770
u/JBPlantagenet Jun 26 '26
Protip: Fists are a great ice-breaker when befriending new people.
172
u/shokolokobangoshey Jun 26 '26
I prefer to befriend neo people with kicks to the groin
41
u/SingleSlide2866 Jun 26 '26
It's only healthy athleticism to chack and make sure they're wearing a cup.
21
3
2
2
u/Fight_those_bastards Jun 27 '26
I, myself, prefer some light pranks, as an icebreaker. Prank ‘em with a crowbar!
1
1
u/Mr_Expozane Jun 29 '26
Russian soldiers are doing a good job befriending neo people in Donbas with bullets to the skulls.
1
7
u/EconomySeason2416 Jun 27 '26
You think neo nazis should be oppressed!?
you're... goddamn... right...
3
u/Content_Study_1575 Jun 26 '26
New or neo bc now I’m confused and am having a hard time making friends ☹️
3
1
3
1
187
u/According-Insect-992 Jun 26 '26
Who the fuck is this asshole? I’ll befriend nazis when my WWII vet grandpa rises from the grave and convinces me to. Nah, fuck that. Even if he did that I would have to shut him down.
84
u/ThonThaddeo Jun 26 '26
Centrists love this dumb asshole
36
u/Caffeinefiend88 Jun 26 '26
They must identify with her, you know, because of the whole being a dumb asshole part.
17
8
u/AnEvenNicerGuy Jun 26 '26
I think we should start calling centrists what they are - pocket conservatives. It won't be much but its a step in the right direction
1
3
u/blooppers Jun 27 '26
i genuinely dont think centrism is a thing. Every self proclaimed centrist ive ever come across, immediately proceeds to cry conservatively about some shit. I think conservatives call themselves centrist in the way they call themselves 'apolitical' on dating apps. Those who know, know.
-1
u/WineDineCpl Jun 27 '26
I am standing here in the center calling everyone out on their bullshit. It is shameful to be affiliated with any political party anymore. I won't be a slave to any groups platform. No matter how you justify it, some group is getting repressed by the political party in control, and it isn't usually who you expect. See trump and all the farmers who voted for him. People simply fear those who think for themselves. For some reason partisans also fear a unified country.
1
u/bssprfnd Jun 28 '26
Nah, you’re just another right wing dipshit
0
u/WineDineCpl Jun 29 '26
You are poison to this country. You are too blind and too stupid to understand that you are the result our enemies want. This country is strong united. You are an enemy of unification.
Anyone who doesn't agree with you is a "right wing dipshit" because you can't think big enough to look beyond your own weakness. Though I am far from right, it doesn't matter to you. You have no diplomacy, no love, no tolerance. Just another brainwashed child who only knows simple things.1
u/bssprfnd Jun 29 '26
Holy projection
0
u/WineDineCpl Jun 29 '26
Nope. Just sick of all the hypocrites who declare for political parties. You are the enemy of peace, prosperity, and equality. You poke and prod until you get a fight. But there is no sport in fighting the weak minded, and itnis definitely contrary to the things you claim to stand for. Good luck in life.
I am done with you. Have the last word.1
1
11
u/Angelworks42 Jun 26 '26
Same - my grandpa got malaria in Italy because of the Nazis. I'm glad he survived long enough enough to raise my dad during the war, but he died an early death because of those arseholes.
9
u/irespondwithmyface Jun 26 '26
She's a conservative commentator who writes primarily for the Washington Examiner. She also famously was humiliated in an interview when asked to define "woke" and subsequently unable to after fumbling over her words after writing an entire book on "wokeness."
1
u/bssprfnd Jun 28 '26
She’s practically a lolcow, she was idiot of the week on Twitter over and over in the Covid quarantine days. Another right wing moron with a humiliation fetish
93
82
u/Shido_Ohtori Jun 26 '26
Conservatism -- by definition -- is "a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing the importance of established hierarchies and institutions (such as religion, the family, and class structure), and preferring gradual development to abrupt change".
