Wasn't sure if I was emotionally ready to go back into the fray, but my questions-approach to NextDoor activism is going well. Going in for the kill now.
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Wasn't sure if I was emotionally ready to go back into the fray, but my questions-approach to NextDoor activism is going well. Going in for the kill now.
I get back to basics, like we're in kindergarten learning sharing, which bypasses political indoctrination and talking points.
Questions put me in control of the conversation, reducing anxiety, and either getting them to think critically instead of feeling defensive, or getting them to show their gross values to everyone else.
Let's see which way he goes!
#NextDoor #Activism #AntiRacism
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You're accepting the premise that critical race theory is Marxist, and that Marxism is bad. Better to teach him about some of the things the House Un-American Affairs committee said was Marxism, and how Lenin went against Marxism in establishing his regime. (Remember "Peace Land Bread?") Unfortunately, well-meaning individuals like to bury the evidence under the rug, but if you can find who the literal Nazis demonized for "Cultural Bolshevism," he's surely heard of "Cultural Marxism" before and can make the connection.
And finally you might point him at information on cult deprogramming, specifically how cults use imaginary conspiracies to get their members to fear outsiders, making them more vulnerable to manipulation, and taking away their means of escape through pure FUD.
He probably won't listen, but winking slyly at him and saying, "Oh, but cuddling puppies isn't Marxism, is it? You don't hate puppies, do you?" isn't likely to help. He's been fooled into thinking Marxism is a great threat, and he knows perfectly well that tankies have tried to use things like critical race theory to promote their agenda.
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@cy I mean, I've been at this a very long time. (Decades, both as a cult researcher and before that when I *was* in a cult.) The frontal approach never works, and neither does deconstructing every little detail of their point. You've got to keep it simple, pick a direction and ask questions, something they're not doing. Get down to basic values. Get them to 1. Become consciously aware of their own values, and 2. Compare those values with what they're saying. And even then it's hard, but the other way is impossible.
My questions don't actually make assumptions, I just go with him into his world to show him what his world looks like from a direction he's never seen. This is how you bypass the defenses placed there by his cult.
Or we discover that his deepest values really are hateful, and then he's just shown everyone else. He can't hide it under acceptable values.
#NextDoor #AbuseCulture (tagging to find later)