Has anyone here ever successfully deprogrammed anyone from believing in the myth of welfare fraud, that the dems are giving handouts left and right, etc.? Asking because I've been talking to my mom and...look, I'm sorry, but the elevator just doesn't go to the top floor.
I graduated from college in May, and my parents have parent PLUS loans, and the monthly payment is $473. They're both complaining about the payment but boast about voting for Trump. Obviously, no, electoralism won't save anyone, but it's like talking to a brick wall when I explain to my mom that if she wants any chance of debt relief (or cares at all about the future of her disabled lesbian daughter), she can't vote Republican. But everything I say gets countered with "I don't think people should get handouts." When I ask what handouts Biden has given, eh can't come up with anything. Ironically, she frequently gripes about how her unemployment checks are usually late.
It's infuriating and honestly it's looking like our relationship will soon become a birthday and christmas only type of thing unless she shapes up. I'm sick of having family who actively support politics that harm me. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising when they both emotionally abused me for the better part of a quarter of a century. Having an actual support system irl seems so hopeless that I've been in a severe depressive episode for the past day.
Still, anyone had any luck with this? I keep explaining how the dems aren't a left wing party, neither party is for an abundance of benefits, etc. But it's like talking to a brick wall. I apologize if this post should've gone elsewhere.
There's 2 questions in this post, really.
I started reading J. Sakai's Settlers the other day. I'm finding it very informative and enlightening so far. I'm about a quarter of the way through it. However I have read in various communist spaces online that its a very flawed work that smears William Z. Foster as a racist, that the author is a C.I.A. plant, that the author is a ultra/Maoist, etc. I haven't studied the communist movement throughout American history too much so I honestly don't know a lot about Foster but from what I gather from doing some Googling, he's a pretty beloved figure. This is definitely a gap in my knowledge. Are any of these criticisms founded?
Is the 4th of July a reactionary holiday? I feel like I'm going bonkers because (against my better judgement) I've been going back and forth with someone arguing whether it is or isn't. I don't think any principled communist should be voluntarily celebrating the holiday for reasons that I consider obvious. The holiday is about celebrating America and being uncritically patriotic. The person I'm arguing with is stating that it's not a reactionary holiday, that America gaining independence from England led to the collapse of the British empire (even though England still has several colonies right now as I'm typing this?), and that communist leaders such as Mao and Castro understood the revolutionary war to be a positive development. Which I don't really disagree with, I don't think England losing a colony is a bad thing. But saying "this was one domino out of hundreds that led to slightly more favorable conditions" is different than celebrating. What is the ML take on the 4th of July? Am I completely off base?
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