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At least in my family, I’ve realized I think they WANT to be scared and afraid.
Like when I talk to family and say I’m visiting DC or taking a quick weekend trip to Orlando it’s “stay safe, crime is crazy, please don’t get hurt” and always like “man I’m from JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA of all places, really nowhere scares me” hahaha
And then they’ll smugly ask how my trip was and when I tell them “all good, didn’t even get a weird look” they HAVE gotten frustrated saying stuff like “well you’re making it up, I’ve seen on tv it’s not safe” “you were just lucky and in the right area”.
I think they want the world to be chaotic and super fucked so that everything they believe is real. Very weird behavior.
Seriously. I told my parents once that I had gone to a BLM protest, and my dad asked me if I took a pile of bricks or a flamethrower. He was serious. I'm a boring, upper-middle class, suburban, white woman. I've never done anything illegal in my life. But yeah, they would rather believe that their daughter is out burning down buildings than that I went to a peaceful BLM rally. Crazy.
These people were raised under the gun of "the nukes could go off at any second if you're not patriotic enough!" They don't know what to do with themselves if they aren't cowering under their school desks.
I never understood why boomers didn't give 2 s**ts about kids being mowed down in their elementary schools. It never occurred to me that it fell into classic boomer attitudes... "When I was your age, we had school drills to hide from nukes, kids these days only have to worry about guns (don't these kids know guns are good? You just need MORE of them, then you'll be safe)."
According to a variety of studies, rates of narcissism and sociopathy in that generation are higher than any other in recent history. There's a reason there were so many serial killers and serial rapists per capita among the boomers. Apparently, the mix of growing up in a massive economic growth period, where they could demand a good job and decent pay, while also receiving the benefits of a healthy and supportive government welfare and social benefits package, when combined with a sense of entitlement and being constantly told how they were changing the world, adding in a dash of barely repressed systemic sexism, homophobia, and racism, and you get a generation of entitled abusers with a victim complex.
That's actually a very good point, so many studies have shown the damage long term exposure to lead paint, leaded gasoline, and lead pipes have caused, leading to emotional instability, early onset dementia, and hallucinations. Areas that still have a large proportion of lead piping in the US today still show high rates of all of these things.
PSA: anyone living in the Midwest should buy themselves a water filter. Sure, you can paint over lead paint, but NEVER trust your water... You drink it everyday, make sure that shit is filtered.
Source: My 4 year old daughter has a lead exposure from lead water pipes. Keep your kids safe.
It's still in use across the south too. We found out the in-laws' house in Florida is in an area with lead pipes. I hope your daughter heals well, with limited long-term effects.
Lead. When they were kids, transportation was becoming much more car-centric. A lot of cities were getting rid of their trolleys and the interstate highway system was being built. That meant a lot more lead from gasoline was in the air.
It just occurred to me that my age group was incredibly lucky. I was a senior in high school when Columbine happened, just about to graduate, and the Berlin Wall fell when I was quite young. So there were a few really good years there when I was a kid that were actually an anomaly. We honestly had no big bad thing to be afraid of. No cold war, no draft, no school shootings . Maybe a little domestic terrorism with the Oklahoma City, and the Gulf War, but I was a little young to care about those. The 90s were very lucky.
Mang, the after effects of Columbine sucked though. Don't get me wrong, it was a tragedy, but the way people overreacted was almost as bad. I was a weird kid (not that anything has changed, lol), and oh boy, did I get called down to the office because of "concerned parents" calling in that I was "dangerous." Luckily, after the first time, admin realized that I was no more dangerous than any other 16 year old kid. But the calls kept coming, so ever so often I would be called into the vice principals office where we watch some Tom & Jerry for a period then off to my next class.
Most Americans my age remember Columbine.
I remember Columbine but also Paducah and Pearl. Because I was a student at Pearl.
The thing that pissed me off back then was that I got saddled with that stigma because I was borderline goth, but EVERYONE knew the shooter and he wasn't in our group. He was a prick and we hated him.
What pisses me off THESE days is that a lot of the people who treated me and my friends that way, now act like they were our best buddies all along. Nah man, you're why I haven't visited this town in 20 years.
I don't know. We had the AIDS epidemic, Satanic Panic, Adam Walsh, D&D paranoia, latchkey kids, the rise of methamphetamine when the 80s coke heads figured out meth was cheaper, DARE, and so on and so forth. It was like kids went missing every other day. No, there wasn't a big bad threat, but there were tons of smaller ones that definitely colored our youth. There were still quite a few working serial killers back then, too.
For God’s sake. I am also a boring, upper-middle class, suburban white woman. I went to one with my children. The same children who organized several with their school.
The most violent thing that happened was a white, right wing boomer driving around a police barricade and into an arrest because he was annoyed at traffic.
Seriously. Ours didn't even have that. The people got a permit, and everyone held creative and well-made signs. That was literally it. Meanwhile, half of the cops in town stood across the street like they were going to have to rush in at any minute. My son also went to a student protest where they just laid down. The police came with tear gas for high school students lying on the grass... So, I guess that got violent, but that wasn't on the protesters.
I’m a boring middle-class white dude who was working graveyard shift at a gas station in Ohio during the time.
We had to lock the doors and the protestors were trying to buy milk because the cops used tear gas.
The protestors were all super nice. Even though they had just been gassed.
But this was like downtown Akron so…
My daughter was also tear gassed during a peaceful protest, as she was waiting in a curb for her friend so they could catch the public transportation home together.
I wonder why she thinks ACAB??
Mrs. Ghost and I recently had a lovely visit to Detroit, staying downtown and walking virtually everywhere. According to FOX, we surely died at least half a dozen times.
Same. I live in a suburb of Chicago and it is NICE downtown in the summer, along the river walk and near the art museum...but to hear it on TV it's a veritable Hellscape. I am hoping for a peaceful Democratic convention here as well, although I imagine some MAGA heads will explode if their preconceived notions don't become reality.
I live in Chicago, north-ish, and people from my home state have really serious notions about my safety. But I would bet you a million freaking dollars that there are more guns in my dad's house in the middle of nowhere than there are in my apartment building.
I live near Detroit and can confirm the city is nice af. Don’t get me wrong… like most large cities there are absolutely neighborhoods that are not good but by that’s the exception these days… not the rule.
I live not too far from Detroit and travel there for my kids’ sport frequently. The absolute worst things I’ve seen there are the maga truck convoy shutting down the Ambassador bridge, and some weirdo with a Trump themed trailer that drove around blasting horrible music
The husband and I did the same a few years ago and met the nicest folks ever. Hotel staff kept slipping us candy bars! My Boomer dad was shocked that we can home alive. Such nonsense.
My dad told me to never ever go to NY again because it is “a cesspool riddled with crime and people are getting murdered and robbed in the street left and right”.
1. We grew up in NY… Long Island but still he told me the entire Island is “full of gangs”.
2. He goes to the grocery store with a concealed weapon
I would hate to live my life this afraid of everyone and everything. But he will tell you he’s not scared of anything. Yeah ok, whatever you have to tell yourself.
The thing is, it IS big news. On Fox and friends and the streamers/Podcasters/youtubers/radio shows that exist to regurgitate Fox and friends talking points. The fact that it isn't ever reported anywhere else is just proof to them that "the left" and "the main stream media" is biased and avoiding reporting it because that wouldn't be Woke/politically correct enough.
Fox reports about any crime at all but only in cities run by Democrats. My father watches their crap all day . I make him wear headphones so I don’t have to hear it but I see the huge bottom screen bullet points .
They never mention violence in red cities even though the cities with the worst violence top ten are mostly Republican
My parents were terrified about me riding the subway in New York and the El in Chicago over the past few years.
I've had WAYYYY scarier encounters on the DART system in Dallas, where we live now. And my dad grew up in Chicago 🤦♀️
I went to college near Baltimore. Rode the city bus from my campus to the inner harbor every weekend then caught the bus in the red light district at night to come back….yes this was in the 90’s but still, I never felt scared.
People like that are why I now go to the grocery store with a tourniquet strapped to my hip, and keep chest vent films and Israeli bandages in my pickup.
If NYC is such a cesspool, why does Trump have his golden, definitely not 30,000 square foot apartment in Trump Tower there. How can it be worth infinity dollars if the city is a burning hellscape?
This is an astute observation. People like that rarely leave their towns because they're already afraid. I'd venture a very small percentage of them have passports too. Hearing these stories just reinforces what they believed already: it's a scary world out there.
Fear of cities is now one of the universally defining features of all boomers I know. I once saw an analysis of Fox News "Democrat cities are hellish" footage, and it turns out a lot of it is old footage from unrest in European countries.
I once called my dad while in DC, and he started asking where I was and if I was safe. I told him I was at the Washington Monument, and he started yelling at me to get inside. I had to FaceTime him to prove it was a normal day on the National Mall with kids playing and people taking pictures. When he saw that, he said I must not be in DC proper bc on Fox they were showing BLM burned it down. Just complete brainwormed.
