Talked to another person who voted for trump as a revenge vote against democrats for electing Obama. She said that she loves it when dems say “this is not normal” about trump, because she felt her own sense of normalcy squashed when the country elected its 1st black potus
She said trump is a disgusting idiot, but he spoke to her anger about “minorities taking over America”, and she thought he would “fight to put whites back in charge of the country”. This is what “make America great again” means to her
I asked her if she would vote against trump in 2020. She said she would as long as his opponent is white and has never worked under Obama or any other poc politician. She said that she thinks trump was a necessary evil that has served its purpose
To be clear, she doesn’t think she is racist. She doesn’t think poc are “worse” than whites. She is a white nationalist though (obvs). She thinks every country will have once race that will ultimately be in control of things & she wants to be sure that in the USA the thats whites
Other details about this person- Doesn't talk about politics much because she knows other people won't "get it", works in a caring profession and treats people empathy and care when face to face with them regardless of race, huge sports fan but hates conflict
Personally I think this hate of conflict is a big part of what drives her white nationalism. She loves to see things in black & white (yuck yuck yuck) because she hates internal conflict. She hates feeling ambivalent or unsure. She wants to divide her world up with clear borders
More people need to look at the fact that that people (including themselves) are not all good or all bad, that it's ok to be uncomfortable with parts of yourself that you don't like & you should be proud for sitting with that discomfort, then hopefully doing something about it
If she were able to step back and say "huh, I am definitely not doing on to others as I would want done onto me with this whole white nationalism stuff. That doesn't fit with my values or desired sense of self, so maybe I should try to alter my thinking" then she'd have a chance
But to look at herself with that much honesty, without feeling the need to defend her ideology from others (or even the more morally conscious part of herself) would be super uncomfortable. Just like how climate change or Trump putting kids in cages makes them uncomfortable.
People want to believe the lies that settle their internal conflicts, that reassure them that they are a good person, that set up clear boundries between them and "the other team", that make them feel the world is a good place. But none of that leads to self improvement
Anyway, I hope she heard how she sounded. I didn't try to debate her or talk her out of anything. I did ask questions like "Does it feel weird to vote along the same lines that neo nazis campaign for?" and she had to stop and think about that. I hope she thinks some more tonight
Oh shit she is lasagna cat
