Right, it’s not about evidence.
It probably is some kind of bigotry. Racism (the myth of the welfare queen), ableism (the myth that people en masse lie about being disabled to get benefits), protestant work ethic, etc. No clue how to combat those things, though, other than explaining how these myths came to be, which I have. I’m just at a loss and would like to have at least one family member who isn’t a total reactionary POS.
You’re right, there are easier people out there. Problem is that I don’t have much of a social life irl, partially by choice, and partially due to being autistic. I have tried to explain unions and their benefits to her once before, and she just came at me with “UnIoN dUeS bAd.”
The thing is that she’s from WV and her dad was a coal miner for a union mine that had showers for the miners to use at the end of the workday. She’s told me a story about how in the 80s, the union went on strike, and her dad went to work for the scab mine with no showers and how heartbreaking it was to see him come home covered in coal dust. Again, it’s like the elevator just doesn’t go all the way up. She has the pieces but refuses to put them together. Part of me thinks she’s just a lost cause.
Right. I think I’ve sort of gestured towards that, but may not have explained it fully to her. I’ll go more in-depth next time I get the chance to have this type of conversation with her.
My intent isn’t to defend social democracy or the capitalist welfare state…I believe my post may not have fully gotten that across, sorry. The myth of people living it up on various benefits and them being easy to get is what dissuades her from going any further left. One root of that idea is that “lazy” people deserve to suffer, but goodness knows there are several more.
I’m just at a loss for what to do. I can be more open with her than my dad and she does have some decent social beliefs (such as that gay and trans people aren’t freaks of nature that are doomed to burn in hell. very low bar, right?), which is what makes this all the more frustrating.
I’m sure that in her mind she chalks it up to her (an honest, hardworking American™) being persecuted by dems who hate big business (if only that were true!). She’s only ever worked factory jobs and retail, and I’ve tried to explain deindustrialization to her, and it’s like she agrees but as soon as I quit talking she goes back to “handouts bad. jobs good. work ethic good. complaining bad. millenials and gen z bad. gen x and boomers good.” Etc.
Thanks for your response. This is just a supremely frustrating situation all around.
Exactly. I suspect whenever I talk about the reality of the USSR or other AES she just tunes it out because I was born after the cold war ended, though. I’ll keep trying.