I was a child living in West Germany in the late 70s and early 80s.

[tofugolem@mastodon.social]

I was a child living in West Germany in the late 70s and early 80s.

I remember reading an interview with elderly Nazis and being shocked at how divorced from reality they still sounded. Their minds were still warped from propaganda viewed decades prior. The majority of their lives were lived without said propaganda, and they were still essentially insane.

US citizens need to understand this. Germany shows us what is going to happen.

Some of those Republicans will realize how wrong they…

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[tofugolem@mastodon.social]

…were, but many—if not most—are never going to get better. They will never become sane. They will never stop being evil. They will never stop being civilization-destroying savages. They will never be decent human beings.

People need to accept this.

All you can do is cut them out of your life.

I think the comparisons to cults and leaving religion are apt. Once an ideology attaches itself to one’s sense of self-worth, some simply cannot let go.

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[weekend_editor@mathstodon.xyz]

@tofugolem

Can you point me at something to read that will show me how the former Nazis were still delusional?

I think I agree that this is probably the case, but I'm morbidly curious about seeing an example. (Feel free to advise me not to follow up on that curiosity for the sake of my sanity. :-)

[vpermar@mastodon.online]

@tofugolem @Gustodon I am acquainted with a number of republican folks. They are thrilled with how “well” things are going. As one of them recently told me, “the future is brighter than ever for America.”

[gustodon@mas.to]

@vpermar Those people have lost the thread.

[davidm_yeg@mstdn.ca]

@tofugolem

The solution to today’s times (here in Canada we have our own MapleMAGA) is not to somehow redeem the MAGA crowd, it’s to provide a vision and a path that convinces the half of the population that has been sitting on its hands to get up and be part of something better.

[davidm_yeg@mstdn.ca]

@tofugolem

I honestly think the most hopeful outcome for most of them is that they will move on to a different (but probably adjacent) cult that is less socially destructive, because the cultish patterns of thought do not go away easily.

[papyrusbrigade@mstdn.ca]

@tofugolem Having followed news about the occupation of Minneapolis, I was shocked recently to read about Evangelical churches like Cities Church welcoming it, seeing ICE as righteous men fighting degeneracy.

https://baptistnews.com/article/lets-talk-about-how-cities-church-treats-women/

It's easy to reach for Nazis as comparison. But the US has such a long lineage of weaponizing a particular version of Christianity to create all manner of abuses. Slavery, Indigenous genocide, Iraq invasion as a crusade by "God's chosen nation", etc. Its hard to imagine that ever really being reckoned with.

[tofugolem@mastodon.social]

@weekend_editor
I read the interview as a child in the late 70s or early 80s. I have no idea where to find a citation for that, nor am I interested in reading anymore interviews with elderly Nazis.

[weekend_editor@mathstodon.xyz]

@tofugolem

Ok. No need to be re-traumatized (or bored)!

I'm fully capable of doing my own research. :-)

I'm just curious about the persistence of cognitive injury from exposure to propaganda & disinformation, based on what seemed to be rapid personality changes I saw in people around COVID-19 vaccines, and now Trump.