I’m not saying you should excuse anyone’s bad behaviour. And that’s a good point about people in power deserving to be held to higher standards. My point is more to take issue with the problematic behaviour specifically, without exaggerating or straw-manning.

The real way to convert people is to have a one on one discussion and find common ground first, seriously try to understand their side and motivations and then question it deeply. That can disarm them and actually get them to think about why they believe that stuff. Often people who hold stupid beliefs have never properly questioned them.

So, it doesn’t really work in online forums. But, I firmly believe that spreading more hatred is just going to make things worse.

I completely understand why you would hate them so much, but when they feel that hatred directed towards them, it only makes things worse. I urge you to take a serious look at this channel which shows how people with fundamentally different views can find some common ground, under the right circumstances: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnemiesProject/videos

The first video they did was a trans woman and a MAGA woman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQlarHFPoaM

They’re obviously not going to completely convert anyone in a single discussion, but it shows how peoples minds can be opened up when you approach them with empathy and a real attempt to find common ground.

I hate republicans as much as the next non-republican, but one of the main problems we’re facing is extreme polarisation and division. Straw-manning the other side like that isn’t helping anyone except maybe your own ego.

They are real people who also want to live comfortably and be loved by their friends and family. They’ve just been brainwashed and haven’t thought things through enough to brake free from it. So, they believe pretty much anything their cult tells them. It’s horrible and it is stupid, but even smart people believe stupid things some times (even if it’s less frequent).

We need to bring more humanity and cooperation into the world. Call out bad beliefs and behaviours instead of dehumanising the people.