• @daggermoon@lemmy.world
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    1326 months ago

    Ignore all the joke answers here. It seems insensitive given the subject matter. He’s probably lonely and feeling left out. If he has siblings it’s all the more likely. I was an alienated teenager who was in a place similar to your son I think. I eventually realized I and many others we’re being used to further the agenda of some unsavory fucks who wanted to send us back to the 1860’s. Try to show him how much he means to you. Let him know you care about him. Just don’t drive him away, Show some love and compassion and he’ll realize he’s drinking the kool-aid eventually I think. Hope this helps, good luck!

    • @Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Also, should work with him emphasizing that politics isn’t really about having a party but before that, having an ethos. At the end of the day you need to evaluate how your ethos aligns with the parties actions, not ideas. I can’t believe anyone today is conservative as I had once known them because I know the GOPs actions align only with obtaining power. Unless your ethos is “fuck you i got mine” the GOP offers you nothing. Which also means that you’ve already got yours. Which, looking at conservatives, I have my doubts. And if they don’t have theirs, well then it’s just, “fuck you.” Which I can understand why a teenager would feel that way.

      • @daggermoon@lemmy.world
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        35 months ago

        Barry Goldwater wouldn’t recognize what his party has become. He tried to warn them. He pretty much predicted the rise of Christian nationalism.

        “Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.” - Barry Goldwater

        • @Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I know almost zero about berry goldwater but know with a stark certainly you will never catch a current conservative saying anything like that. To think, goldwater was probably as prominent a figure as john mccain.

          • @daggermoon@lemmy.world
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            25 months ago

            He was the Republican presidential candidate in 1964. He ran against Lyndon B. Johnson. He was a very well respected man in the party. I’m not going to pretend he’s the greatest politician of all time. I definitely have ideological differences but I respect him for what he fought for.

  • @enbyecho@lemmy.world
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    1106 months ago

    A plane ticket. Others have suggested he’s bored and I concur. IMO, he needs to be intellectually challenged while simultaneously having his fears assuaged. Fear, I believe, is a key driver in pushing people toward fascist ideologies. Most likely he fears not being loved.

    Traveling to countries with very different cultures can be both stimulating and reassuring, especially if it involves some significant challenge - a physical one like climbing a significant peak or somewhere that’s just super hard to get to. You can demonstrate that you love and care for him by going with him. Just the two of you.

    • @helloworld55@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      I think this is the best one. It’s a real, enjoyable gift recommendation that doesn’t sidestep the parent’s concerns about their kid

    • @r0ertel@lemmy.world
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      26 months ago

      Fear is a key driver (period). I just heard this on the radio. They analyzed what pulls people in and it’s fear. Fear also keeps people lingering longer. I didn’t hear enough to explain it (I got to my destination before the show was over). Putting it together with other things I’ve heard, the algorithms that are tuned to keep people engaged on the site skill natually choose things that stoke fear and that is probably the same thing that the facist propaganda is promoting, too.

  • @Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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    456 months ago

    If he’s consuming right wing social media, it might be because he’s bored. Others have suggested left wing media, but maybe just finding other activities to do would help. These cost money, but maybe camping/hiking, hobby electronics/combat robots, dirt bikes/go-karts, RC planes/drones or metal fabrication are ideas that come to my mind. These are hobbies that have either politics neutral or left leaning communities. If he picks up that you’re trying to politically influence him, he’ll likely dig his heal in.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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      216 months ago

      This is great advice, and combine it with talking to him. My son was into Tate, and then Rogan, and a few others throughout his years. He would tell me about something they said and I would tear it down with logic and empathy, and then explain the right mindset from which to view whatever the given subject was. Indoctrination requires isolation, so keep an open dialogue, and an open mind, and talk them down from the ledge.

  • @Kaiyoto@lemmy.world
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    295 months ago

    Something that interests him other than fascism. Idk why that has anything to do with a gift. A gift is there to show appreciation and love, not to manipulate their pov.

    • @Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml
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      55 months ago

      Yeh, this is a weird question. Kid has to know he’s going to be accepted by his own Dad and still be able to make up their own mind on things. Hopefully when they’ve more fully developed they might sway a different way but acceptance from their Dad shouldn’t really be conditional upon it.