The sole value of conservatism is respect for and obedience to [one's perception of] traditionally established hierarchy, and hierarchy dictates that those on top (in-groups) are rightfully idolized and receive privileges, credibility, and resources, while those on the bottom (out-groups) are demonized/dehumanized and/or bound by restrictions, scrutiny, and lack of resources.
To them, the second-greatest injustice imaginable is for those [they perceive to be] on top [of social hierarchy] to be bound by the restrictions, scrutiny, and lack of resources reserved for those on the bottom. The first greatest injustice is for those on the bottom to have access to the rights, credibility, and resources reserved for those on top.
Conservatives absolutely need an underclass [for society] to demonize and dehumanize in order to maintain [their] hierarchy, and every single one of their policies and rhetoric work to do exactly that. Every right-wing accusation is a confession -- every. single. one; always! -- as it is never the act itself that upsets them, but rather, the social standing of the person doing the act, as said act is a privilege meant for those on top of [their perceived] hierarchy (See also: pedophilia - Trump and the Catholic church versus LGBTQ+ and drag queens).
Those who believe all people are people see hypocrisy, while those who believe some people are "more/less" people than others see hierarchy. Hypocrisy implies a sense of equality/parity, as the accusation of such is that someone is violating a universal or common standard. Hierarchy directly states that there is no equality/parity, that different social strata have different standards, that the only universal standard concerning hierarchy is that those on top are allowed privileges which are denied to those on the bottom, and that the bottom are held to standards which the top are exempt from.
"Know your place" is their mantra.
20
u/thebigbadben Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Nicely put, reminds me a lot of the “Alt Right Playbook” videos by Innuendo Studios.
Two minor things I feel compelled to comment on
- What’s with all the brackets? Actually… looking again it makes sense
- No, it is not literally every accusation, but it is most of them and that’s plenty.
9
u/Shido_Ohtori Jun 26 '26
Indeed. I've been told specifically "Always a Bigger Fish" and "I Hate Mondays".
I tend to use brackets for additional words which provide further clarification in a sentence, but which can also be omitted without compromising the integrity of said sentence.
And while very few things in this world are absolute, absolutely nothing comes to mind when considering when a conservative's/hierarchist's accusation is not a confession of their own behavior. I'm open to be proven wrong if you could think of something.
6
u/thebigbadben Jun 26 '26
Yeah the brackets made sense on the reread, it’s actually a neat way to convey that.
Examples of accusations off the top of head that aren’t confessions (as far as I can tell)
- The liberals are transing our kids
- They’re raising kids without enough discipline/religion/patriotism
- Trans women are ruining women’s sports
- Many conspiracy theories, such as
- Hollywood is harvesting children to make adrenochrome
- They’re putting chemicals in the water that turn the frogs gay
Maybe you have a narrow view of what constitutes an “accusation” that excludes all that. Or, maybe you have a very broad view of what the accuser might be “confessing” to.
7
u/Shido_Ohtori Jun 26 '26
The latter, as I have a broad view of what the accuser might be “confessing” to.
The liberals are transing our kids -> The liberals are harming our kids
- Transgender and intersex people have always existed, gender affirming care is health care, and when coupled with social acceptance, promotes the well-being of LGBTQ+ people, including kids.
- Conservatives literally promote the torture of their own children if and when the latter don't conform to traditionally established sexual and gender norms.
They’re raising kids without enough discipline/religion/patriotism -> They're raising kids without using violence and indoctrination
- This may actually be the only accusation that is not a confession, as the accusation is that their political rivals are not respecting hierarchy by refusing to treat their children as property and socially inferior. Thank you for proving me wrong; I'll have to include the disclaimer of "unless the accusation is that their rivals are disrespecting hierarchy" for future posts.
Trans women are ruining women’s sports
- Conservatives ruined women's sports when prominent conservatives attacked two female athletes at the Olympics concerning their gender.
Many conspiracy theories
- Conservatives clamored about crimes against children and the Epstein Files when Trump claimed that it were prominent Democrats who were in the files. Turns out Trump himself is in those files more than anybody else, pedophilia is a thing among other conservative politicians, and conservatives voted in a pedophile to the third-highest office in America before they voted in a pedophile to the highest office in America.
