• orcrist@lemm.ee
    ·
    7 minutes ago

    I think the first step is to not try to revert anything, but rather to recognize that there's a massive difference between the average person and the government's international actions. It's convenient to talk about a country as if the name of the country is synonymous with the leader and the military and all of the businesses and the entire population, when those groups are definitely distinct.

    Some years ago I visited a country in Central America where the United States government had done shady things in the seventies and eighties. Nobody that I met was upset with me because I was American. Why? Because they understood that I don't control what my country does anymore than they control what their country does. We're just normal people trying to live our lives.

    I think that's the important first step. Separate the average person from the government, and bring humanity back into the discussion. Depending on the circumstance, you may also want to talk about the agenda of big business, and how many of the things that show up in national newspapers are about companies battling for supremacy in their industry, using various governments to fight proxy wars.

  • amemorablename@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    6 hours ago

    I like to bring out the point about them lifting 800 million people out of poverty. No guarantee the person will listen, but it's a weighty statement. I also like to bring out the one about the US having the highest incarceration rate in the world, for similar reasons. You could try to work on things detail by detail and that's probably more lasting and influential in the long term, but some of the most surface level facts are "big" on their one. It can be shocking sometimes comparing the differences and sometimes a little jarring rhetoric might be what's needed to get somebody to stop in their tracks. Some people are deep in the details of lies and some are more gonna be going off vibes of what they heard in passing.

  • IHave69XiBucks@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    10 hours ago

    What ive found works is just to point out that the chinese govt actually does shit to improve the lives of their citizens while the US govt doesnt.

  • companero [he/him]
    ·
    9 hours ago

    One thing that I'm convinced actually works is to go to China and make videos that humanize the people, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIEU9KkY5g

  • Star Wars Enjoyer @lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    10 hours ago

    Not a lot on a large scale, our news publications will always demonize the enemies of the state.

    But, you can talk to the people around you and try to convince them that China's not at all what Western propagandists tell us about. Some people will be receptive, but others will cut contact with you for so much as implying that China isn't an evil dictatorship that steals organs and imprisons Muslims.

    So play it by ear, if it seems like a person might listen about certain things, they might be convincible. But the people who'll argue and fight with everything you say (or even just start to say) are not going to come around on anything, so conserve your energy with those sort. Your mental health will thank you.

    This advice stretches to anything else we're propagandized about. Most people will prefer to believe what's widely available to them, simply because that's what we're supposed to conform with. But some will be willing to learn more.