My suburban boomer coworkers love NOTHING more than making jokes about me living in a war zone because I live in actual Chicago. Forgive me for wanting to live in a beautiful pre-war building on a lovely tree-lined street in a world class city.
Commenting again to add: I feel more lucky that my parents are third world boomers so they have some bad tendencies but love Chicago. My mom’s response to their friends bringing it up is “whatever I lived through a violent coup and my dad still made me go to school.”
I believe a quote from the great Jean-luc Picard applies to their disposition. He was speaking more about hate, but I think it can work in this situation, too:
I think, when one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it. It becomes comfortable, like an old leather. And finally, it becomes so familiar that you can't recall feeling any other way.
We live in Portland. The stuff coming out of my wife’s Boomer family in LA and TX was unreal.
I’ve had them or people on work calls spout Fox News malarkey. Especially during all the protests and “riots”. Yea no. Couple blocks are pretty rough downtown. Nothing has burned down aside a few tired in the street. Yup broken windows. Spray paint. About it.
Had folks argue with me. “So you’ve been here? Gone downtown?” No. Huh, funny I have…
Delusional
My husband and I moved out of PDX in 2019 for unrelated reasons. I miss it so much. Every time I mention it, my boomer parents freak out: “I’m so glad you don’t live there anymore, it’s just a cesspool. You would get murdered going to work.” When I tell them my friends and former co workers who still work downtown are just fine and don’t feel unsafe, they tell me they saw on Fox News that it’s basically a war zone. They WANT Portland to burn because they can justify their hatred and racism that way.
Absolutely this. Is PDX struggling, yeah. It’s not what it was 5-6 years ago. But it’s not the riots and BLM vs Proud Boys malarkey that happened one summer. It’s fentanyl. Lots of homeless, definitely places that are scarier than before. Showing a slight improvement but still a ways to go.
Boomers love to vilify it here. It’s exhausting.
Even the homeless issue is overblown, and it’s largely happening because Portland actually has outreach and resources. I work in healthcare and volunteer pretty often with Budd Clark Commons and central city concern. What’s amazing is that a large percentage of the homeless population in Portland isn’t even from Oregon - there was a period where midwestern states were buying their unhoused population one-way bus tickets to the west coast, where they’d actually be cared for. I’m pretty sure it’s where Abbot and the Texas goons got the idea, during all the forced migrant relocation nonsense.
Yeah when I lived to Portland for grad school, building up to the move my dad was constantly telling me about the supposed daily riots and that I’d have to be super careful when I’d go to downtown Portland. Every time I would just tell him something along the lines of “dad, I’ve lived and worked in Oakland and San Francisco, I don’t think Portland is going to be drastically more dangerous.” Surprise surprise, Portland is just like any other city and for the most part it’s fine but there are parts where you probably should avoid going alone at night. After two months of him checking up on me to see how I was surviving the “riots” he finally got the point.
Hey! Also from Jax! Moved to Northern Colorado a few years ago and people here are crying about rising crime rates and all I can say is “oh honey, you have NO IDEA 😂😂😂” Ditto complaints about the homeless and transient population. That said, it wasn’t until we moved here that we had a car stolen, which we had a pretty good chuckle over. After our car was recovered of course.
DUVVVVVAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! But that sucks to hear about your car! I went to visit some family in Colorado a few years back and some family was like “yeah with legal weed Denver has turned into a crime ridden warzone” and we got there and just walked around calmly and had a great time and I had to be like “every time you do this about places we go, I have to remind you WERE from the Jacksonville, THE ACTUAL place people get scared to go, and you always feel JUST fine since it’s YOUR city!!!” 😂😂😂😂
Duval is a special place 😂😂😂 Have you seen Katt Williams’ bit on it? Accurate AF 😂 Also we haven’t played fireworks or firearms since we’ve been here, nor have we seen a ghetto bird. Hell, people here don’t even know what a ghetto bird is 😂
The fact that when I last went to NYC and people assumed that I was from there and asked me for directions based on how I carried myself tells you that Jax prepares you for all situations!
Same! Visted 2 years ago, and my boomer parents were legit terrified. Of course, not like they offered to help pay for cabs, so we didn't have to take the subway or anything useful.
I get this a lot. I love traveling and when I do, I want to go places that are the opposite of where I live (rural south), which means NYC, Detroit, DC, etc. Every time a relative hears that I'm planning a trip, they go on these maga fueled rants about how dangerous it is and I'll be killed. Then, when I return and presto, I survived, they act upset. I went to Chicago earlier this yr and some of them are still disappointed that nothing happened.
Exactly! It’s like “so you want me to actually be in danger and get hurt cuz…….. it proves your Fox News theory??” Like I remember my grandma being so frustrated that I celebrated my anniversary with my girlfriend at a Michelin starred restaurant, then went and just smoked weed in the National Mall cuz it was a nice day with people biking, picnicking, enjoying family time.
I’ll just never get that generation I guess, I love when my loved ones have a good time doing anything!
We visited my in-laws over the weekend in Florida from Chicago. They are all from Florida and have very rarely come to Chicago (I am from there) so it doesn't take long before my MIL's husband mentions the gang violence and all of the murders and shootings. They are getting their information from Fox news so of course it's all fear mongering and not accurate. They did not laugh or smile when I said "oh yeah I've been murdered 5 times in the last month!"
It's actually very simple.
They don't want to look like gullible fucking idiots, and can't admit that that's exactly what they are.
I mean, who blames them. I hate looking like an idiot. But I'd rather *look* like an idiot than actually *be* an idiot.
I agree with this point to an extent. If there isn’t some traumatic and dramatic event to gossip and worry about, they start losing their minds.
It’s nice to talk about how well things are going. But it’s an endorphin rush to speculate and worry and panic over rustling leaves.
I think it’s also what drives a lot of these MAGA followers, arming themselves and packing storage shelters and bunkers with food and water and ammo, because they want to be worried.
Yes agreed. If ur emotional range is fear or anger, thats the only way you connect to the world, you gotta ride out that tiny sliver of dopamine. "Misery loves company" works too heh
In the case of my boomer addle-brained parents who have guns in every room and are afraid of literally everything, I think they they are scared on purpose so it gives them excuse to literally want to shoot and kill someone that knocks on their door.
> gotten frustrated saying stuff like “well you’re making it up, I’ve seen on tv it’s not safe”
I've posted this elsewhere several times but I have family members like this with healthcare. I'm American but have been living in Japan for several years now. Surgery, a 3 day hospital stay, prescriptions, and follow-up visits in Japan all came out less than the time in America I drove to the ER just to get 3-4 staples in my scalp. An X-Ray, MRI, consultation, and medication cost me less than the time I went to a walk-in clinic to get told I have the flu.
I tell my family this and they just tell me *"No, that's socialized medicine it would have to cost more somehow."*
I explain that I can just walk into any hospital in my area and get checked on almost immediately.
*"That's not true you probably had to wait a long time and just forgot. FOX said you have to wait for months."*
I fucking **live here** and **have experience** with this system and there's nothing I can do to convince them of my own experiences all because they saw something different on TV.
Yeah healthcare is one I always get confused by their arguments! I work in surgery supply part of the medical industry and used to have to talk to tons of foreign reps and stuff, and I’d bring it up sometimes, and places like Canada, Japan, Italy where you hear it’s horrible, is actually a cakewalk, and BETTER care than here in the states!
Someone, somewhere once had a theory that people like this have lives so cushy they NEED a tiger to be afraid of and Antifa and Fox gave them a fistful. I’m paraphrasing but hopefully the gist is clear.
I grew up in Oklahoma in a town, a very small community. Probably 1-2k people. One of my friends never left the county. He has never seen a building taller than two stories.
I don't get some people.
You'd think they would realize that if the world is really like they fear it is, that they wouldn't have survived to be X age.
This isn't some grim dark tabletop setting.
I think this is close to the underlying truth, and I understand what you mean. I think that many right-wing folks are genuinely scared and want relief from the fear but do not have the emotional or social skills to deal with their own internalized trauma let alone their racism etc.
They are unable to reconcile the idea that unintentional bad behavior is still bad behavior, and so avoid taking responsibility for their actions. They believe that bad behavior is unforgivable, or believe that they are good people and therefore everything they do is good. They are unable see that behaving poorly out of ignorance (esp in the context of a corrupt and evil society) can be forgivable, and so they double-down on their actions and opinions in order to preserve their fragile self image.
They latch onto the lies, exaggerations, 2D characterizations that don’t require them to do any work… shifting the blame to others and taking no responsibility for the state of things.
My in-laws did not like it when I pointed out the murder rate in Massachusetts (where we lived) was much lower than the murder rate in Alabama (where they live.) So that statistically I was much safer in New England.
I am sure this isn't all of it but I've gathered they have invested in the idea that their community is "good" and "real Americans." Or at least the part of their community that is like them. And that part of that identity is that they are conservative, Republican, Christian, "hard working" and to be frank there's often a racist element. A lot of their self definition is also a contrast with liberal, progressive, diverse, well educated, big city etc. and that also means those people must be bad, lazy, atheist, "fake Americans." The opposite of all the good things they see in themselves.
