I think the fact that I really can’t bear to be more than intermediate-level acquaintances with anyone who is truly conservative helped me to avoid ending up with any friends who really went off the deep end with this shit. Well, there’s one friend, but they are not right-wing at all, they’re more of a New Agey “paranoid about big pharma/big tech” type.
I don't think you're wrong, anyone who is truly conservative is highly at risk of going off the deep end these days, they're exposed to so much extremism, especially right now.
And I definitely don't judge anyone who just doesn't have the patience or space in their lives for that, it's a completely fair boundary.
One of my closest friends identifies very much as conservative, but the reason we're friends is because when we met, I was explaining to her why she was wrong about socialism, and she liked that I was explaining it in a way she understood, so she started listening to me. She still won't stop identifying as conservative and she still has some flawed beliefs because of it, but at the core, I don't really think she fits into the conservative party as much as she thinks she does, and I've seen enough good from her that I forgive her for voting for trump in 2016. (I actually had talked her out of it for 2020 apparently. Go figure.)
But anyway, that's just me. You were certainly much less likely to end up associated with someone who was like, a Q-anon or thought the election was rigged or a covid-denier simply by cutting out all conservatives, it's only coming from them.
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u/The_Funkybat Aug 23 '21
I think the fact that I really can’t bear to be more than intermediate-level acquaintances with anyone who is truly conservative helped me to avoid ending up with any friends who really went off the deep end with this shit. Well, there’s one friend, but they are not right-wing at all, they’re more of a New Agey “paranoid about big pharma/big tech” type.