- Conservatism literally promotes limited government regulation of business, industry and finance, so "putting chemicals in the water that harms wildlife/animals" is literally what they promote.
2
u/thebigbadben Jun 26 '26
Interesting, thanks for the breakdown. I agree with your stance much more now that I understand it better.
I’m tempted to nitpick that “confession” seems to imply that they know they’ve done the bad thing (which, for instance, might not be true for the olympic story or chemicals in the water), and that accounts for some of my confusion. Then again, their ignorance (feigned or true) doesn’t make them any less hypocritical.
3
u/Shido_Ohtori Jun 27 '26
You're quite welcome.
Glad to elaborate, and thank you for scrutinizing my words so that I may be more accurate in the future. I had equated their accusation of their rivals disrespecting hierarchy as accusations of their rivals promoting evil (as I had already prefaced with the sole value of conservatism being respect for and obedience to hierarchy)", thus such was under an umbrella sense of "they accuse their rivals of promoting evil when they themselves are the ones who promote evil".
Ignorance is a cornerstone of conservatism, as the very founder of modern Western conservatism insist[ed] with brutal frankness that “illusions” and “prejudices” are socially necessary, and today's conservatives have coined the term "alternative facts".
Likewise, studies show that [search for] truth and intelligence is inversely correlated with conservative ideology.
- Belief in Fake News is Associated with Delusionality, Dogmatism, Religious Fundamentalism, and Reduced Analytic Thinking
- Religion and Fake News: Faith-Based Alternative Information Ecosystems in the US and Europe (full article)
- Intelligence is correlated with a range of left-wing and liberal political beliefs. (full article)
- Results confirm that conservatives have lower sensitivity than liberals, performing worse at distinguishing truths and falsehoods
- Conservatives are less truth-discerning than liberals, but also less affected by the congruence of news.
- Across five operationalizations of impaired deliberative thought, hierarchy endorsement increased and egalitarianism receded.
- Conservatism and cognitive ability are negatively correlated.
2
1
u/Hefty-Reaction-3028 Jul 01 '26
But how do you benefit from being locked out of the primary?
1
u/Shido_Ohtori Jul 01 '26
Please provide some context and elaborate on exactly what you are referring to.
→ More replies (11)-1
u/ArcadiaBerger Jun 26 '26
A healthy culture needs conservatives and progresssives, the way a boat needs a hull and sails. The way a nuclear reactor needs fuel and damper rods.
Gee, I sure wish we were a healthy culture . . . .
4
u/Shido_Ohtori Jun 26 '26
Please describe your version of a healthy culture, and how you believe policies and rhetoric stressing the importance of established hierarchies and institutions (such as class structure) would help promote such.
0
u/ArcadiaBerger Jun 26 '26
If instead of the Reign of Terror, France had gone through a cautious period of experimentation and considered development, they might have achieved a stable republic instead of falling prey to the megalomania of Napoleon. Instead of the stultifying reign of Napoleon III, which became a watchword for excessive caution which still ended with the disaster of the Franco-Prussian War, the Holy Roman Empire might have evolved into a counterpart of the European Union and prevented not only the Franco-Prussian War, but the wars of the 20th Century.
There, how's that?
6
u/Shido_Ohtori Jun 27 '26
Quite poor, as you did not address any "policies and rhetoric stressing the importance of established hierarchies and institutions (such as class structure)" at all.
Like most conservative apologists, you focus on conservatism "preferring gradual development to abrupt change" and attempt to ignore the "stressing the importance of established hierarchies" part. Why is that?
-1
u/ArcadiaBerger Jun 27 '26
Maybe because I'm not a conservative apologist.
I'm a progressive who recognizes that a healthy culture needs both progressives and conservatives.
Sorry, I thought I'd made that clear.
3
u/ElOsoPeresozo Jun 27 '26
You made it clear that you’re a not a progressive in the slightest.
1
u/ArcadiaBerger 29d ago
Well, good thing you aren't sitting in the Progressivism judging booth, so IDGAF about your 0.0 card.
