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How would you deal with right wing parents? (lemmy.world)

submitted 19 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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For some context, we are first generation immigrants. My parents are Russian, my mother and her husband have been living here for 20 years (even got rid of Russian citizenship couple years ago), my biological father is still living in Russia.

It's damn exhausting to discuss political topics with them, especially my father. He keeps telling me how great it is to live in Russia, how their economy is doing great and how he's proud that they are defending their "brothers" in Donezk and Luhansk from the evil bandera regime in Ukraine.

My mom voted far right in the past election. She doesn't believe she voted for nazis, but the party's views on economics, climate policy and immigration seem to align with hers. She believes wind farms are harmful for the environment. What the actual fuck.

Whenever I try to argue with them, they tell me that I've been brainwashed by "Western propaganda".

I'm at a loss. I love my parents and I know that nobody's immune to propaganda, but it's heartbreaking to see them holding these toxic beliefs. How would you deal with parents like these? Should I just declare to never talk about politics with them again since it's pointless?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 13 hours ago

My parents immigrated from "communist" Poland years ago and had similar conservative views. Abortion bad, church good, black people lazy, etc... It took years of discussions and disagreement to get them to think in a more progressive way, and yes, having siblings helps. And if you can convince one parent, they can help you convince the other.

I truly believe that art is one of the best ways to alter the way people think. I found that watching movies/documentaries with my parents that had strong ecological and humanitarion viewpoints were a great way to start these discussions. Movies about topics like systemic racism, homophobia, corporate greed/fraud, environmental destruction, religious abuse, etc...

For example, the Netflix documentary '13th' have real insight into how the systemic racism uses poverty to keep marginalized people poor and desperate enough to commit crimes. Which are then blamed on their skin color rather than their on economic situation.