Are there people for you who are too far-gone so that you were unwilling to debate them?

[noname223]

Today, I read an article that called for more human empathy to tackle the authoritarian uprising and panic concerning migration.

The person is against giving right-wing populists a platform in talk shows. (I agree) Whereas we have to talk with right-wing voters. Just for the sheer fact there are so many of them in all classes of society.
The person cites a social experiment where in the US (the author is Austrian) there were groups consisting mostly of leftwingers/minorities who were talking to voters. They should discuss with them in a non confrontative way politics. They wanted that the voters imagined how it feels like to be in the shoes of trans people. The voters shall rethink their stereotypes about them. And according to her this worked. It had a longterm impact on their political attitudes.

Honestly, I don't believe that. From my experience debating right-wingers there were people to debate. But some of them are principled and their anger is not driven by prejudices. They just enjoy bullying minorities. I wouldn't recommend trans people to debate fucking all right-wing voters with no exception. Noone should have to endure that. And I doubt it would make a difference.

There was this right-wing acquaintance I had. He became more and more extreme. But when we had contact I had some success to keep him less extreme. But he drifted further and further. And I didn't consider it acceptable any longer. I am used to a lot because of my dad. But this dude. When we had contact some years later he was a full extremist. I had positive impact on him while we had contact. But he is a lost cause. It is useless to debate him. He enjoys to spread hatred. People like that should be ignored. Not all right-wing voters are poor victims manipulated by politicians. Some people are principled racists.

What do you think?

 

[Dejected 55]

Trying to deplatform or hide people never works. It's like telling a child not to do something and it suddenly becomes all they want to do!

We don't have a sudden surging of racism in the US, we have more people being suddenly more comfortable in their racism... the racism was there all along, hiding, coming out in small doses. We need to shine a light on that shit!

Refusing to let an extreme right-wing pundit on your show, if you have one, is a mistake. You should have them on, but have a counter to that person on as well. Question them, challenge them. Try to be civil and have courteous discussion as much as possible. Think of the book/movie the Dead Zone by Stephen King... spoilers! Dude sees glimpses of the future and sees the president is going to start a nuclear war. Dude tries to expose him but keeps failing... ultimately decides to try and kill the president, and is killed himself BUT at the same time, that president shields himself by grabbing someone's baby as a shield... and that ruins his career and, thus, ends up saving everyone from that nuclear war the dude was warning about.

Let people show you who they are so you know and can avoid or react accordingly. Make them hide and they can slither into crevices and wait or cause problems OR worse you make a martyr of them.

Liberal media has dominated for a while... it forced extreme right-wing people to create their own outlets on social media and they gained a following because there were other people like them out there... and they all felt ignored and oppressed and joined together to support each other. Had liberal media been more open along the way a couple of things might have happened... the extreme people would have been exposed earlier for being extreme and not held up as heroes... the oppressed/ignored people might have felt less ignored and realized that their voices could be heard as the more reasonable ones were also allowed on liberal media.

We make things worse by trying to sweep them under the rug or trying to silence people who present different ideas.

People argue "don't let Hitler on the news because you legitimize him" except... stuff is on the news all the time that isn't legitimate and no one believes or accepts because they can see it for what it is... I say, let Hitler on the news first chance you get... before he has become a folk hero... when he doesn't have a huge following or is seen as persecuted or marginalized... let Hitler be right there in the spotlight and challenged to support his views so everyone can see he doesn't have a cause except for selfishness and hate.

Meanwhile... also reach out and listen to people with different ideas. You don't have to use everything you hear... but, man... I used to be a Technical Writer. One place I worked I had sent something out on review and got feedback... and I tried to incorporate as much as made sense, and rather than ignore input IF someone took the time to comment to me, I'd reply back and thank them and explain why I couldn't use some of their input. Sometimes there would be legal jargon I had to avoid, for instance, and I liked to explain that to people so they knew I valued their time and input even when I was prevented from using it. One time I got a nice reply... she told me she appreciated my explaining to her. She was used to sending feedback, seeing her comments never incorporated, and feeling like she was ignored and wondering why she kept being asked only to be ignored. My point is... she appreciated my acknowledgement and knew I had truly heard her and used what I could and she understood why I didn't use everything she suggested. She was even more eager to review for me in the future and provide more input and I was able to often use her suggestions. OR I could have ignored her, and it would continue to fester that she felt ignored and wondering why she should bother. But instead, we found common ground and became allies to the common goal.

Yes, there are extremists... on both sides frankly... but so many of us want the same things in the end... but we keep dividing ourselves needlessly... and the extremists get a platform anyway... but they get a platform on their own in an isolation booth and echo chamber and spin and spin and grow and fester... but if you invite them on for an honest discussion and allow them to fail in front of everyone, you solve problems quicker AND encourage the non-extremists to contribute their ideas too and then you get shit you can use for the betterment of everyone.