the adversarial route, socratic is always better. There is often almost nothing there more than one level deep (other than the secret knowledge which is somehow self-evident but never tangible) - so its "ideas", but we never find out what they actually are.

I try not to put my opinion across at all, and only ask open questions so there is nothing to react to (though I have to phrase any question super carefully). I'm amazed how shallow the soil on very strong opinions is, the permafrost underneath of "I don't know" is reached really easily. Modern conservatism is really only set up to play on the counter-attack, if you sit back and let them have possession its a different game entirely

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D64Q4MaW0AAnTom.jpg

I can reveal that one of the ideas is paying poor people to not have kids.

I'm increasingly convinced conservatism is merely telepathy

― anvil

no, dog whistles

free marketplace of ideas

why did Mark Field not simply defeat the protestor in the Marketplace of Ideas

— Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) June 21, 2019

(for non-Britishers, Mr Field has been in the news of late for grabbing a peaceful environmental protestor by the throat and slamming her against a wall, which all right-wing commentators have agreed was a jolly good idea just in case)

My cousin was on the fence about that one. Went with the standard line that she was a potential threat but conceded (without prompting!), that the manhandling went on a bit too long and that this was bad optics. I asked why he had been suspended, the answer was "the twitter mob". I asked if this made Theresa May a snowflake for giving in, I think the answer was 'sort of'

The EU is going to tweak the backstop now, they didn't like May but they will see that Boris/Hunt mean business and also they will be gone and it will be some new people, change a few words, jobs done, will be the easiest job in the world

Sounds like your cousin's innate ignorance of government has been stuffed as full of misinformation as a Strasbourg goose, awaiting its turn to be made into paté.

It appears that a woke minority have managed to gain control of the public, and have imposed their will in decide what we can and can't say. The public are not allowed to say certain things anymore and no one can work out how this woke minority have managed to do it, even though people on the left and right are trying to answer. No disagreement or discussion is allowed, you're just not allowed to say certain things anymore

I found it difficult to get any further and find out more about what these things are and what will happen to me if I say them. I learned if I misgender someone I might get a visit from the police, but its unclear what will happen after that. I was unable to find out anymore about what this woke minority have. done

what are the things you want to say but you're not allowed to say anymore?

The level of abstraction is extraordinary. Its a world filled with some people who are doing some things, and it means some people are now doing something else and we're powerless to stop them and the public is very worried.

but getting anything tangible about what this great threat is is like getting blood out of a stone

I don't think this is dog whistling, its something else

what are the things you want to say but you're not allowed to say anymore?

― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone),

I can't say that a trans woman is a man, but thats just an example and he's not even bothered by that one. I was unable to find any other things I'm not allowed to say anymore, or what will happen to me if I do

if you have these people in your life, ffs don't argue with them, just ask them open questions! get them to try and explain in detail!

what are the things you want to say but you're not allowed to say anymore?

Merry Christmas, or so I've been told.

are you allowed to say a dog is a fish

and is he bothered by it if you do

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiny_dogfish

what are the things you want to say but you're not allowed to say anymore?

Conservative: I have been censored for my conservative views

Me: Holy shit! You were censored for wanting lower taxes?

Con: LOL no...no not those views

Me: So....deregulation?

Con: Haha no not those views either

Me: Which views, exactly?

Con: Oh, you know the ones

— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) October 11, 2018

Arguments with mad right-wingers tend to go thus:

Them: blah blah meaningless bollocks
You: what are you talking about?
Them: more of the same
You: you're talking bollocks
Them: WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME etc

Thus steering the conversation onto the fact they've been personally slighted rather than them engaging in constructive argument, as what they really care about is their own egos. The conservatism's just an excuse imo. I dunno, maybe I do the same thing from adifferent political perspective? Hope not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiny_dogfish

― godfellaz (darraghmac)

chased by a catfish

It's not as much about not being allowed to say certain things as it is not being allowed the final word on every given subject. An objection or even a request for clarification is viewed as censorship. Kinda makes you wonder who the real snowflakes are, kinda does.

you get thrown in jail, these days

SJWs are the main drivers behind the prison-industrial complex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkCBhKs4faI

xp soz kinder didn't see yr post

The public are not allowed to say certain things anymore and no one can work out how this woke minority have managed to do it, even though people on the left and right are trying to answer. No disagreement or discussion is allowed, you're just not allowed to say certain things anymore

A random guy I know from 20 years ago frequently complains on Facebook about this very thing. He seems obsessed with the idea of “discussion” and the idea that he’s not “allowed” to do it. From my perspective, he seems to deeply want/desire the right (“the right”) to devil’s advocate for everything, to engage in bad faith arguments for their own sake. Idk what he gets from this but I totally understand why he’s divorced and having trouble dating. I also think he might subscribe to the idea that aggravating people is a way to establish one’s intellect, which may result in attracting women. He’s also a Jordan Peterson supporter. In the rare event that I see his face, I see a Medusa of roiling brainworms.

being a contrarian isn't a substitute for having a personality, although people keep trying to make it work

i'm not even sure ppl who pride themselves on having personality are even preferable to contrarians

just what is a personality? huh? huh?

having a personality is cultural marxism iirc

is it possible that the importance of having opinions has been exaggerated by social media which encourage their users to always be expressing opinions?

yup

meme factories are a black op to exhaust the proles in their own homes.

checking out for a while before I overheat.

Keyboards should be replaced with some sort of unwieldy electronic version of a letterpress which requires the user to laboriously lay everything out a page at a time before they can hit 'send'.

You jest, but perpetual instantaneousness is the 11th plague.

exception: incredible joeks on ilx that lose half their potency if even one xpost slips in between

xpost I actually don't jest because I agree with u. You'd think that instantaneous access to the means of mass communication in the hands of and employed by nearly everyone would eventually have a leveling effect wrt self-importance but that doesn't seem to be happening.

"nearly everyone" is a misconception though.

*where 'nearly everyone' = 'nearly everyone with access to the internet'

Really though? Are all your peers tweeting?

No, but that's also not what I said.

i'm peerless fyi

only those who tweet are truly my peers

friends, romans, countrymen, you are my tweers

all in my thoughts now on how the internet has changed perceptions of your typical "read only" user.

I have a sociology degree, so my thoughts matter a lot.

Every thought is precious, every thought is great

when a thought is wasted, Mark gets quite irate

I also think he might subscribe to the idea that aggravating people is a way to establish one’s intellect

wait what?

aggravating people=asshole
wanting to 'establish one's intellect'= insecure asshole