kia75 t1_iugne09 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:23 AM

Reply to comment by HaloGuy381 in Richard Branson declines invitation to debate death penalty with Shanmugam, says TV format 'turns serious debate into spectacle' by chronoistriggered

You're taking your father at his word. The truth is, your father doesn't care about what he says he cares about, they're just words to justify his stances.

As you've just pointed out, your father really doesn't care about government spending. If he really cared about government spending then he would want to spend as little as possible to execute someone. Instead, he's fine with spending exorbitant money to execute someone, and he'd prefer to use the money currently going to "these programs" to be spent on execution. Your father's stances and arguments aren't congruent, and no budgetary argument (i.e. Every dollar spent on welfare have a multiplier effect on society, spending money on a starving kid so that he becomes a productive member of society results in that kid growing up and paying taxes, much higher taxes then were spent on him, while if that same kid instead receives no help and thus becomes a crook and winds up in prison, would become a drain on society and much much more of his money would be spent on that kid)

I don't know how to change your father's mind, but I do know fighting the wrong arguments will never work since it's just justification for his actual beliefs.

HaloGuy381 t1_iugrcqo wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:10 AM

I don’t expect to change his views. I just find it helpful to remind myself I’m not crazy, and at his core my father is kind of a bigoted, unempathetic monster, even if my mother is the more pressing concern in terms of being a shitty parent and person. When they at least feign politeness and decency so well, it’s easy to start wondering if you’re the one who’s nuts. Poking him with a simple argument that basically boils down to being willing to pay top dollar to make people suffer, even if it would involve a hit to our quality of life from the expense, is one way to do that. It’s funny he thinks I find the political BS rants from them uncomfortable for being political, when in reality I just have no desire to listen to regurgitated Fox propaganda all day. I’m decidedly political, it’s just that after finding out about the mocking behind my back after the 2016 election from them (correctly) presuming I voted Clinton, I voice my beliefs with caution.

I figured it out unambiguously with the whole incident involving the BLM protests in 2020. Hearing your own father claim Trump was being too lenient and should have firebombed them by the block, is deeply disturbing, especially after he got an AR-15 and handguns last year. (And that in spite of my chronic fight with suicidal tendencies; at least he has the sense to keep them in a safe,with the key being hard to locate being why I’m typing this and alive).

And now we’re in a town in Texas with a monument to the Confederates next to the county courthouse, where I’ve seen pro-Confederate demonstrators marching openly and with minimal opposition. Where random strangers openly discuss anti-vax conspiracy theories as if genuine fact. It’s nuts out here, and speaking freely feels hazardous.

Belchera t1_iuk49ef wrote on October 31, 2022 at 10:57 PM

You aren’t crazy, you’re right. I’m sorry you’re going through that. Just know that the whole world hasn’t gone mad, even if it may seem that way. There is hope out there along with love and compassion.

Stick around so that those seem a little more common.