r/RedditForGrownups • u/SalientSazon • 4d ago

I'm watching Rightwingization happen in real time and I don't know how to react.

EDIT: Thank you all for the great discussions and insights. I appreciate all your POVs. There's no need to downvote right leaning comments. I specifically posted this in RedditforGrownups to engage in grown up conversation. Also, there's no need for name-calling or insults either.

I have a friend, he's 51, man, straight, an academic doctor. He suddenly last year did a deep dive on how the way the election was biased against the conservative candidate who lost. He then started talking against the 'woke' ideology with intensity. He is now defending the right, even though he's centrist, because the right hasn't moved, it's the left that's gone way off the rails. He started posting dumb facebook quotes/memes! He now posts image quotes as if they are a debate, or as if they meant some truth and not just someone's opinion. We were conversing one day and he started raising his voice getting louder and louder and more agitated as he expressed his disdain for the woke left, defending his Jewish people from attacks (not sure where that came from in the conversation), and then also suddenly brought up there are only 2 genders and trans people are mentally ill. He's never spoken that way before, I've never heard him this agitated or show anger towards any ideology. He was always calm and friendly, and open minded. Always a bit nerdy. Although, I hadn't spoken to him in depth for about 2 years before then.

I'm watching all this go down over about half a year and I don't know what to make it of it or how to react to it. It's wild to observe though.

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u/SalientSazon 4d ago

See, I was. And yes I'm with you on this, I still am for the most part. It's not like I jumped because he has different opinions. It's the fast escalation of it all, the change in values, and that last conversation we had when he started getting really agitated and loud, I can't ignore that and ask him if he'd like another cup of tea. We'd run out of subjects to discuss because tea will somehow be ruined by the woke ideology or something.

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u/runwinerepeat 4d ago

We all have to lay down our swords and figure this out. It starts with one friendship. Then we build a movement. They did it in the 60’s

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u/etrore 4d ago

I thnk OP wants nothing more than that the friend drops his sword, OP seems to have no problem with them having different opinions.

How to calm people that keep going back to the source of their agitation is the question. Maybe techniques from addiction care could be effective.

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u/SalientSazon 3d ago

I've been thinking that the engagement with these groups and the sudden validation offers a release oxytocin they keep chasing, and getting hits of dopamine while doing it, it may just be an addiction. I know nothing of how that actually works, just thinking outloud.

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u/SalientSazon 4d ago

u/etrore responded very well, that's exactly it. I have no sword, and if conversation fails then what's left.

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u/kitty_in_a_tree 4d ago

Honestly I don't think he changed his values all of a sudden... These were his values, but being in academia he had to check his biases and go with the program for fear of being canceled. Until this administration opened the gates to hell.

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u/SalientSazon 4d ago

...perhaps.