Which we should see as an excellent radicalization and growth opportunity!
It can be exhausting explaining ourselves again and again, always met with the same accusations and assumptions born from the mythos spun by our enemies.
However, we must remember these people are people, and many people change their minds given enough information, delivered with firm respect. For every belligerent person who appears like they wouldn't change their mind for anything, there are 10 people quietly lurking who are more on-the-fence. Even those who regurgitate insults and contempt may change their mind when the stars align!
These people are not our enemies, they are victims to the greatest campaign of dishonesty in human history! It is our duty to draw out the poison and deliver the medicine!
I know many comrades here have very difficult lives and do not have the patience or energy to deal with such people. Please do not exhaust yourself interacting with liberals, and allow comrades with more energy to deal with them.
Radicalizing online is not the end-all be-all, but at this point in the psychological war for those within the Anglosphere, every victory is invaluable!!!
I completely agree with that. I find the trick is recognizing whether a person disagrees, but wants to have a genuine discussion to understand where you're coming from or just trolling. I think we can give people the benefit of the doubt, but as the discussion progresses it's important to watch for signs such as the person ignoring or misrepresenting the points you're making, talking past you, using tropes, etc. At that point it's best to just leave a note pointing that out for people reading the thread and disengage.
Getting people to explain their own positions is the best way to get people to change their positions because it forces them to do some introspection on why they believe something. When ideas come from outside they're rejected much easier. So, definitely agree with the approach of just asking questions and steering people towards making their own realizations.
I mean if people started actually thinking about causes of their circumstances then the system wouldn't last very long.
You have the patience of a saint for continuing to debate them after the Reddit influx. I've completely stopped trying to debate the libs on Lemmy because it ruins my mood and mental health more than it has hope of convincing them or even starting a productive conversation where either one of us stand to learn from the other. I still make it a point to expose myself to all dissenting views because I feel that as a socialist I should at least be aware of all the viewpoints, but I don't care enough to actually engage with them anymore.
I usually just hope that other people reading learn something. I'm trying to engage with them less as well, blocking a few really prolific trolls definitely helped. I gotta say though, with hexbear federating the vibes got so much better.
Hexbear provides balance for sure.