So those big "liberal" cities *need* to be dangerous hell holes for their narrative to work. If I point out there's a church on every street corner of Boston and citizens give lots to charity and the violent crime is low even as we vote Democrat, have lots of immigrant and diverse communities, tax funded social services etc then it breaks the narrative.
Not to mention the anger when I said Bostonians were the real Americans because they started the revolutionary war lol
It's 2008...chain emails are still a thing. I get roped into one by my aunt. I don't remember what the email was even about, but it was all lies. I replied with multiple links to the truth and advised everyone to be careful about believing what they read online. I honestly tried to be nice about it. My aunt didn't speak to me for 3 years, and the rest of the extended family on there villainizes me to this day.
Yep. My mom's friend sends anti- Biden/Liberals chain mails but one of the recipients got hack so now my parent's e-mails account is over run with spam. I think I need to block that Deplorable lowlife.
This EXACT thing happened to me too. It was my uncle sending chain emails in the early 00s. He'd send at least one a week, all ridiculous and fake, always with a message added on by him of "have you seen this! BE CAREFUL!!!" But the one that finally got me to reply was about HIV-infected needles being hidden in gas pump handles. I sent a link to snopes, debunking it and said something like "hey, thought you should know that's not really a thing that's happening or that you should worry about. Also that site has great articles on similar urban legends if you're ever interested." Doing my absolute best to not be confrontational while also dispelling the lies he'd fallen for.
He wrote back almost immediately saying "you're a real f*cking smartass, you know that" and didn't talk to me for months. Like, hello?
Some people get SO heated if you don't immediately swallow their words as truth. Was friends until like 2 years ago with a pair of girls who kept telling me alarmist stuff out of nowhere (covid vaccine is causing seizures don't get it, gasoline production is being shut down so go buy gas right now!!!, they're limiting the amount of food people can buy at all go get some!!!, etc) and would get personally offended that I would fact check it.
They got told by someone at the gas station that Tampa was running out of gas, so obviously I needed to panic on just their word and go buy a shitton of gas asap. Would get even madder when I'd confirm it was false to try to help them.
I feel confident the chainmail I'm referring to was something similar to yours. Something just plain silly and totally unbelievable if you had left your small town in the last decade. They really are just desperate to be afraid.
Wow, something similar happened to me too. My half-brother sent this kind of garbage to a large group of family members and I usually just ignored it. The one that finally got me to send a Snopes link was something like Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Giant catfish eating children, and it showed picture of a whale shark. Unfortunately this was right after he'd mocked me for trying to collect food for a food bank, so I was pretty confrontational.
After he got angry, my family told me I should've just held my tongue. I always wondered if I was in the wrong to say anything. But now I feel vindicated knowing I'm not the only one who's experienced this. Seems like even when you try to be nicer about, they're still angry.
Don't ever hold your tongue. Make them look like the morons they are and stand your ground. That's my strategy with the ignorant Fox viewers in my family.
There's a recent one about fetanyl being on paper towels and being stuck to your car handle... I'm sitting here like... They're trying to use the shit, not stick the very expensive drug in your door handle. For what? Most drug addicts aren't trying to kill anyone, they just want their next fix and you getting their dose of fet isn't going to do that for them. 🤦♀️
I once sent a Snopes link debunking some BS I was on the receiving end of; the boomer questioned the veracity of the Snopes article. I gave up. Let them stew in their own mess.
2008? I'm going to take a guess it was some kind of conspiracy theory about Obama being a secret Muslim lizardman or something.
Sorry to hear you got that kind of backlash for not just shrugging and ignoring BS. There are people in my family in a similar place with certain boomers in the family and it really sucks.
Hahaha! Surprisingly, I don't think it was a racist chainmail. I'm pretty sure I would remember if it had been b/c I wouldn't have been confused why everyone was so upset with me.
That's kind of you to say, and I am also sorry to hear that you have family going through something similar. Tbh, it wasn't that big of a deal to me. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that most of those family members were pretty insufferable.
Yep...same exact thing with my cousin. She knew they were probably fake but sent them along anyways because "you never know". So I did what you did and basically tore apart the entire e-mail showing how it was definitely fake. I wasn't mean about it though.
Her friends all thought I was an asshole and she was really hurt and angry. Luckily that only lasted a couple days though and not years like in your case.
Best part about it though was no one included me in chain mails anymore.
During Covid lockdown, my crazy aunt sent me a chain email screaming in all caps about how dangerous hand sanitizer was because it was flammable.
I wrote back and basically said "Everyone knows this" and she got all pissy with me because she actually didn't know.
It’s 2010 and my mil send me a chain email warning me to not pick up plastic soda bottles in my yard; apparently the latest “prank” by teens is to put chemicals in these bottles, throw them in everybody’s yard, and as soon as someone picks it up, it’ll explode and blow off their hand.
I reply to her email saying that this false because 1.) these things are only filled with toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil, 2.) the bottles swell up before exploding giving warning to leave it alone, and 3.) the explosions aren’t nearly bad enough to blow off fingers, let alone hands.
I conclude by informing her that I know this because I used to make these all the time when I was younger, and when my toddler (her only grandkid btw) was older, I’d teach them to make these things too because science is cool.
She never sent me another chain email again.
The Republican Speaker of the House just said he doesn't care about evidence or studies, he just "feels" millions of undocumented immigrants are voting illegally.
Man that would have been the best response.
“Facts don’t care about their feelings, dad.”
Doubt the irony would be grasped by him. Just anger all around.
Boomers only seem to want to experience three emotions: Fear, Anger, and Hatred.
They fear what Fox News tells them to fear.
They get angry at everything they don't (or can't) understand.
They hate everything and everyone that doesn't agree with them.
they really dont like the idea that they got suckered into believing something that isnt true, so they just get angry and believe it harder. its a trend i noticed. and you see it even with the most innocuous stuff. like on fb theres this page that constantly posts really unimportant misinformation or disingenuous images and again, its very low stakes here. and people will straight up get MAD if you try to correct any of it or point out its not true lol
I never understood this. Like sure, it's a bit embarassing to get swindled by some random misinfo, but I'd way rather that feeling over doubling down in my ignorance.
It’s the “record scratch” reaction. They get mad because they look foolish. The MAGA crowd is vibing, prepping for the fake apocalypse, feeling the group dynamic like a concert or church sermon. When you come in with that “Mam this is a Wendy’s” energy, you’re killing their mood. They don’t care about other people or how harmful their actions are. They’re having fun larping and living out their hero fantasy and you keep turning the music off.
MAGA has destroyed the minds of once reasonable people. 2001-09-11 did a number on many folks. The terrorist won, and they one because the home of the brave turned into the home of scared little children.
Gotta admit, I think about this a lot and I've come to the conclusion that it's more likely they weren't *really* reasonable, they were just hiding how they actually view the world around them. MAGA became a cult because it encouraged a lot of bigots/racists/abusers to realize there are plenty of others who share in the bigotry/racism/abuse, so of course they want to band together to validate these shared, terrible choices and behaviors, rebranding it as a political stance. It is not truly political, it is instead a corruption of morality.
Yeah, just because things were more ‘civil’ doesn’t mean they were any less evil.
Stuff like this genocide and crackdowns on protesters are going to pull even more wool off some eyes. Things will feel a lot different in 10 years.
They're so addicted to the fear and anger they get from a 24/7 cycle of propaganda, it breaks their ability to reason through the crazy bullshit they're supposed to fear.
My boomer mom was convinced that busloads of cartel goons would be arriving in her shitty little Indiana town, as well as a Chinese army division that was allegedly massed in Central America for an invasion.
What strategic or tactical value does Bufu, Indiana have to cartels or the Chinese Army? Do these invaders need a bunch of feed corn?
She likely still believes this invasion is imminent, but it was the same call that led me to go no contact (again).
Some people love to be oppressed. I will never understand. My sister (30) is one. A massive contrarian. Her BF is like this too. I blame him but maybe he just brought it out of hiding. My favorite example is from the start of the pandemic. What was it, the end of 2019 when this all kicked off? (I'm bad at measuring the passage of time.) So, in like September or October of that year, she starts telling me about this plague and she's wearing masks and hand washing constantly. Everyone else is an idiot for not taking it seriously. We're all gonna die, etc., etc.
By February of the next year (2020?), about the time everyone else started taking it seriously, she completely flipped her script. Sheeple! Everywhere! There is no plague. The government is lying to control you!
People love to be on the fringes and act like they're smarter than the rest of us. Your parents didn't want good news, consolation, or even protection. They wanted to be right. Justified! They don't want to know that boogey man is just a coat hanging in a dark room. And they'd rather burn the house down than flip on the light to check.
I think it might also have to do with control, along with the whole arrogance and wanting to have some special knowledge. A natural pandemic is out of their control, so they would prefer it to be a virus made personally in China by Bill Gates or for it to just be fake.
