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I found out yesterday my grandmother is a Trump supporter, and this latest revelation is forcing me to acknowledge something about many Trump supporters, generally speaking:
I've seen a lot of Trump supporters getting upset about people "cutting people off" because of "politics."
And honestly that's just ... really revealing.
For me, finding out you support Trump signals a *rupturing* difference in values.
For them, there's nothing new happening.
And honestly that's just ... really revealing.
For me, finding out you support Trump signals a *rupturing* difference in values.
For them, there's nothing new happening.
Most of the people in my family are more conservative than me and I've always been happy to discuss politics with them and yet make sure it didn't disrupt out relationship. At the end of the day, our disagreements weren't over *whether* to help people, but *how*.
Everyone who fit in that category unambiguously hates Trump, though. Maybe they voted 3rd party in 2016, maybe didn't vote at all, maybe "held their nose" and pulled the lever for Clinton. The intervening years have only cemented that feeling for them.
An aunt, uncle, 2 grandparents, and 3 family friends are being vocal in their support for Trump this election, however, and I'm just... astonished. Flabbergasted.
Up until this discovery, I would've thought of them as essentially good. Misguided maybe, but alright. Not now.
Up until this discovery, I would've thought of them as essentially good. Misguided maybe, but alright. Not now.
Finding out they support Trump gives me radically new information into their character. Suddenly I know we don't disagree over how to help people; rather I know they'd be perfectly content to either ignore or cheer genocide, concentration camps, stripping civil rights and so on.
However, for them... nothing has foundationally changed. They've *always. been* the kind of person who would support such a monster, and there's always been a direct line between that moral depravity and their politics.
Hence their surprise at how I'd be willing to cut them off.
Hence their surprise at how I'd be willing to cut them off.
And that's the illuminating bit.
Trump hasn't changed anything about my friends and family. He merely ripped off their mask of "civility" and "agree to disagree" and the thin veneer of morality.
It's heart crushing. I loved these people.
Turns out I loved a lie.
Trump hasn't changed anything about my friends and family. He merely ripped off their mask of "civility" and "agree to disagree" and the thin veneer of morality.
It's heart crushing. I loved these people.
Turns out I loved a lie.
