Behind any "inspiring" posts here, I have a freaking tankie in the family.
And it makes me *furious*, the shit he believes because online habits have radicalized him, allowing him to feel righteous while gamifying nightmare.
I focus on de-radicalization when I'm calm enough. I aim to disrupt the rejection cycle that entrenches ID for extremist religious & political views alike.
Am I ashamed I have to do this with family? 110%. But this crap is *everywhere*.
We need constant vigilance online.
@MLClark
In my limited vocabulary a "Tankie" is someone in a tank regiment.
I really must try to keep up with all this, changing daily, modern language.
Funnily enough, "tankie" has been in use since at least the 1950s - first for uncritical support of Soviet military exercise, then any exercise seen to stick it to the West, from a Stalinist mentality.
That said, like a lot of these folks, there is indeed failed military ambition in the mix. This one got spooked in a paratrooper training camp, and came home. Which is fine. What is *not* fine is, many years later, being so eager to see others die for their notion of a just cause.
@MLClark FWIW, I've had the same problem, as I suspect do most families.
I've lost 4-5 friends in the last few years because they went down the rabbit hole. It's too bad, but ... forward.
You and I share the same malady. We want to fix the universe. That's a noble trait, but we wind up carrying pain. They couldn't care less.
I've learned over the decades to build my own "family." We need to surround ourselves with love and support, because we make ourselves vulnerable far too easily.
In more violent seasons, I've had to report him for public safety. This is a "monitor and try to lessen harm" situation.
"I've learned over the decades to build my own family."
Oh, you don't have to tell the person who left Canada for Colombia that. :) It's part of why I have extreme depression at the thought of ever going back.
Building community that makes me feel safe has always been difficult, though (I've ultimately avoided more than built) so I'm glad you found yours. 🙂
@WordsmithFL @MLClark oh I know this song as well. Rabbit holes to the left and the right, alas. And then there's the family full of fundies. Sigh.
But then there are the true friends. They are certainly treasures.
@MLClark Does ID stand for intellectual dishonesty?
It might as well sometimes! 🙃
In this case, it's just identity. Part of radicalization involves getting converts used to rejection from others for their views. Some Evangelicals do this by sending folk out to proselytize so that they can feel a stronger sense of in-group identity when people lash out at them. QAnon & its ilk rely on similar. Upsetting others through public provocation "confirms" for them that they must be on to something - or else why would everyone be so angry?
@MLClark eh, I have raging fundies, not tankies, but I know what you mean. I lost a friend to the tankie ideology...what was really distressing is that she couldn't see how sexist and racist she really was. I don't think she ever did realize it (she passed away several years ago).
And then there's the friend we lost to the Bundy/Lavoy Finicum cult. Sigh.
That said, good morning to everyone, whether you come from white trash or not. 🤗 I promise, the world is bigger than any garbage views people even in your circles cling to because they can think of no other way to feel big and tough and important but to root from their phones and keyboards for violence. It may not feel like it, on this very stupid timeline we inhabit, but it *is* there: a whole slew of people working for a better, kinder world instead.
Somewhere.
🕊☕️