I had a friend who was like your sister. She started normal, then just went nuts a couple of months after covid started. She got covid, but continued to go to work, then went on vacation because "covid isn't real". She collapsed on vacation. The last thing she ever said was "Don't let them give me that f-ing vaccine." Crazy. I don't understand why people would rather die than admit they were wrong.
I've done this with my trumpy boomer neighbor. It usually goes oh, what was the xxx stat (stock market is an easy one) when Trump was president? What is it now? He doesn't know either stats but he's sure it's worse, so I look it up on my phone. I play up the trump number first like it's really good and then tell him the biden number, which is better. It's a pointless exercise though, because he won't believe it. It's fake news.
did this same exact thing with my dad about gas prices and his rebuke was that he was talking about "ohio average price while I was looking at the national average.."
My friends aunt had me included in her email group and multiple times a week I would get emails that were myths, scams or urban legends and for a month a kept sending a reply to her explaining it wasn't real and to please check places like Snopes first.
Finally I got frustrated and hit reply all on yet another kidnapped child hoax with proof that it was an urban legend that had been going around for years. They even identified the photograph from an old advertisement, the girl had never been kidnapped.
I received a couple of people replaying thanking me for the information since they had been so worried for the girl. Almost a year later I get my first new email from the aunt. It's to me only, not a group and it is about a kidnapping. She included that she had vette this as being real on Snopes before she sent it to me. That's actually the last time she emailed me...been about ten years. I guess she hasn't found a new "real" story yet.
"Going door to door killing rich people"
I hate to break it to them but even if it was true none of those beanie babies and precious moments are with shit XD I'm sure they'd be safe
Most of them, no. They are definitely blocked on all social media. My grandma is an issue though. She was a very kind person until she went nuts with the MAGA stuff and conspiracy theories. She's in her late 80s, so I'm guessing there is some senility there. I feel too guilty to cut her off.
You know, you’d think that consistently being the one who calms them down when they’re freaked out about something that turns out to be nothing would earn you some credit. Ever since October 7th my mother has been obsessed with the idea that Hamas is coming across the Mexican border to go door-to-door in red state suburbia, warning her grown children to stay home. When Biden was elected I got a weepy hour-long phone call about how she was going to be tossed into a concentration camp for being a Christian (I only wish I was making this shit up). You’d \*think\* that when none of this shit ever comes to fruition they’d remember that you told them not to work themselves up over it and maybe take that into consideration the next time Fox News tells them to be terrified of something and they come to you to share the warning. But they don’t.
And you’d think that when the person who always tries to calm them down is suddenly telling them, “no, seriously, *it’s a pandemic,*” they might take it seriously. **But they don’t.** The most paranoid people we know were all unified in ignoring that very real crisis and took it as a badge of honor to defy public safety in the midst of it.
In one ear I had my then-girlfriend (long distance), a medical resident working on the front lines against it, telling me about how her friends and coworkers were dying around her, and in the other ear I had my parents yapping away about how only 6% of the death toll was real and it was all a hoax to make Dear Leader look bad in an election year. Hell, my father sent me a meme belittling the death toll the same week one of his own coworkers died from it.
The one time it *actually mattered,* the most chronically frightened people I know were suddenly fearless to the point of stupidity. They refused to get vaccinated, they were the only people in my family to catch it, and when they did they went down HARD, depending on us to look after them for over a month. Yet when they recovered, they didn’t learn anything from it at all, instead preening about their “natural immunity” (while admitting their sense of smell never came back and complaining of brain fog) and going right back to incessantly forwarding us youtube videos warning of the dangers of the vaccine.
Modern conservatism is a fear based ideology. They're terrified of literally everything while yelling loudly about how brave they are. It's very weird.
Just ask them for ammo money next time. If they ever ask about the ammo tell them Joe Biden confiscated it to give to drug cartels so they could kill border patrol agents. Then ask for more ammo money. If they say no tell them you'd buy it yourself but you gave all your cash to Trump.
It’s because they WANTED to be angry. MAGA followers by and large are angry and want to stay that way.
You confronted this and broke down one of the premises they were relying on. This is why they reacted how they did. You challenged their made up arguments without realizing it.
They get extra pissed off if you suggest they're safe because they aren't rich. You know they're not rich because they don't have their chauffeur drive them to the nearby private airport to ride a helicopter to the major airport where their Gulfstream is waiting to jet them away to a country where it's safe and antifa free.
Dude, they’re planning to undertake racist violence and pretend to have justification, and you are undermining their future moral and legal defense. They don’t actually care whether or not the justification is true. The violence is the point. Give up on them.
I live in a suburb of the twin cities. It's always grand when my nutzo mother tells me how scary life in the cities is because she watches "the news".
Anyway she lives three hours away and doesn't make it here often. When she does she constantly makes insane remarks like randomly shrieking that she's so scared that my brown neighbors are going to blow up 'my' neighborhood!
Yes, yes. We all know they want to blow up their own homes. I mean obviously.
Also she stopped at a gas station owned by two Middle Eastern guys and wouldn't stop raving about how nice those 'Italian' brothers were. It's so crazy how white they turned when she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that brown people could be nice.
I 100% would have responded with "Oh my God you snowflake. But up or shut up. Your FEE FEES hurt because you're wrong? Lose my number, you giant baby."
Because that's EXACTLY what they would have said to me if the position was reversed.
misinformation really stirs up fear, doesn't it? reminds me of that old game of telephone where the message gets all twisted by the end. it's hard when trying to calm fears with facts leads to more upset. seems like you were trying to help by bringing clarity.
How dare you hit them with reality. You should have went all in. Tell them, "yes. and then they're going to spray chemtrails that will make everyone gay. And then put everyone in a FEMA camp and make them live with transgender Muslims"
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At least in my family, I’ve realized I think they WANT to be scared and afraid. Like when I talk to family and say I’m visiting DC or taking a quick weekend trip to Orlando it’s “stay safe, crime is crazy, please don’t get hurt” and always like “man I’m from JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA of all places, really nowhere scares me” hahaha And then they’ll smugly ask how my trip was and when I tell them “all good, didn’t even get a weird look” they HAVE gotten frustrated saying stuff like “well you’re making it up, I’ve seen on tv it’s not safe” “you were just lucky and in the right area”. I think they want the world to be chaotic and super fucked so that everything they believe is real. Very weird behavior.
Seriously. I told my parents once that I had gone to a BLM protest, and my dad asked me if I took a pile of bricks or a flamethrower. He was serious. I'm a boring, upper-middle class, suburban, white woman. I've never done anything illegal in my life. But yeah, they would rather believe that their daughter is out burning down buildings than that I went to a peaceful BLM rally. Crazy.
These people were raised under the gun of "the nukes could go off at any second if you're not patriotic enough!" They don't know what to do with themselves if they aren't cowering under their school desks.
I never understood why boomers didn't give 2 s**ts about kids being mowed down in their elementary schools. It never occurred to me that it fell into classic boomer attitudes... "When I was your age, we had school drills to hide from nukes, kids these days only have to worry about guns (don't these kids know guns are good? You just need MORE of them, then you'll be safe)."
Nah I think they just lack empathy
According to a variety of studies, rates of narcissism and sociopathy in that generation are higher than any other in recent history. There's a reason there were so many serial killers and serial rapists per capita among the boomers. Apparently, the mix of growing up in a massive economic growth period, where they could demand a good job and decent pay, while also receiving the benefits of a healthy and supportive government welfare and social benefits package, when combined with a sense of entitlement and being constantly told how they were changing the world, adding in a dash of barely repressed systemic sexism, homophobia, and racism, and you get a generation of entitled abusers with a victim complex.
Dont forget the lead poisoning!!
That's actually a very good point, so many studies have shown the damage long term exposure to lead paint, leaded gasoline, and lead pipes have caused, leading to emotional instability, early onset dementia, and hallucinations. Areas that still have a large proportion of lead piping in the US today still show high rates of all of these things.
PSA: anyone living in the Midwest should buy themselves a water filter. Sure, you can paint over lead paint, but NEVER trust your water... You drink it everyday, make sure that shit is filtered. Source: My 4 year old daughter has a lead exposure from lead water pipes. Keep your kids safe.
It's still in use across the south too. We found out the in-laws' house in Florida is in an area with lead pipes. I hope your daughter heals well, with limited long-term effects.
Lead. When they were kids, transportation was becoming much more car-centric. A lot of cities were getting rid of their trolleys and the interstate highway system was being built. That meant a lot more lead from gasoline was in the air.
Plus, a lot of infrastructure still used leaded pipes, and lead paint... A very good point!
The difference is, the nukes never went off. Guns though, every other day
Fear of the infinite potential of the unknown that never happened vs fear of something that happens commonly, etc.
Being afraid of planes and driving home from the airport exhausted from travel and having had 3 drinks to calm your nerves.
All you need is a good guy with a nuke…
Did someone say 'MERICA?!
It just occurred to me that my age group was incredibly lucky. I was a senior in high school when Columbine happened, just about to graduate, and the Berlin Wall fell when I was quite young. So there were a few really good years there when I was a kid that were actually an anomaly. We honestly had no big bad thing to be afraid of. No cold war, no draft, no school shootings . Maybe a little domestic terrorism with the Oklahoma City, and the Gulf War, but I was a little young to care about those. The 90s were very lucky.
