I'm having a bit of a tough time today. My boyfriend finally decided that us having 'agreed to disagree' over politics isn't enough, and he just can't deal with me holding a different opinion. He said he had no wish to change my opinion and that I have every right to disagree, but that he just can't live with it and it's too big a divide.
We've had political disagreements in the past and while I thought we'd always managed to resolve the issue and move on, he's apparently held onto those grievances and stewed over them. Since lockdown started he's had way more free time to spend on social media and has become increasingly hard-line in his beliefs and negative in his outlook. Even pointing out simple facts that contradict leftist narratives has resulted in him ranting at me for 2-3 hours, before finally calming down and apologizing. I'm heartbroken for our relationship and for him - that he's been so thoroughly brainwashed he feels nothing but anger and pessimism, that he's now ashamed of his country, and feels guilty for things he hasn't done.
I feel like I've lost my best friend because of Facebook. This sucks.
[EDIT: Thank you everyone for your very kind replies. You've given me some good food for thought, and helped me feel a little less isolated and adrift. It may take me a little while, but I'll try to reply to you all as I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. Thank you all again!]
[EDIT 2: I'm absolutely overwhelmed with the kindness of all your replies, thank you all so much! It's so refreshing to receive so much support from like-minded people, when I'm usually mired in the constant negativity of living in a deep blue state.]
[EDIT 3: Well, this absolutely blew up over the last few hours. I'm so, so humbled by the warmth and care you've all shown me - this really is the greatest community! Although it hurt to see him take his things and leave this morning, I already feel a little better and lighter, and that's in no small part thanks to all of your comments. I can't reply to each of you individually anymore, but thank you all.]
Damn, lecturing for hours is abusive. Sorry for your loss. It isn't easy to deal with a loved one who allows themselves to become possessed with such an ideology. He may or may not wake up, but if you regain your strength and move on I know you can find a decent man who will love you and who has the mental fortitude to see things clearly.
Thank you for your kind comments. A few weeks ago I showed him something that disproved what he'd seen on Facebook and he actually responded to it and started questioning some other stuff. I had hope he'd wake up and see how he's been manipulated and lied to, but then for whatever reason, it's like he doubled down.
He ran into what’s called “cognitive dissonance”. It’s when new indisputable facts conflict with held beliefs. Only two ways to deal with it. Either abandon the old beliefs for the new facts or ignore the new facts and cling to old beliefs. Looks like he picked option two.
Sadly, yes. I guess it shows the difference in our mindset - when I first started to wake up, I couldn't stop digging. I wanted to know how much I'd been lied to and who by. It was hard to accept and upsetting at times, but nothing could have stopped me.
^^ this ... I cannot understand people that put their head in the sand. I just don't work that way.
Could you share what it was possibly? I'm trying desperately to red-pill my wife. She's at least mostly red-pilled on covid19, even hates biden (but apparently still hates Trump more).
It was the whole 'kids in cages' thing. I started with the angle of it being the press who were misleading people in order to garner more ad clicks, pointed out (gently) that the photos were from before Trump, in 2012 (very deliberately avoiding mention of O). I then concentrated on how it had been a temporary measure because of a sudden increase in border crossings, but that "the kids are ok and in better conditions now though, so don't worry". I figured the whole 'think of the children' angle would be hard to object to.
Good luck!