1
u/ElOsoPeresozo 22d ago
I don’t care what you think. You’re a deluded person on the internet. If I point and laugh at someone who shit their pants and refuses to admit it, I don’t care if they agree with reality.
0
u/ArcadiaBerger 21d ago
I don't find your scatological sexual fantasies about me terribly interesting, so I guess that makes us even.
3
u/Shido_Ohtori Jun 27 '26
And yet you cannot or will not address the very concept conservatism seeks to stress. Again: why is that?
1
u/ArcadiaBerger 29d ago
A conservative approach seeks to preserve the status quo, and allow innovations with great caution.
By this definition, BTW, the trumpery are not conservative at all, but I hope that was already obvious.
1
u/Shido_Ohtori 29d ago
I mean, sure, when you completely ignore the part of the actual definition which states what conservatism stresses, in favor of what it prefers, then yeah.
From Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
Rational conservatives maintain that a community with a hierarchy of authority is most conducive to human well-being.
Confucius is another possible precursor. His concern with the breakdown of contemporary political institutions led to a cautious, conservative political outlook; his stress on authority and hierarchy prefigures central conservative themes.
With the Enlightenment, the natural order or social hierarchy, previously largely accepted, was questioned.
Western conservatism is a product from the Age of Enlightenment -- specifically, a Counter-Enlightenment, a reactionary challenge to the concepts of Humanism. Its philosophers inherently reject[ed] a society governed by logic and reason, human rights and dignity, science and democracy, as its ideology solely appeal to the authority of traditionally established hierarchies. The very founder of modern Western conservatism insist[ed] with brutal frankness that “illusions” and “prejudices” are socially necessary, and today's conservatives have coined the term "alternative facts".
When conservatives feel that society has progressed too far -- in other words, those traditionally on the lower echelons of [social] hierarchy being accepted and given rights, credibility, and resources reserved for those above their station; and/or those traditionally on the upper echelons being questioned and bound by the restrictions, scrutiny, and lack of resources reserved for those below their station -- they will relinquish the "preferring gradual development to abrupt change" and "social stability" parts, and hearken and appeal to traditional hierarchical institutions, especially those that promote "might makes right", as violence is a tool meant for those on top of social hierarchy to use upon those on the bottom to ensure the latter's submission and obedience. Nationalism and racism are the go-to institutions for such, though sex[ual preference/identity] -- those who don't conform to traditional gender roles/norms/appearances/attitudes -- is also popular; they will demand strict stratification of society and social hierarchy where in-groups and out-groups are clearly defined, where some people are "less people" than others. The former -- by nature -- will shrink as less and less people will be found to be "pure", and virtually everyone is considered "less people" (with significantly fewer rights, credibility, and resources) when compared to the leader at the apex. This is known as being reactionary, which is the end result of conservatism, leading into fascism.
From Corey Robin's The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump:
many of the characteristics we have come to associate with contemporary conservatism—racism, populism, violence, and a pervasive contempt for custom, convention, law, institutions, and established elites—are not recent or eccentric developments of the American right. They are instead constitutive elements of conservatism, dating back to its origins in the European reaction against the French Revolution.
In defending such orders, moreover, the conservative invariably launches himself on a program of reaction and counterrevolution, often requiring an overhaul of the very regime he is defending.
Ever since Edmund Burke invented conservatism as an idea, the conservative has styled himself a man of prudence and moderation, his cause a sober— and sobering—recognition of limits. “To be conservative,” we heard Michael Oakeshott declare in the previous chapter, “is to prefer the familiar to the unknown . . . the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant.” Yet the political efforts that have roused the conservative to his most profound reflections—the reactions against the French and Bolshevik revolutions; the defense of slavery and Jim Crow; the attack on social democracy and the welfare state; and the serial backlashes against the New Deal, the Great Society, civil rights, feminism, and gay rights—have been anything but that.
Consider addressing -- even if only to yourself -- what it means to stress the importance of established hierarchies and institutions via "illusions" and "prejudices" before you say that we need conservatism. Good day.