    • @Skates@feddit.nl
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      5 months ago

      I know, right? You can just get something else he’s interested in. Like OP, maybe the kid likes antiquities, you could get him some from Benito Mussolini’s 12000 piece collection in the Colonial Museum. Or maybe he likes art, you could buy him one of Hitler’s paintings.

  • @Philosofuel@futurology.today
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    226 months ago

    I would say, a good conversation. Listen to him, ask question, don’t be too judgemental (and that can be hard). But also accept, that for a big part, you can’t form/force his way of thinking. In the end he has to find his own way in life.

  • @Furbag@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Some kids adopt an edgy political identity as a form of protest or rebellion. I can see this being the case here, especially if your whole family is particularly left-leaning. Kid wants to feel like he has an autonomy over his own decision making and that he’s not just a carbon copy of you or his siblings, so he becomes a contrarian.

    As a teen I was also taken in by extremist political ideology on 4chan, but the thing that snapped me out of that is, surprisingly enough, my curriculum at school focusing heavily on critical thinking and problem solving as essential skills. That’s unfortunately not something that can easily be condensed down into a gift-sized package. I’m sure there are some books out there that can help, but I worry that it might be too on-the-nose or that he might just not like reading much to be interested in dry subject matter like philosophy or political science.

    I kind of agree with other posters here that taking a family trip somewhere, maybe not explicitly as a gift for him, but as an experience for all of your children, will expose him to stimuli that drastically differ from the way he currently sees the world, which is influenced by a nonstop stream of fearmongering propaganda and a lack of perspective of what a world outside the town or city he grew up in actually looks like.

  • wildncrazyguy138
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    216 months ago

    I’m not right leaning, but I live in a right leaning area, and I think most all of us could stand a bit of time back in nature. So here’s what I would consider.

    • A hunting or fishing license and classes
    • A long weekend camping in the woods
    • A trip to a national park
    • Boat license lessons
    • A craft class at a local Uni, like welding or pottery. They’re usually pretty cheap and a lot of fun
    • A rafting trip

    Not knowing him at all nor what he likes, perhaps a guitar and guitar lessons. That’s something I truly enjoyed in my late teens/early 20s. Or tickets to a music show or comedian he likes.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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      46 months ago

      A hunting or fishing license and classes

      These are really educational, and I actually made a new friend at one, and I’m a middle-aged man.

    • Drusas
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      46 months ago

      I would advise against hunting, fishing, and boating. I’m part of that community and it’s mostly racist older men. You can find progressives like me, but most people he would encounter would just reinforce the kind of ideology you’re trying to steer him away from.

  • @LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world
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    215 months ago

    So, what makes you think he’s been taken in by fascist doctrine? Are we talking, “he thinks Dave Chapelle is funny and rolls his eyes at wokeness” or are we talking “defends hitler at the dinner table”? I ask just because I feel like some very liberal/leftist people can be pretty jumpy about things that are ultimately harmless. Additionally he might just be doing/saying things to act out and get a rise out of you. You’re not gonna fix that by making him read “white fragility” or something.

    As far as gifts go I agree with many others in suggesting something that will make him interact with other worldviews in the real world. Maybe you can get him into a hobby that is shared by people across many different socioeconomic backgrounds like basketball or martial arts or travel or something.

  • @Norin@lemmy.world
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    196 months ago

    Do you know if the doctrine he’s been taken in by is religious or secular in nature?

    I ask because I could recommend some books you could get him that just might get the kid to think a little harder about things.

    For context, I teach philosophy and religion for some community colleges and have been looking for ways to get these Gen Z alt right boys to quit the propaganda.

    While a lot of them seem to be lost causes, there are some who can be challenged to read outside their sphere, so long as what I give them isn’t too overtly “other.”

    Depending on what he’s into, there might be some authors who know how to talk to an oppositional reader.

    • @nomen_dubium@startrek.website
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      15 months ago

      i was going to mention some books too but then i saw the pink floyd answer and realised that would be far more likely to not end up sitting on a shelf :(

  • Endymion_Mallorn
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    196 months ago

    Start with video games. But try to make it a game that has couch co-op so your family can come together.

    • ivanafterall ☑️
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      46 months ago

      Local co-op Stardew Valley was a huge bonding thing for me and my kids. We also did a lot of Towerfall. Or something like It Takes Two, if it isn’t too on-the-nose.