• @gmtom
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    141 month ago

    Empathy is for individuals. If someone came to me, maga hat, and truck covered in trump Humber stickers, and said him and his daughter had been displaced by the hurricane and needed help, I would give them a room, food and whatever else I could to help and ask for nothing in return. He has not hurt me (directly) and I have no bad blood with him personally so long as he’s not being outright racist or anything around me.

    But when we’re talking about MAGA as a general group, they have hurt me, they are racist and homophobic and trnasphobic and misogynistic and I will happily revel in the Schadenfreude.

    • CheezyWeezle
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      151 month ago

      If see a nazi sitting at a table and 10 people are at the table talking to them, you have a table with 11 nazis.

      There is no tolerance for intolerance.

      • @gmtom
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        11 month ago

        That’s valid, and these people are not entitled to your kindness or emotional energy.

        But a lot of this hatred comes from people living in their own little bubbles with the only information they get coming from hearsay or propaganda. That’s why areas with few immigrants or queer people are the most racist or homophobic. And you can really change people’s minds about things by engaging with them, being friendly with them and just giving them living proof that their propaganda is bullshit. See Darling Davis making freinds with KKK members as a great example of this.

          • LustyArgonian
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            11 month ago

            It’s not 1938 anymore. We understand a lot more about people and where boundaries should be including things like “no genocide.” A lot of Nazis could be rehabilitated if they were educated and given therapy and community not based in racism. Or at least I believe so, and I believe in nonviolent communication. I think it doesn’t benefit genuine anti-Nazi movements to prohibit rehabilitation and education. And no, it’s not rehabilitation or education to be complicit, or actively saying Nazi speech.

              • LustyArgonian
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                11 month ago

                I think it does, it works with literally everyone else and we have scientific data showing it as well as lay people who help rehab and convert white supremacists and neonazis.

                The thing is, if that shit DOES work with fascists, then it creates a burden of nonviolent methods being used first. And violence is so much easier and simpler - it’s exactly why the fascists use it too. But yeah, we gotta be creative and try harder and use nonviolent solutions.

                This shit is why I’m against spanking, it makes kids stupid and teaches them to commit and expect violence when there’s an issue instead of problem solving. It’s too bad you can’t conceive of a world with nonviolent solutions, since violence itself causes fascism to worsen.

    • femtech
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      71 month ago

      Naw, I wouldn’t trust a trumper to be in my house or around me. But I’m a queer so I get more vitriol from Republicans.

      • @gmtom
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        11 month ago

        I am trans and bisexual.

        • @Burn_The_Right
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          1 month ago

          Then you would be inviting an enemy into your home who would delight in your death. This may not have the wonderful outcome you would hope for. The risk outweighs the reward in my opinion.

          You are one of the kind-hearted people who conservatives want to exterminate. No matter how kind you are to them, they will only see your kindness as weakness. That is the conservative way.

          • @gmtom
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            11 month ago

            An us vs them mentality is still bad even when you do it. There are so many examples of people changing opinions of hateful people by showing them some kindness. Yes it would be very easy to pain every MAGA as a terrible person down to their core, call them the enemy and forsake them, but things will only get worse with that attitude.

            But if instead you show these people kindness, especially if they are vulnerable, some of them will change, and even if its only 1 in 10, you’re still making the word better by helping people come out of their hateful mentality.

          • @gmtom
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            11 month ago

            I hope whatever causes your hostile attitude eventually goes away and allows your kindness to return.

            • @[email protected]
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              1 month ago

              Sometimes people need to hear a tough truth. You are putting yourself and others (if you don’t live alone I guess) in danger. These people murder people like you.

              If it’s just you, then have at it. Godspeed.

              • @gmtom
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                11 month ago

                I would suggest putting the phone down for a little while and going out in to the real world for a bit to re-adjust.

                and sidenote, if someone said the same about muslims, pointing out how many muslims murder LGBT people and how if you let a muslim into your home you would be putting family in danger would you accept that?

    • @bcgm3
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      51 month ago

      But we’re not talking about MAGA as a group, we’re talking about people, without any regard for their political affiliation: Natural disasters aren’t checking people’s voter registration.

      Only about 39% of active Florida voters are registered Republican (sure, some are NPA and vote Republican), but there’s at least 29% of us who are registered Democrat and voting in every local and federal election, but here we are anyway.

      • @gmtom
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        21 month ago

        Yes and those people have my unconditional sympathy. It’s not like I’m doing anything to make their lives worse or withholding aid. I’m just taking a moment to enjoy bad things happening to bad people for once and in a fisrly ironic way. It’s a minor indulgence that doesn’t hurt anyone.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 month ago

        If people with nothing but the clothes on their backs can leave places in Central and South America to make the dangerous journey to the US to try to make a better life for their family, people like you can get the fuck out of Florida before it’s too late and you’ve got brown shirts and border crossing checkpoints.

        I honestly wish this was a joke or an exaggeration, and I hate the “just move somewhere else” people… But there comes a point where you just have to do what’s best for your safety and get the fuck out while you still have freedom of movement. Maybe I’m a pussy.

    • @[email protected]
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      21 month ago

      maga hat

      “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” ~Maya Angelou

      You’re going to open up your house to someone who will hurt you again, like how they hurt you with their vote and public support of fascism.

      • @gmtom
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        -11 month ago

        So what would Maya Angelou think of Daryl Davis, the man who famously reprogrammed dozens of actual KKK members by going out of his way to befreind them?

        If he had listened to that advice there would only be more hatred and racism in the world.