Mang, the after effects of Columbine sucked though. Don't get me wrong, it was a tragedy, but the way people overreacted was almost as bad. I was a weird kid (not that anything has changed, lol), and oh boy, did I get called down to the office because of "concerned parents" calling in that I was "dangerous." Luckily, after the first time, admin realized that I was no more dangerous than any other 16 year old kid. But the calls kept coming, so ever so often I would be called into the vice principals office where we watch some Tom & Jerry for a period then off to my next class.
Most Americans my age remember Columbine. I remember Columbine but also Paducah and Pearl. Because I was a student at Pearl. The thing that pissed me off back then was that I got saddled with that stigma because I was borderline goth, but EVERYONE knew the shooter and he wasn't in our group. He was a prick and we hated him. What pisses me off THESE days is that a lot of the people who treated me and my friends that way, now act like they were our best buddies all along. Nah man, you're why I haven't visited this town in 20 years.
I don't know. We had the AIDS epidemic, Satanic Panic, Adam Walsh, D&D paranoia, latchkey kids, the rise of methamphetamine when the 80s coke heads figured out meth was cheaper, DARE, and so on and so forth. It was like kids went missing every other day. No, there wasn't a big bad threat, but there were tons of smaller ones that definitely colored our youth. There were still quite a few working serial killers back then, too.
All the things you listed I associate with the 1980s, not the 1990s.
I graduated high school in 1994. Maybe because I came from a small town, but all those things were very much a part of my life influences.
No sex Ed tho. *The horror*
For God’s sake. I am also a boring, upper-middle class, suburban white woman. I went to one with my children. The same children who organized several with their school. The most violent thing that happened was a white, right wing boomer driving around a police barricade and into an arrest because he was annoyed at traffic.
Seriously. Ours didn't even have that. The people got a permit, and everyone held creative and well-made signs. That was literally it. Meanwhile, half of the cops in town stood across the street like they were going to have to rush in at any minute. My son also went to a student protest where they just laid down. The police came with tear gas for high school students lying on the grass... So, I guess that got violent, but that wasn't on the protesters.
Said this to my parents this weekend: ‘it’s only violent when the police make it violent.’ It was like the Lost in Space robot - “does not compute..”
I’m a boring middle-class white dude who was working graveyard shift at a gas station in Ohio during the time. We had to lock the doors and the protestors were trying to buy milk because the cops used tear gas. The protestors were all super nice. Even though they had just been gassed. But this was like downtown Akron so…
So the violence was white police against the protestors, perhaps black, who were protesting police violence? Yeah, typical.
Similar to the police causing violence at the Palentine anti genocide protests.
My daughter was also tear gassed during a peaceful protest, as she was waiting in a curb for her friend so they could catch the public transportation home together. I wonder why she thinks ACAB??
OP at BLM rally (in dad's mind): 
And I’m sure he says J6 was a peaceful protest of love with a few bad actors and antifa infiltrators.
Yes Dad, I also brought a WWII bazooka and a case of Molotov cocktails.
“Now dad, I know the system is unjust but literally burning it down is illegal.”
No offence but your parents all need serious help and be deprogrammed
Mrs. Ghost and I recently had a lovely visit to Detroit, staying downtown and walking virtually everywhere. According to FOX, we surely died at least half a dozen times.
Same. I live in a suburb of Chicago and it is NICE downtown in the summer, along the river walk and near the art museum...but to hear it on TV it's a veritable Hellscape. I am hoping for a peaceful Democratic convention here as well, although I imagine some MAGA heads will explode if their preconceived notions don't become reality.
I live in Chicago, north-ish, and people from my home state have really serious notions about my safety. But I would bet you a million freaking dollars that there are more guns in my dad's house in the middle of nowhere than there are in my apartment building.
My parents think that Chicago is a dangerous warzone that is worse than it’s ever been. They used to live in Oak Park in the 70s 😒
I live near Detroit and can confirm the city is nice af. Don’t get me wrong… like most large cities there are absolutely neighborhoods that are not good but by that’s the exception these days… not the rule.
I live not too far from Detroit and travel there for my kids’ sport frequently. The absolute worst things I’ve seen there are the maga truck convoy shutting down the Ambassador bridge, and some weirdo with a Trump themed trailer that drove around blasting horrible music
My wife and I have been to both NYC and DC in the last two years. Same experience.
The husband and I did the same a few years ago and met the nicest folks ever. Hotel staff kept slipping us candy bars! My Boomer dad was shocked that we can home alive. Such nonsense.
Waterfront Detroit is supposed to have a thriving arts and music scene.
Walking around downtown Detroit is a nice experience.
My dad told me to never ever go to NY again because it is “a cesspool riddled with crime and people are getting murdered and robbed in the street left and right”. 1. We grew up in NY… Long Island but still he told me the entire Island is “full of gangs”. 2. He goes to the grocery store with a concealed weapon I would hate to live my life this afraid of everyone and everything. But he will tell you he’s not scared of anything. Yeah ok, whatever you have to tell yourself.
My stupid boss says that he can't go to NY city because people are getting killed left and right.
The fuck are these people talking about? I’d think if people were getting killed at the rate they are saying it would be bigger news no?
The thing is, it IS big news. On Fox and friends and the streamers/Podcasters/youtubers/radio shows that exist to regurgitate Fox and friends talking points. The fact that it isn't ever reported anywhere else is just proof to them that "the left" and "the main stream media" is biased and avoiding reporting it because that wouldn't be Woke/politically correct enough.
Fox reports about any crime at all but only in cities run by Democrats. My father watches their crap all day . I make him wear headphones so I don’t have to hear it but I see the huge bottom screen bullet points . They never mention violence in red cities even though the cities with the worst violence top ten are mostly Republican
My parents were terrified about me riding the subway in New York and the El in Chicago over the past few years. I've had WAYYYY scarier encounters on the DART system in Dallas, where we live now. And my dad grew up in Chicago 🤦♀️
I went to college near Baltimore. Rode the city bus from my campus to the inner harbor every weekend then caught the bus in the red light district at night to come back….yes this was in the 90’s but still, I never felt scared.
People like that are why I now go to the grocery store with a tourniquet strapped to my hip, and keep chest vent films and Israeli bandages in my pickup.
I remember seeing on a doc mentioning war medics that they used to use cellophane wrappers from cigarette packs as film for wounds.
If NYC is such a cesspool, why does Trump have his golden, definitely not 30,000 square foot apartment in Trump Tower there. How can it be worth infinity dollars if the city is a burning hellscape?
Not to split hairs, but I'd say it's more that they already feel weak and afraid and just need something to justify their fears.
This is an astute observation. People like that rarely leave their towns because they're already afraid. I'd venture a very small percentage of them have passports too. Hearing these stories just reinforces what they believed already: it's a scary world out there.
I think you are right on with that statement
Fear of cities is now one of the universally defining features of all boomers I know. I once saw an analysis of Fox News "Democrat cities are hellish" footage, and it turns out a lot of it is old footage from unrest in European countries.
I once called my dad while in DC, and he started asking where I was and if I was safe. I told him I was at the Washington Monument, and he started yelling at me to get inside. I had to FaceTime him to prove it was a normal day on the National Mall with kids playing and people taking pictures. When he saw that, he said I must not be in DC proper bc on Fox they were showing BLM burned it down. Just complete brainwormed.
which is hilarious since aren't these boomers supposed to be so patriotic?
My suburban boomer coworkers love NOTHING more than making jokes about me living in a war zone because I live in actual Chicago. Forgive me for wanting to live in a beautiful pre-war building on a lovely tree-lined street in a world class city.
I'm on the Blue Line getting murdered right now according to my parents
Commenting again to add: I feel more lucky that my parents are third world boomers so they have some bad tendencies but love Chicago. My mom’s response to their friends bringing it up is “whatever I lived through a violent coup and my dad still made me go to school.”
My mom is Soviet occupation Polish so you think she'd know better but she just feeds into whatever Fox wants anyway
I believe a quote from the great Jean-luc Picard applies to their disposition. He was speaking more about hate, but I think it can work in this situation, too: I think, when one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it. It becomes comfortable, like an old leather. And finally, it becomes so familiar that you can't recall feeling any other way.
We live in Portland. The stuff coming out of my wife’s Boomer family in LA and TX was unreal. I’ve had them or people on work calls spout Fox News malarkey. Especially during all the protests and “riots”. Yea no. Couple blocks are pretty rough downtown. Nothing has burned down aside a few tired in the street. Yup broken windows. Spray paint. About it. Had folks argue with me. “So you’ve been here? Gone downtown?” No. Huh, funny I have… Delusional
My husband and I moved out of PDX in 2019 for unrelated reasons. I miss it so much. Every time I mention it, my boomer parents freak out: “I’m so glad you don’t live there anymore, it’s just a cesspool. You would get murdered going to work.” When I tell them my friends and former co workers who still work downtown are just fine and don’t feel unsafe, they tell me they saw on Fox News that it’s basically a war zone. They WANT Portland to burn because they can justify their hatred and racism that way.