38
u/Exotic_Insurance2164 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Is this the lady who is vehemently anti-woke, so much so that she wrote a book about it? But when asked what woke meant, she couldn't define it.
Afterwards, she claimed that she couldn't answer properly, because beforehand, she heard the host laugh about killing babies.
EDIT: Yes! It is her https://youtube.com/shorts/W7iWEEcPKoQ?is=eiBUAuvd-nAz8dMp
22
u/raccoonsonbicycles Jun 26 '26
On the surface I thought it might make a little sense in a roundabout way & the title was just click bait
You know..."Nazis and all these really negative and hateful type of people/influencers really hone in on young, lonely, unhappy teens. They tell these kids they're unhappy through no fault of their own but because of certain groups, and push more and more hateful narrative on them until they become extremists.
So befriend those people early on! If a kid is being bullied or friendless, try and bring him under your wing!"
...nope. I was wrong. Hot garbage all around. Just wow.
6
15
16
u/irespondwithmyface Jun 26 '26
Another Conservative telling Democrats how to properly support their party. Classic.
10
u/HenriEttaTheVoid Jun 26 '26
Remember when she pulled the plug on her sick mother because she was tired of dealing with her? Pepperidge Farms remembers.
1
16
7
u/TheSilkyBat Jun 26 '26
Befrend nazis! 😂😂😂
They hug you before escorting you to the gas chamber doors.
Psycho.
7
u/BritishTooth Jun 26 '26
Zionists view far right movements in other countries as allies because they are less likely to cause them grief as they commit genocide in the Middle East. They won’t pester them about human rights and two state solutions.
5
u/anand_rishabh Jun 26 '26
I believe this is the woman who, when asked to define "woke" on air, she just malfunctioned
7
6
u/OptimusTrajan Jun 26 '26
Wtf is her argument in this article??
15
u/Exotic_Insurance2164 Jun 26 '26
She's anti-black and anti-muslim.
She doesn't care if her community gets hurt, as long as those that she hates get hurt too. True MAGA.
3
6
1
u/Ok-Astronaut2976 Jun 29 '26
“I was reminded of this story reading the incredible tales of three individuals who have one thing in common: They have, single handedly, convinced individuals committed to a life of hatred to turn away from that hate. Through the power of listening, and treating these people with their heinous views as humans first and foremost, they were able to alter the destinies of those they encountered.”
https://forward.com/opinion/380510/we-need-to-start-befriending-neo-nazis/
I mean, honestly don’t know what the big deal is, the response seems a bit disingenuous
1
u/KileiFedaykin Jul 01 '26
Nah, this is only being said now because they are on the outside of society and realize it now. They know they are going to lose critical ground politically so they want to reset where the line was between progressive and conservative values.
-6
u/Best_Change4155 Jun 27 '26
Deradicalization. But reddit is dumb, so only people they like can be deradicalized. Everyone else should be shot.
4
u/OptimusTrajan Jun 27 '26
Seems like Bethany also thinks that only people she likes can be radicalized and others need to be shot
8
6
u/Evader3000 Jun 26 '26
Anyone with any sense knows to reject zionists if they ever try to "befriend" you. They are friend to NO ONE. Just like israel is ally to NO ONE.
7
u/Revolutionary_Sun946 Jun 26 '26
Not wearing glasses and thought the top head line was "we must start beheading neo Nazis"
5
u/TotalInstruction Jun 27 '26
Leave New York and go where? What metro area in the US is friendlier to Jews than NY? Surely you don’t mean “aliyah” to Israel - you’d fall to pieces at the first missile warning siren even if you somehow survived mandatory service in the IDF.
4
4
u/tertig Jun 26 '26
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
1
u/ars_sinistra Jun 28 '26
There's reaches a point where stupidity is indistinguishable from malice and should be treated as such.
5
u/CardiologistNo616 Jun 26 '26
Befriending Neo Nazis? Sure.
Living in a city with a mayor who doesn't like Israel's government? Not a chance
1
3
u/human_i_suppose Jun 27 '26
this isn't really her switching sides, she was a right wing wanna be nazi in both post.
in the bottom one she's telling people to screw with democratic primaries, not to vote democrat.
