4d ago

MAGA family member (we'll call them Alex) broke down and cried because they are scared that "the criminal illegal aliens are coming to get them!"

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/7780189

I will try not to reveal much personal information in order to maintain privacy.
Anyway, I've known Alex for most of my life, they were pretty good for most of it.
In recent years, they've gone down the MAGA pipeline, and it's gotten worse and worse over the years.
At this point: about every day they talk about illegal immigrants and Trump, often even making jokes about it.
They talked about it so much, and I tried to tell them the truth (such as that most undocumented aren't criminals, they can't migrate legally, etc.) and even encouraged them to do research about it, but they refused.
Here's where things start to get crazy:
In recent times, anything they see that goes against their worldview is called "fake news" while they literally unironically called Fox News a reliable source. (Another family member made fun of them for "only looking at Fox News," not knowing how right they were.)
They started to say how scared they are about "Venezuelan gangs" and even said that they check their windows and get scared at every sound because they are literally worried that it's one of the "gang members."
Then it happened:
We discussed the Garcia situation, where a legal immigrant was sent to CECOT without trial. We argued about it.
I asked stuff like, "Where's the fair trial? Where's the due process? Should you be punished for a crime you weren't even tried for and convicted of?"
They kept saying lies like, "They DID get a trial! They're an abuser! They're a gang member! Only the worst criminals go there! You just support mean people and gang members!"
This continued back and forth, until it happened.
They cried about how scared they were of the "illegal immigrant gangs" and being attacked by them. That's right, cried, with tears.
I was disgusted. I felt sad because they bought into this propaganda so much. And I felt amused to the point of laughing, which they didn't like.
That person had various problems in their life. And they decided to cry about "the evil brown people coming after me!!!"
I didn't feel sorry for them at all. That's disgusting.
And that was just the first instance.
Recently:
We were having just a mundane conversation in the car, and they made a joke about CECOT and El Salvador. I said that I didn't want to talk about that. They got angry and talked seriously about El Salvador. I told them again multiple times that I didn't want to talk about it, and they kept continuing. They said stuff back at me like "You know who goes to CECOT? The worst of the worst!" so I was forced to confront them like "They send innocent people there without trial, I don't want to talk about it." I keep saying no, they say "I have a right to say what I believe." I say, "I have boundaries, I want you to respect them. Can you please be respectful?" They say, "I cAn'T bElIeVe YoU sUpPoRt GaNgS!1!1!1!"
I tell them that I never said that and I want due process and don't want to talk about this, they sounded like they were going to cry about "the brown people coming to get me again!!!" and I wasn't in the mood to deal with that. Thankfully, I got to my destination soon after.
It is incredibly sad to see somebody I've known throughout my life turn into...this. Of course, there's much worse that could've happened, but this is unbelievable.
They do see a therapist, and I think I should encourage them to talk to them about it.
Do you guys have any thoughts or stories to share?

27 comments

Go for the maximum chaos option. Instead of refuting their madness, lean into it to torment them!
While driving with Alex as a passenger:
"Oh, you don't know the half of it Alex. You know nothing of Tren de Aragua! Nothing!"
<Memorize the Lord's prayer in Spanish. Start speaking it aloud now.>
<Pull back shirt sleeve to reveal a press-on tattoo that literally just says "Tren de Aragua!" On your other forearm, a similar label reads "MS-13.">
"You know Alex, I fought them for a long time too. But you know what, in the end, I figured, why be one of the losers when you can be one of the victors, he me hombre? That's why I am a member of both Tren de Aragua and MS-13. Look under the seat Alex, look under your seat!"
<Alex reaches under their seat and pulls out a giant zip-log bag, kilo-sized mass of some white powder. The bag is labeled "99.99% fentanyl.">
"You know nothing Alex! You know nothing! You think you can stop us? We're already here Alex, we're already here! You think you can stop us with immigration law? 90% of us are born US citizens!"
<Maniacal laughing!!!>
"You have no idea what's coming Alex, you have no idea!!!"
Grab the bag from them, place it under your seat, and go back to driving. Make no mention of what just transpired and refuse to acknowledge it for the rest of the journey. But do occasionally sprinkle random bits of Spanish into your conversation then on.
- Remember this handy chart before trying this funny joke
  
  If you're white, it's alright! If you're brown, don't be the clown
  
  What if you're smurf blue from eating too much colloidal silver?
- MS-13? Like the movie rating?
  
  You must bring a parent or guardian with you to join the murder gang.
  
  Smh, and here I was thinking it was a food preservative.

I support gangs
- I feel like the only proper response to this is to laugh and tell the crybaby you will be posting their address on the MS13.com fourms.
- Yah I'd double down and start arguing why MS-13, the Latin Kings, and Florencia are preferable to America's largest criminal organization: the police.

lmao, gonna cry, gonna piss your pants maybe?

I’m going to assume that Alex is a crackkker.
If that assumption is correct, then point out to them that, as a crackkker, he’s way more likely to be violently assaulted by another honky than by a brown person , documented or not.

I don't have any constructive advice. I think people with hysterical racism and reactionary politics brought on by the uncritical, willing embrace of propaganda should be ridiculed, teased, and mocked with complete scorn and derision.
their tears are meaningless while innocent people truly suffer inhumane cruelty under the violent political project they have chosen to embrace.
if they have a big emotional outburst and want to make it about their feelings, tell them to save it for their therapist because you aren't being paid a hundred dollars an hour to help them process the malevolent, hateful garbage they have chosen to ingest.
I hate crybullies.