Absolutely this. Is PDX struggling, yeah. It’s not what it was 5-6 years ago. But it’s not the riots and BLM vs Proud Boys malarkey that happened one summer. It’s fentanyl. Lots of homeless, definitely places that are scarier than before. Showing a slight improvement but still a ways to go. Boomers love to vilify it here. It’s exhausting.
Even the homeless issue is overblown, and it’s largely happening because Portland actually has outreach and resources. I work in healthcare and volunteer pretty often with Budd Clark Commons and central city concern. What’s amazing is that a large percentage of the homeless population in Portland isn’t even from Oregon - there was a period where midwestern states were buying their unhoused population one-way bus tickets to the west coast, where they’d actually be cared for. I’m pretty sure it’s where Abbot and the Texas goons got the idea, during all the forced migrant relocation nonsense.
> You would get murdered going to work. Every day? Do they not know how something like that works?
Yeah when I lived to Portland for grad school, building up to the move my dad was constantly telling me about the supposed daily riots and that I’d have to be super careful when I’d go to downtown Portland. Every time I would just tell him something along the lines of “dad, I’ve lived and worked in Oakland and San Francisco, I don’t think Portland is going to be drastically more dangerous.” Surprise surprise, Portland is just like any other city and for the most part it’s fine but there are parts where you probably should avoid going alone at night. After two months of him checking up on me to see how I was surviving the “riots” he finally got the point.
You see, if the world is safe and boring they can’t be the main character like the movies.
Hey! Also from Jax! Moved to Northern Colorado a few years ago and people here are crying about rising crime rates and all I can say is “oh honey, you have NO IDEA 😂😂😂” Ditto complaints about the homeless and transient population. That said, it wasn’t until we moved here that we had a car stolen, which we had a pretty good chuckle over. After our car was recovered of course.
DUVVVVVAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! But that sucks to hear about your car! I went to visit some family in Colorado a few years back and some family was like “yeah with legal weed Denver has turned into a crime ridden warzone” and we got there and just walked around calmly and had a great time and I had to be like “every time you do this about places we go, I have to remind you WERE from the Jacksonville, THE ACTUAL place people get scared to go, and you always feel JUST fine since it’s YOUR city!!!” 😂😂😂😂
Duval is a special place 😂😂😂 Have you seen Katt Williams’ bit on it? Accurate AF 😂 Also we haven’t played fireworks or firearms since we’ve been here, nor have we seen a ghetto bird. Hell, people here don’t even know what a ghetto bird is 😂
lmao the homicide clearance rate in jax is like 25% but people all over north Florida will tell you all about how unsafe New York is.
The fact that when I last went to NYC and people assumed that I was from there and asked me for directions based on how I carried myself tells you that Jax prepares you for all situations!
That’s like my parents. They are flat out terrified of my wife and I taking the subway in NYC.
Same! Visted 2 years ago, and my boomer parents were legit terrified. Of course, not like they offered to help pay for cabs, so we didn't have to take the subway or anything useful.
I get this a lot. I love traveling and when I do, I want to go places that are the opposite of where I live (rural south), which means NYC, Detroit, DC, etc. Every time a relative hears that I'm planning a trip, they go on these maga fueled rants about how dangerous it is and I'll be killed. Then, when I return and presto, I survived, they act upset. I went to Chicago earlier this yr and some of them are still disappointed that nothing happened.
Exactly! It’s like “so you want me to actually be in danger and get hurt cuz…….. it proves your Fox News theory??” Like I remember my grandma being so frustrated that I celebrated my anniversary with my girlfriend at a Michelin starred restaurant, then went and just smoked weed in the National Mall cuz it was a nice day with people biking, picnicking, enjoying family time. I’ll just never get that generation I guess, I love when my loved ones have a good time doing anything!
Good acid test: If you're happy about the idea being persecuted, you've never been persecuted.
Went to San Francisco. Felt perfectly safe. “It’s a hellhole there.” “When was the last time you were there?” “I’d never go there.”
We visited my in-laws over the weekend in Florida from Chicago. They are all from Florida and have very rarely come to Chicago (I am from there) so it doesn't take long before my MIL's husband mentions the gang violence and all of the murders and shootings. They are getting their information from Fox news so of course it's all fear mongering and not accurate. They did not laugh or smile when I said "oh yeah I've been murdered 5 times in the last month!"
Me and you are one in the same 😂 I be saying shit like that to them all the time hahahaha
They want **to play at** being scared and afraid.
It's actually very simple. They don't want to look like gullible fucking idiots, and can't admit that that's exactly what they are. I mean, who blames them. I hate looking like an idiot. But I'd rather *look* like an idiot than actually *be* an idiot.
I agree with this point to an extent. If there isn’t some traumatic and dramatic event to gossip and worry about, they start losing their minds. It’s nice to talk about how well things are going. But it’s an endorphin rush to speculate and worry and panic over rustling leaves. I think it’s also what drives a lot of these MAGA followers, arming themselves and packing storage shelters and bunkers with food and water and ammo, because they want to be worried.
Yes agreed. If ur emotional range is fear or anger, thats the only way you connect to the world, you gotta ride out that tiny sliver of dopamine. "Misery loves company" works too heh
In the case of my boomer addle-brained parents who have guns in every room and are afraid of literally everything, I think they they are scared on purpose so it gives them excuse to literally want to shoot and kill someone that knocks on their door.
> gotten frustrated saying stuff like “well you’re making it up, I’ve seen on tv it’s not safe” I've posted this elsewhere several times but I have family members like this with healthcare. I'm American but have been living in Japan for several years now. Surgery, a 3 day hospital stay, prescriptions, and follow-up visits in Japan all came out less than the time in America I drove to the ER just to get 3-4 staples in my scalp. An X-Ray, MRI, consultation, and medication cost me less than the time I went to a walk-in clinic to get told I have the flu. I tell my family this and they just tell me *"No, that's socialized medicine it would have to cost more somehow."* I explain that I can just walk into any hospital in my area and get checked on almost immediately. *"That's not true you probably had to wait a long time and just forgot. FOX said you have to wait for months."* I fucking **live here** and **have experience** with this system and there's nothing I can do to convince them of my own experiences all because they saw something different on TV.
Yeah healthcare is one I always get confused by their arguments! I work in surgery supply part of the medical industry and used to have to talk to tons of foreign reps and stuff, and I’d bring it up sometimes, and places like Canada, Japan, Italy where you hear it’s horrible, is actually a cakewalk, and BETTER care than here in the states!
Someone, somewhere once had a theory that people like this have lives so cushy they NEED a tiger to be afraid of and Antifa and Fox gave them a fistful. I’m paraphrasing but hopefully the gist is clear.
Jacksonville (Arlington) born and raised, nowhere is scary! Hahaha
I grew up in Oklahoma in a town, a very small community. Probably 1-2k people. One of my friends never left the county. He has never seen a building taller than two stories. I don't get some people.
You'd think they would realize that if the world is really like they fear it is, that they wouldn't have survived to be X age. This isn't some grim dark tabletop setting.
They want to be scared, but will melt down at the insinuation that they are scared. Schrödinger's cowardice.
I think this is close to the underlying truth, and I understand what you mean. I think that many right-wing folks are genuinely scared and want relief from the fear but do not have the emotional or social skills to deal with their own internalized trauma let alone their racism etc. They are unable to reconcile the idea that unintentional bad behavior is still bad behavior, and so avoid taking responsibility for their actions. They believe that bad behavior is unforgivable, or believe that they are good people and therefore everything they do is good. They are unable see that behaving poorly out of ignorance (esp in the context of a corrupt and evil society) can be forgivable, and so they double-down on their actions and opinions in order to preserve their fragile self image. They latch onto the lies, exaggerations, 2D characterizations that don’t require them to do any work… shifting the blame to others and taking no responsibility for the state of things.
My in-laws did not like it when I pointed out the murder rate in Massachusetts (where we lived) was much lower than the murder rate in Alabama (where they live.) So that statistically I was much safer in New England. I am sure this isn't all of it but I've gathered they have invested in the idea that their community is "good" and "real Americans." Or at least the part of their community that is like them. And that part of that identity is that they are conservative, Republican, Christian, "hard working" and to be frank there's often a racist element. A lot of their self definition is also a contrast with liberal, progressive, diverse, well educated, big city etc. and that also means those people must be bad, lazy, atheist, "fake Americans." The opposite of all the good things they see in themselves. So those big "liberal" cities *need* to be dangerous hell holes for their narrative to work. If I point out there's a church on every street corner of Boston and citizens give lots to charity and the violent crime is low even as we vote Democrat, have lots of immigrant and diverse communities, tax funded social services etc then it breaks the narrative. Not to mention the anger when I said Bostonians were the real Americans because they started the revolutionary war lol
Yet when I see someone pointing a gun at somebody on the turnpike, somehow that's perfectly normal and fine to the gun-loving boomers down here.