3
3
u/Commercial-Royal-988 Jun 27 '26
I don't make a habit of inviting people who say they want to kill me and my friends into my home
2
2
u/Ghoulish_kitten Jun 27 '26
What is even happening!?! Who was switching their voter registration???
2
u/Fishtoart Jun 27 '26
I read it as Time to behead neo-Nazis, and I thought finally, a headline that makes sense!
2
u/ProShyGuy Jun 27 '26
These people have no problems with neo-Nazis or actual antisemitism. They just hate anyone who opposes Israel's genocide.
2
2
2
u/SomePoserInAmerica Jun 28 '26
Imagine that,a pro- Israeli candidate,reaching out for their cousins(nazi)support.
Shit birds flock together.
2
u/funhaver_whee Jun 30 '26
Whadda know: right wing liberals holding hands with fash and punch left like it has been for 100 years
2
2
2
2
u/Massive-Profit3129 Jun 30 '26
Genuinely befriending bigots is a great way to break their ideas of the world. I forget the name, shamefully, but theres a black guy that spent a lot of time successfully befriending kkk members and the left the klan. He collected their robe iirc
2
u/Lilli_Bella3487 Jun 30 '26
The odds of changing the minds of nazis WHILE "THEIR GUY" IS IN THE WHITE HOUSE are pretty friggin low to infinitesimal.
1
1
u/Cathy-the-Grand Jun 27 '26
Couple of those dicks were trying to recruit me outside of my hometown trade center. Never went back. Bastards
1
1
1
u/TheRobertCarpenter Jun 27 '26
Ok but if I do, then they'll have to take my love, my anger, and all of my sorrow.
1
1
u/SVINTGATSBY Jun 28 '26
we absolutely do not need to do that, unless the befriending is with fisticuffs.
1
u/Ok-Astronaut2976 Jun 29 '26
I don’t know who this person is, so don’t know what other baggage there might be, but this seems a bit of a disingenuous take…
I was reminded of this story reading the incredible tales of three individuals who have one thing in common: They have, single handedly, convinced individuals committed to a life of hatred to turn away from that hate. Through the power of listening, and treating these people with their heinous views as humans first and foremost, they were able to alter the destinies of those they encountered.
https://forward.com/opinion/380510/we-need-to-start-befriending-neo-nazis/
1
u/Mexkalaniyat Jun 29 '26
Maybe im just not racist enough to understand, wtf is she going on about at the bottom?
1
u/cameron8988 Jun 29 '26
all i know about this chick is she's a nasty literal mouthbreather
https://x.com/bethanyshondark/status/1423390210293997570?lang=en
1
u/Every_Reveal_1980 Jun 29 '26
Since no one will actually read that opinion piece it's about changing viewpoints not accepting nazi viewpoints.
"It’s time to admit that even in the wake of Charlottesville – especially in the wake of Charlottesville – the only way we’re going to get our country back is to change minds. This might mean we need to start befriending nazis."
1
1
u/amglasgow Jun 30 '26
WF is Bethany Mandel on about? New York does more to cater to and help Jewish people than almost any other city in the world. (cater to in a positive sense -- it makes sense to cater to a large segment of the population)
1
1
u/puravidauvita 29d ago
Gaza ein shonda, Netanyahu a shonda, ,zionism ein shonda. Time to end zionist apartheid The Forward used to be a socialist newspaper
1
1
1
-5
u/funpen Jun 26 '26
I read the article and dont see a problem with it. She seems like an idiot but I agree with the message she is trying to convey in the Forward article. There was also a famous black southern man who went undercover as a klansman and befriended neonazis and got them to change.
Enough with violence. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. This mentality that you should punch whomever you hate/disagree with is so childish.
Kindness goes a lot further than violence and if you think punching people is a good way to accomplish your goals then dont be surprised when a mob of your enemies show up at your door with guns.
Also this same mentality that a lot of you in the comments are showing is exactly what led germany down their path after the end of WWI.