In 2020 I lived in a house with four libertarians. It was a literal one stoplight town, extremely right-wing without any sort of left presence, and according to the latest census data 0.3% of its population is black.
They were all apocalyptically terrified of BLM and Antifa. No matter how many times I tried to talk about it with them, they were convinced that Denver had become a lawless hellscape where Antifa had taken over the highways and were executing all of the truck drivers and horses. They wanted to drive around Denver with a car full of guns hoping to be carjacked by Antifa so they could get away with a mass shooting. They wanted to stand outside local businesses in this town without socialists or minorities holding AR-15s in case BLM decided to storm it. And mind you that guy was a felon, so not only could he not get guns but none of those businesses would hire him for a minimum wage job.
That pathological fear was so deeply ingrained in them at multiple levels. It was a fragile masculinity thing primarily, but it was as much reactionary politics driven by propaganda as it was hoping something would happen in their dogshit lives and dogshit town. Killing any particular brainworm proved impossible because they would just fall back into their others or change the target of their sublimation. They were so pathologically driven that irrational fear gave them meaning. Alex needs the illegal aliens to be just over the horizon because that means Alex is strong enough to do sum'pin 'bout it.
- executing all of the truck drivers and horses
  Anti-equine aktion
  
  Colorado's right-wing militia network was obsessed with it. Apparently the interstates surrounding Denver were totally blockaded with miles-long traffic jams. Antifa was going vehicle-to-vehicle. If you were driving a truck they shot you on the spot. If you were towing a horse trailer, they lit the trailer on fire. It didn't matter that the state government has real-time traffic cam footage and google maps updates you if there's a delay in your route. The whole thing was a shared power fantasy where they were hyping each other up to do sum'pin 'bout it, but none of them actually drove to Denver despite it being an hour away from their house and all of them owning cars. Antifa had taken over the Greeley courthouse and was threatening the state's food supply, but they didn't want to drive a short distance to go there.
  I can't imagine being that afraid of something I could so easily verify. The felon who wanted to die defending the gas stations and fast food restaurants which wouldn't hire him was on the verge of crying as he described that mission.

I’m glad you laughed at them.

I mean, spread the rumor they’re a p*do and ask them to contest the claims.

Fear shall keep them in line.

The contradictions are numerous. You could point out a million ways this is all hypocrisy but it wouldn't matter if they're willingly receiving the daily propaganda straight into the brain. They insofar basically admit the contradictions and still don't care.
You're hoping to help someone who doesn't want help. In fact, I'd argue Alex thinks they can turn you into seeing things their way.

If it's really getting to you just cut them out. Boundaries are only real if you enforce them. You're basically letting some chud talk at you because you've known them for a long time. Fuck them, you don't owe them your time or your patience. But also I'm autistic and people like this are genuinely harmful for me to be around, I might be thinking about this from the wrong perspective.
Idk it just sounds like Alex probably isn't worth being around unless you just have to. All that time could be spent around some other person who doesn't suck. Don't waste your life on fascists
- I don't have the means to leave them at the moment, would rather not say why.
  
  I'm sorry you're in this position. Try to minimized talking/contact as you can and talk to us/friends about it as needed, I guess.
  
  Headphones and ear plugs. When they start their BS visibly put those on. Maybe they'll learn to shut up.

easier to deal with that terror than reckon with the prospect of dying under technofeudalism halfway through a mass extinction event

I don't associate with any of my family aside from my parents who are cool and my grandma cause she's gonna die soon and she's okay too. My folks and I get along just fine and play video games together. The rest of my family are just annoying. I get some hints that some aren't the best politically if push came to shove. My uncle is pushing 60 and likes family guy and scouting and got mad about the aunt Jemima bottles being changed. His argument was she was a real person. I'd actually looked into this and she was an actor in the 1885 World Fair which kicked off the brand. Dude was bamboozled by hucksters prior to the invention of flim flam let alone cons. This is a literal snake oil era bit of bs. He's a Scouts Nerd (also a disgusting trait) and was mad that black people have been saying the lower level girl scouts which in Canada have been called 'Brownies' should change their name. I agreed that they should and he elaborated as if this made his point that 'none of these people complaining are even involved in these groups!' As if maybe these issues are why they aren't involved. Scouts has to be the whitest shit ever. But I only have to see them for about 3 hours a year on Christmas and could opt out but for 3 hours it's worth it so my parents don't have to hear about it for the rest of their lives. The rest of the time they spend loudly shit talking people I've never met. I'm sure they do the same about me after. My parents also find them to be exhausting and shallow boors and they aren't exactly intellectuals themselves. Pretty much all.of my family grew up in the sticks and I didn't. And even then my grandfather spearheaded a mutual aide system for rural fire stations where for big calls a whole region could get to one area better and also was huge in getting women on the force, he was cool as fuck. The rest are standard libs but with varying personal levels of reactionary

Grab them by the shoulders and shake them as hard as you can while screaming TREN DE ARAGUA IS NOT COMING TO GET YOU THEY DONT EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE probably wont change their mind but it will be very cathartic for you.

27 comments