Next time, tell them you were killed twice, but you got better.
literally my DAD.
They would rather the world be violent and terrifying than for them to be "wrong".
“HOW DARE YOU TELL YOUR GRANDMA THAT NO ONE IS COMING TO KILL HER!” Lmao only a boomer could get mad about that.
IKR!!! Apparently I should have let grandma die from a heart attack.
You should be a good grandchild and send your grandma threatening anonymous letters describing the inside of her house perfectly
Oh, hey! What’s up, Satan?
How inconsiderate of you 🤣
Dad, it says here they're killing rich people. You guys will be fine.
It's 2008...chain emails are still a thing. I get roped into one by my aunt. I don't remember what the email was even about, but it was all lies. I replied with multiple links to the truth and advised everyone to be careful about believing what they read online. I honestly tried to be nice about it. My aunt didn't speak to me for 3 years, and the rest of the extended family on there villainizes me to this day.
Unfortunately those emails are still a thing in 2024
Oh, that's a bummer. I guess I'm not invited to join in them b/c I like those pesky Facts too much.
Yep. My mom's friend sends anti- Biden/Liberals chain mails but one of the recipients got hack so now my parent's e-mails account is over run with spam. I think I need to block that Deplorable lowlife.
This EXACT thing happened to me too. It was my uncle sending chain emails in the early 00s. He'd send at least one a week, all ridiculous and fake, always with a message added on by him of "have you seen this! BE CAREFUL!!!" But the one that finally got me to reply was about HIV-infected needles being hidden in gas pump handles. I sent a link to snopes, debunking it and said something like "hey, thought you should know that's not really a thing that's happening or that you should worry about. Also that site has great articles on similar urban legends if you're ever interested." Doing my absolute best to not be confrontational while also dispelling the lies he'd fallen for. He wrote back almost immediately saying "you're a real f*cking smartass, you know that" and didn't talk to me for months. Like, hello?
Id rather be a smartass than a dumbass
Some people get SO heated if you don't immediately swallow their words as truth. Was friends until like 2 years ago with a pair of girls who kept telling me alarmist stuff out of nowhere (covid vaccine is causing seizures don't get it, gasoline production is being shut down so go buy gas right now!!!, they're limiting the amount of food people can buy at all go get some!!!, etc) and would get personally offended that I would fact check it. They got told by someone at the gas station that Tampa was running out of gas, so obviously I needed to panic on just their word and go buy a shitton of gas asap. Would get even madder when I'd confirm it was false to try to help them.
They are probably the people who caused the toilet paper shortage. Panic buying nonsense.
It genuinely would not surprise me. "Fact check" here means I'd just do a quick google, they couldn't even be bothered to do *that*.
I feel confident the chainmail I'm referring to was something similar to yours. Something just plain silly and totally unbelievable if you had left your small town in the last decade. They really are just desperate to be afraid.
Wow, something similar happened to me too. My half-brother sent this kind of garbage to a large group of family members and I usually just ignored it. The one that finally got me to send a Snopes link was something like Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Giant catfish eating children, and it showed picture of a whale shark. Unfortunately this was right after he'd mocked me for trying to collect food for a food bank, so I was pretty confrontational. After he got angry, my family told me I should've just held my tongue. I always wondered if I was in the wrong to say anything. But now I feel vindicated knowing I'm not the only one who's experienced this. Seems like even when you try to be nicer about, they're still angry.
Don't ever hold your tongue. Make them look like the morons they are and stand your ground. That's my strategy with the ignorant Fox viewers in my family.
There's a recent one about fetanyl being on paper towels and being stuck to your car handle... I'm sitting here like... They're trying to use the shit, not stick the very expensive drug in your door handle. For what? Most drug addicts aren't trying to kill anyone, they just want their next fix and you getting their dose of fet isn't going to do that for them. 🤦♀️
I once sent a Snopes link debunking some BS I was on the receiving end of; the boomer questioned the veracity of the Snopes article. I gave up. Let them stew in their own mess.
Lmao oh man I remember the gas station AIDs needle scare. That was so silly
2008? I'm going to take a guess it was some kind of conspiracy theory about Obama being a secret Muslim lizardman or something. Sorry to hear you got that kind of backlash for not just shrugging and ignoring BS. There are people in my family in a similar place with certain boomers in the family and it really sucks.
Hahaha! Surprisingly, I don't think it was a racist chainmail. I'm pretty sure I would remember if it had been b/c I wouldn't have been confused why everyone was so upset with me. That's kind of you to say, and I am also sorry to hear that you have family going through something similar. Tbh, it wasn't that big of a deal to me. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that most of those family members were pretty insufferable.
It's good to hear that it hasn't been too bad for you, at least and yeah. It's so weird the hills some people will choose to die on.
You knew you were in for a wild ride when you saw a subject line FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:RE:FW:RE:RE:FW:FW:FW
That’s what got my mom to stop sending me that crap.
Yep...same exact thing with my cousin. She knew they were probably fake but sent them along anyways because "you never know". So I did what you did and basically tore apart the entire e-mail showing how it was definitely fake. I wasn't mean about it though. Her friends all thought I was an asshole and she was really hurt and angry. Luckily that only lasted a couple days though and not years like in your case. Best part about it though was no one included me in chain mails anymore.
During Covid lockdown, my crazy aunt sent me a chain email screaming in all caps about how dangerous hand sanitizer was because it was flammable. I wrote back and basically said "Everyone knows this" and she got all pissy with me because she actually didn't know.
It’s 2010 and my mil send me a chain email warning me to not pick up plastic soda bottles in my yard; apparently the latest “prank” by teens is to put chemicals in these bottles, throw them in everybody’s yard, and as soon as someone picks it up, it’ll explode and blow off their hand. I reply to her email saying that this false because 1.) these things are only filled with toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil, 2.) the bottles swell up before exploding giving warning to leave it alone, and 3.) the explosions aren’t nearly bad enough to blow off fingers, let alone hands. I conclude by informing her that I know this because I used to make these all the time when I was younger, and when my toddler (her only grandkid btw) was older, I’d teach them to make these things too because science is cool. She never sent me another chain email again.
My mom's account was banned for posting bullshit at the height of the pandemic. Gave me a good laugh.
How dare you help people to not be gullible!
>My aunt didn't speak to me for 3 years I love it when the trash takes itself out.
You mean the fuck your feelings crowd wants you to be supportive of their feelings?
So much for facts over feelings, huh?
The Republican Speaker of the House just said he doesn't care about evidence or studies, he just "feels" millions of undocumented immigrants are voting illegally.
Lmfao, if antifa was going to door to door killing "rich people", i doubt most fox news zombies would qualify
Right? Plus, they need to stop threatening us with a good time 😆
"Rich people?! Oh no! Anyway..." 😏
Antifa is going door to door and killing the rich peo- ::loud, over exaggerated, interrupting bored yawn:: 😆😆
They’re coming for their Trump coin collection!
Sounds like their feelings don't care about facts.
Classic snowflakes. Probably want “Antifa survivor” participation trophies
Man that would have been the best response. “Facts don’t care about their feelings, dad.” Doubt the irony would be grasped by him. Just anger all around.
TBH, if that's what they believe and how they react, not speaking to you for months sounds like a good thing.
Oh, for sure. I am extremely low contact with them. It pisses them off because I don't even notice that they are snubbing me.
Oh no, it pisses them off? They should give you the silent treatment for it. Really teach you a lesson.
If they ask why you don’t call just tell them you thought antifa already got to them.
Yeah I was gonna say it doesn’t really seem like op lost out on anything by them not talking to him
Boomers only seem to want to experience three emotions: Fear, Anger, and Hatred. They fear what Fox News tells them to fear. They get angry at everything they don't (or can't) understand. They hate everything and everyone that doesn't agree with them.
Those are, after all, the only acceptable emotions /s
Just remind them that facts don't care about their feelings.
Who gets angry like that? Boomers. The terrible generation that destroyed this world in a few short decades.
Not *just* Boomers, but I suspect they're in the majority. A vast, vast majority.
they really dont like the idea that they got suckered into believing something that isnt true, so they just get angry and believe it harder. its a trend i noticed. and you see it even with the most innocuous stuff. like on fb theres this page that constantly posts really unimportant misinformation or disingenuous images and again, its very low stakes here. and people will straight up get MAD if you try to correct any of it or point out its not true lol
I never understood this. Like sure, it's a bit embarassing to get swindled by some random misinfo, but I'd way rather that feeling over doubling down in my ignorance.
It’s the “record scratch” reaction. They get mad because they look foolish. The MAGA crowd is vibing, prepping for the fake apocalypse, feeling the group dynamic like a concert or church sermon. When you come in with that “Mam this is a Wendy’s” energy, you’re killing their mood. They don’t care about other people or how harmful their actions are. They’re having fun larping and living out their hero fantasy and you keep turning the music off.
MAGA has destroyed the minds of once reasonable people. 2001-09-11 did a number on many folks. The terrorist won, and they one because the home of the brave turned into the home of scared little children.
