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@TCatInReality @Npars01 @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
Don't know about this. Feel like people care a lot, but they are looking for specific actions they can take. The Kimmel thing was simple because they could take 5 minutes and cancel Disney+. Other actions aren't as straightforward. Suspect people will show up in droves on Oct 18th. Again, a specific thing they are asked to do.
@mastodonmigration @Npars01 @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
Certainly, people are looking for coordinated activities
I think it will take a #GeneralStrike
@TCatInReality @Npars01 @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
Yup. We seem to be heading in that direction.
@mastodonmigration @TCatInReality @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
The wealthy people funding MAGA need to be made to aware of the consequences of their decisions.
There is no wealth hoarding in a cascading set of crises, global recession, world war, climate crisis, pandemics, & ecocide.
Take away the money & the elites who defected from democracy will notice like Disney, Sinclair, & NexStar noticed.
The MAGA movement dissolves without the money.
@mastodonmigration @TCatInReality @Npars01 @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social I think the majority of American people are so used to neither needing needing to meaningfully oppose the power structure of their country, nor having any idea how to do so effectively, that they needed the relatively small and easy victory of the Kimmel show. Those with whom I've tested framing this issue as a proof case of what they can do when they act in unison, across the lines of divide-and-conquer, seem receptive. With the right messaging, and with the pragmatism to promote solidarity and scale (rather than ideologically purity testing and infighting), this can be the start of some real momentum.
It's like in the point in the learned helplessness experiments where they had to show the dog it could now escape the shock, by lifting it and placing it on the other side of the barrier. Now that the populace is starting to climb out of the pit of helpless complacency, we just need to reach down and help them up, rather than stepping on their hands to punish them for ever having been there, as had long been the norm among the left throughout the preceding few decades.
Think, act, and speak like a therapist disabusing survivors of the lies and self-limiting beliefs their abuser taught them. When you see or hear someone acting like Christian Picciolini, Jill Duggar, Rich Logis, or Monte Mader did when they were younger, let your every interaction with them—except as strictly necessary for physical safety—be controlled by how you can guide them to and through an exit like all those formers. When you see someone already peaking out that exit, offer them a ride away, not a slap in the face. And when you see them take their first meaningful action to oppose what they used to support—whether directly or through silent complicity—affirm and encourage more in that direction.
@deFractal @mastodonmigration @TCatInReality @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
This is similar to Steven Hassan's advice for deprogramming former cult members.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Hassan
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combating_Cult_Mind_Control
A bit of compassion helps.
Some aspects of addiction therapy are also applicable.
MAGA are addicted to rage & violence & Republican billionaire authoritarians created those addicts.
That said, the evil they fostered cannot be undone.
1/
@deFractal @mastodonmigration @TCatInReality @Npars01 @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
Your perspectives are heartening. David's right about the paralysis we feel.
It's near-impossible to be calm and open to people raging in your face, lying about you, cheering those who would destroy you. But we can't let those in that raging state prevail.
We must focus on the imperative need to save democracy, and avoid our emotional pitfalls. Parkrose Perma's video is brilliant.
@deFractal @mastodonmigration @Npars01 @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
Excellent point.
We need to give people a way out of MAGA. Anyone should be welcomed into the antifascist coalition whenever they are ready to join.
But like AA, we need a space for them to articulate what they did and how they can learn from it.
@TCatInReality @deFractal @mastodonmigration @Npars01 @oldclumsy_nowmad @Remittancegirl @gottalaff.bsky.social
So, remind me. Has AA cured some alcoholics, or cured alcoholism?
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