aww, thank you! I think it's hard because each of these things kind of feed the others. So breaking through that is tough.
Looking back, I think I was really lucky to have good people close to me. My brother and I have always been really close, and he basically bullied me into being a better person. Like, we'd hang out and he'd just straight up tell me "your opinions are shit. no, shut up. I'm not going to debate you. your opinions suck, quit being a loser. now let's talk about sports." Two of my closest friends are more or less apolitical, but I think they are very "go with the flow" types and that helped me become less rigid and contrarian generally. It got me out of my comfort zone and helped me realize that, for example, even if I don't like weed, my friends can smoke it and it's actually not a problem. And then finally, I think as I was dating, I realized that being nice to people and making them feel good about themselves made for more enjoyable dates than being a contrarian asshole.
Without that though, it's kind of scary to think that I could have become a rather terrible person.
I like to think that maybe innate empathy or compassion would have eventually made me feel bad and brought me back to the right path, but idk... The more right wing you get, the more distanced you become from the harm you're causing and the less you see it.
That's a fascinating look into how one is radicalized and how we can approach deradicalization. Thanks!
aww, thank you! I think it's hard because each of these things kind of feed the others. So breaking through that is tough.
Looking back, I think I was really lucky to have good people close to me. My brother and I have always been really close, and he basically bullied me into being a better person. Like, we'd hang out and he'd just straight up tell me "your opinions are shit. no, shut up. I'm not going to debate you. your opinions suck, quit being a loser. now let's talk about sports." Two of my closest friends are more or less apolitical, but I think they are very "go with the flow" types and that helped me become less rigid and contrarian generally. It got me out of my comfort zone and helped me realize that, for example, even if I don't like weed, my friends can smoke it and it's actually not a problem. And then finally, I think as I was dating, I realized that being nice to people and making them feel good about themselves made for more enjoyable dates than being a contrarian asshole.
Without that though, it's kind of scary to think that I could have become a rather terrible person.
I like to think that maybe innate empathy or compassion would have eventually made me feel bad and brought me back to the right path, but idk... The more right wing you get, the more distanced you become from the harm you're causing and the less you see it.