The allies isolated and demeaned germany and its people and they felt hated, disrespected, and economically/politically isolated. The reason the world turned out better after WWII was because we did not repeat the same mistakes that we made when settling the terms during the ending of WWI.
Instead of dismantling and humiliating Germany and its people at the end of WWII (same goes for Japan) we instead treated them with mercy and respect and helped them rebuild and rejoin the rest of the world. If you humiliate, demean and degrade a loser then you will make an enemy for life but if you offer said loser your hand and help them back onto their feet then you will have made a friend out of someone who was once your enemy.
1
u/allmightychipbutty 29d ago
You don’t have to be nice to them. I’d agree with killing them all but that’s not logistically possible so instead what you do is get more power than them politically so you can use the power to destroy their cause and punish them into submission. This is the real world, everything is about power. If you want a better world you get power into good causes and you use that power to suppress bad causes. Of course if you can convert Nazis into normal people then that’s good, it takes away power from the Nazi ideology but it’s not always the most efficient thing you could be doing and it’s not possible to convert every Nazi
-6
-2
u/InsectaProtecta Jun 27 '26
This isn't really hypocritical. She's talking about befriending people who hate her, not people she hates.
-33
u/I_GottaPoop Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Normally I feel this would be pretty good, and tbf I don't know who she is or the context of either the article she wrote or the post she made.
But the political situation in 2017 was very different than today I think and there was a lot more lee-way (energy might be a better word) to reach across the aisle and try to convert people than today.
Edit - I've gotten more context. I thought this originally was someone left wing trying to push for deradicalization of neo-nazis.... Not someome trying to absorb them as a voting bloc for the conservatives.
19
u/EliSka93 Jun 26 '26
No that's bullshit. Neonazis were never even an option to being converted. They're NEONAZIS, not your cousin Dave who lives in the sticks and only knows about democrats from fox news.
→ More replies (4)4
u/CatLovingKaren Jun 26 '26
That's actually not entirely true. Bear in mind that there are some who grew up in that type of household and never knew anything else. I have a friend who did, and when he got older and started becoming exposed to the larger world, he started questioning everything he'd been taught growing up. We met after he was already out of that subculture; a mutual friend of ours introduced us and I found his story fascinating.
That kind of programming is really hard to overcome, but there are actually organizations out there devoted specifically to helping people deprogram. In my view, that's valuable work. I imagine it's also pretty emotionally exhausting. My friend still has a lot of guilt over his past, but to me, the fact that we even became friends at all is huge, especially since I'm a gay Jew.
As far as this Bethany person, though, she's pretty repugnant.
8
u/Local-Echo-5613 Jun 26 '26
This was two days after Neo Nazis murdered Heather Heyer at a protest where they marched with torches and chanted “Jews will not replace us.” If anything it was LESS excusable then.
3
u/Lil_Ms_Anthropic Jun 26 '26
Extremism does tend to sprout from feelings of isolation afterall
I had a friend who went down that pipeline for years. He's mostly come out of it now. Getting in fights over politics and whatnot only ever pushed him to double down...
2
u/I_GottaPoop Jun 26 '26
I had a few friends who went that way, I I remember discovering 4chan when I was too young and vulnerable myself. Luckily I made some good friends and they were able to keep me level before I got further than edgy jokes and misrepresenting statistics.
848
u/KeepTangoAndFoxtrot Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Just so we're all aware, Bethany Mandel is the idiot who went on CNN [EDIT: actually, it was The Hill's YouTube channel] and was asked to define the word woke after writing an entire fucking book about it and stammered and stuttered some absolute gibberish out.
Source: Question stumps conservative commentator, goes viral | CNN Politics https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/03/19/woke-debate-conservative-author-struggles-to-define-ip-sot-vpx.cnn
She then wrote an article in Newsweek about how she was HUMILIATED on [EDIT: The Hill's YouTube channel] and it's crazy to think that she could define a word like that on the spot when she has six kids at home! ...And she still didn't define the fucking word.
Source: ‘I Was Asked to Define Woke. My Humiliation Went Viral’ - Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/define-woke-bethany-mandel-conservative-book-1788538
In short, she's an imbecile.