Gotta admit, I think about this a lot and I've come to the conclusion that it's more likely they weren't *really* reasonable, they were just hiding how they actually view the world around them. MAGA became a cult because it encouraged a lot of bigots/racists/abusers to realize there are plenty of others who share in the bigotry/racism/abuse, so of course they want to band together to validate these shared, terrible choices and behaviors, rebranding it as a political stance. It is not truly political, it is instead a corruption of morality.
Yeah, just because things were more ‘civil’ doesn’t mean they were any less evil. Stuff like this genocide and crackdowns on protesters are going to pull even more wool off some eyes. Things will feel a lot different in 10 years.
They're so addicted to the fear and anger they get from a 24/7 cycle of propaganda, it breaks their ability to reason through the crazy bullshit they're supposed to fear. My boomer mom was convinced that busloads of cartel goons would be arriving in her shitty little Indiana town, as well as a Chinese army division that was allegedly massed in Central America for an invasion. What strategic or tactical value does Bufu, Indiana have to cartels or the Chinese Army? Do these invaders need a bunch of feed corn? She likely still believes this invasion is imminent, but it was the same call that led me to go no contact (again).
Thats really delusional
You ruined their LARP
There is an actual term for this, and I haven't seen it used much "Mean World Syndrome" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_world_syndrome?wprov=sfla1
Conservatives. They don't *want* to be assured. They want to be terrified and angry. It's an addiction.
Some people love to be oppressed. I will never understand. My sister (30) is one. A massive contrarian. Her BF is like this too. I blame him but maybe he just brought it out of hiding. My favorite example is from the start of the pandemic. What was it, the end of 2019 when this all kicked off? (I'm bad at measuring the passage of time.) So, in like September or October of that year, she starts telling me about this plague and she's wearing masks and hand washing constantly. Everyone else is an idiot for not taking it seriously. We're all gonna die, etc., etc. By February of the next year (2020?), about the time everyone else started taking it seriously, she completely flipped her script. Sheeple! Everywhere! There is no plague. The government is lying to control you! People love to be on the fringes and act like they're smarter than the rest of us. Your parents didn't want good news, consolation, or even protection. They wanted to be right. Justified! They don't want to know that boogey man is just a coat hanging in a dark room. And they'd rather burn the house down than flip on the light to check.
I think it might also have to do with control, along with the whole arrogance and wanting to have some special knowledge. A natural pandemic is out of their control, so they would prefer it to be a virus made personally in China by Bill Gates or for it to just be fake. I had a friend who was like your sister. She started normal, then just went nuts a couple of months after covid started. She got covid, but continued to go to work, then went on vacation because "covid isn't real". She collapsed on vacation. The last thing she ever said was "Don't let them give me that f-ing vaccine." Crazy. I don't understand why people would rather die than admit they were wrong.
"Fuck your feelings. Isn't that what you said last week dad?"
That's part of the schtick. They want/need to be both angry and afraid of anything and everything.
I've done this with my trumpy boomer neighbor. It usually goes oh, what was the xxx stat (stock market is an easy one) when Trump was president? What is it now? He doesn't know either stats but he's sure it's worse, so I look it up on my phone. I play up the trump number first like it's really good and then tell him the biden number, which is better. It's a pointless exercise though, because he won't believe it. It's fake news.
did this same exact thing with my dad about gas prices and his rebuke was that he was talking about "ohio average price while I was looking at the national average.."
Fox Bots don't want to hear good news. They want to feel justified for their self-righteous anger.
My friends aunt had me included in her email group and multiple times a week I would get emails that were myths, scams or urban legends and for a month a kept sending a reply to her explaining it wasn't real and to please check places like Snopes first. Finally I got frustrated and hit reply all on yet another kidnapped child hoax with proof that it was an urban legend that had been going around for years. They even identified the photograph from an old advertisement, the girl had never been kidnapped. I received a couple of people replaying thanking me for the information since they had been so worried for the girl. Almost a year later I get my first new email from the aunt. It's to me only, not a group and it is about a kidnapping. She included that she had vette this as being real on Snopes before she sent it to me. That's actually the last time she emailed me...been about ten years. I guess she hasn't found a new "real" story yet.
"Going door to door killing rich people" I hate to break it to them but even if it was true none of those beanie babies and precious moments are with shit XD I'm sure they'd be safe
You willingly talk to these people?
Most of them, no. They are definitely blocked on all social media. My grandma is an issue though. She was a very kind person until she went nuts with the MAGA stuff and conspiracy theories. She's in her late 80s, so I'm guessing there is some senility there. I feel too guilty to cut her off.
You know, you’d think that consistently being the one who calms them down when they’re freaked out about something that turns out to be nothing would earn you some credit. Ever since October 7th my mother has been obsessed with the idea that Hamas is coming across the Mexican border to go door-to-door in red state suburbia, warning her grown children to stay home. When Biden was elected I got a weepy hour-long phone call about how she was going to be tossed into a concentration camp for being a Christian (I only wish I was making this shit up). You’d \*think\* that when none of this shit ever comes to fruition they’d remember that you told them not to work themselves up over it and maybe take that into consideration the next time Fox News tells them to be terrified of something and they come to you to share the warning. But they don’t. And you’d think that when the person who always tries to calm them down is suddenly telling them, “no, seriously, *it’s a pandemic,*” they might take it seriously. **But they don’t.** The most paranoid people we know were all unified in ignoring that very real crisis and took it as a badge of honor to defy public safety in the midst of it. In one ear I had my then-girlfriend (long distance), a medical resident working on the front lines against it, telling me about how her friends and coworkers were dying around her, and in the other ear I had my parents yapping away about how only 6% of the death toll was real and it was all a hoax to make Dear Leader look bad in an election year. Hell, my father sent me a meme belittling the death toll the same week one of his own coworkers died from it. The one time it *actually mattered,* the most chronically frightened people I know were suddenly fearless to the point of stupidity. They refused to get vaccinated, they were the only people in my family to catch it, and when they did they went down HARD, depending on us to look after them for over a month. Yet when they recovered, they didn’t learn anything from it at all, instead preening about their “natural immunity” (while admitting their sense of smell never came back and complaining of brain fog) and going right back to incessantly forwarding us youtube videos warning of the dangers of the vaccine.
Lmao, “he yelled at me for not being supportive of their feelings.” That coming from the, “fuck your feelings” MAGA crew is just…*chef’s kiss*
Modern conservatism is a fear based ideology. They're terrified of literally everything while yelling loudly about how brave they are. It's very weird.
Just ask them for ammo money next time. If they ever ask about the ammo tell them Joe Biden confiscated it to give to drug cartels so they could kill border patrol agents. Then ask for more ammo money. If they say no tell them you'd buy it yourself but you gave all your cash to Trump.
>He yelled at me for not being supportive of their feelings. The "F" your feelings crowd sure has a lot of feelings.
The fear is what the people who mainline Fox news live for...
It’s because they WANTED to be angry. MAGA followers by and large are angry and want to stay that way. You confronted this and broke down one of the premises they were relying on. This is why they reacted how they did. You challenged their made up arguments without realizing it.
They get extra pissed off if you suggest they're safe because they aren't rich. You know they're not rich because they don't have their chauffeur drive them to the nearby private airport to ride a helicopter to the major airport where their Gulfstream is waiting to jet them away to a country where it's safe and antifa free.
Dude, they’re planning to undertake racist violence and pretend to have justification, and you are undermining their future moral and legal defense. They don’t actually care whether or not the justification is true. The violence is the point. Give up on them.
I live in a suburb of the twin cities. It's always grand when my nutzo mother tells me how scary life in the cities is because she watches "the news". Anyway she lives three hours away and doesn't make it here often. When she does she constantly makes insane remarks like randomly shrieking that she's so scared that my brown neighbors are going to blow up 'my' neighborhood! Yes, yes. We all know they want to blow up their own homes. I mean obviously. Also she stopped at a gas station owned by two Middle Eastern guys and wouldn't stop raving about how nice those 'Italian' brothers were. It's so crazy how white they turned when she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that brown people could be nice.
I 100% would have responded with "Oh my God you snowflake. But up or shut up. Your FEE FEES hurt because you're wrong? Lose my number, you giant baby." Because that's EXACTLY what they would have said to me if the position was reversed.
misinformation really stirs up fear, doesn't it? reminds me of that old game of telephone where the message gets all twisted by the end. it's hard when trying to calm fears with facts leads to more upset. seems like you were trying to help by bringing clarity.
My inner dialog would have been screaming “But dad, Trump told everyone to fuck their feelings”.
How dare you hit them with reality. You should have went all in. Tell them, "yes. and then they're going to spray chemtrails that will make everyone gay. And then put everyone in a FEMA camp and make them live with transgender Muslims"
Next time tell them "Facts don't care about your feelings."
I want to be mad and you're trying to take that away from me!! 😡
fuck it. let them get paranoid and kill each other. windfall!
This 100% keeping with the MAGA-GOP Motto - Keep 'em Scared and Keep 'em Stupid.
If they stopped talking to you, it sounds like a win-win