As a lefty who received “gifts” from her conservative parents, let me suggest giving the gift separate from a major holiday. Something I wish my parents had done that could work as a gift of sorts for you would be to take your son out for coffee or breakfast. Nothing fancy, preferably not busy. Talk to them about why they think what they do. Don’t combat them, just try to understand. Ask them if they would be comfortable talking more after you’ve had time to think about what they said.
“Hey [child’s name], you know that we have strong beliefs about certain subjects. We feel we have good reasons to believe the things we do, but there are smart people in the world who disagree with us. You are a smart kid, and that is reflected in the way you look for answers to problems that the way you have been brought up to think hasn’t offered a solution for. It would mean the world to your mom and I to know out son better, what are some things you’ve thought deeply about recently?”
A Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn
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Normal gift, yes.
Love conquers all? This isn’t a Hallmark movie, yo. Have a chat after Xmas. If you have the presence of mind to see your kids supporting shit we literally fought wars over, you don’t pat them on the head and say “ah it’ll be fine”.
Be a good parent; talk to your kids.
Love will conquer all the hatred
Not only that, but the hatred on the right will consume them. Sit back, lay low, don’t participate and let the fools burn themselves. Opposition will only give them targets to blame for their failures.
Being conservative depends on you being fearful rather than empathic. The fast way to get people to turn from conservatism is promoting behavior that is focused on doing good for others and providing an environment where someone might not have as much external stressors triggering a fear response.
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.
Why is his political opinion important for a Christmas present? Just give him something he’d like.
And if all he wants for Christmas is an ethnically homogeneous fatherland?
Just stick to socks I say.
Just make sure they’re white.
A lot of people recommend anything, outdoors, hiking, camping, dirt bikes etc.
I want to say you have to be careful with those. As you can easily spiral into right wing, conspiracy theorist territory.
Youtube is very good at pushing that kind of content.
Maybe something about food, like cooking classes, or about traveling.
Edit: I developed my comment a bit more below. Hiking isn’t a right wing hobby per say. But here is the experience I had with youtube. If you start browsing video about camping and hiking. You will probably start browsing video about solo camping, then survivalism. Then youtube will try to push video about paranormal activities and conspiracies.
So the important part is cut down on social media.
I think a lot of right wing people are people who have travelled very little. If OP can afford it, maybe a trip somewhere with the family.
So hiking is fascist now?
Survivalist militias are, and guess who already has a history of going too far…
No no, it’s not really what I mean. Hiking is great, and everything that has to do with nature.
But I enjoy sometimes watching video about surviving in nature, bushcraft and youtube algorithm started pushing stuff about Paranormal shit, conspiracy things.
It might be true about anything. it’s juste something to keep in mind. Before pushing OP’s son to get a hunting or fishing license.
But clearly disconnecting from social media can help.
If you have to advise about hobbies, boardgaming is nice, rollerblading too.
You ought to edit your comment above because it reads like you’re telling people those things are dangerous.
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.
Bruges
That shithole?
It has beautiful alcoves, i hear.
How do you say, the “nooks and crannies.”
I concur. I noticed a lot of right wing people in the US never travel at all. They are only seeing and hearing information off of the Internet, colored by specific algorithms. If all you see of the world beyond your borders is through Fox news, you will have a skewed view.
Have him travel to another 1st world country, Europe, Japan or Canada, to see how people actually live there and there is nothing to fear.
Ideally, if you can afford it you can join him. I can wholeheartedly recommend a city like Antwerp, Copenhagen or Berlin for some history and also a relaxed atmosphere. If he’s more into nature the Norse fjords, the Greek coast, Ibiza (combines nature with partying) or the Swiss Alps are all amazing.
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.
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
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.
An education?
…a ballgag?
- Peter Kropotkin, The Conquest of Bread (1892)
- Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom (1982)
- Abdullah Öcalan, Democratic Confederalism (2011)
While those are cool books you’re not going to turn a facist kid leftist by gifting them anarchist books they aren’t ever going to want to read.
Especially when their radicalisation likely came from the instant gratification of social media.
They probably feel like the odd one out. Feelings of loneliness can often lead to this kind of radicalisation. You want to make the kid feel loved. Gifting them books from your ideology is pretty much the worst thing you could do (unless it’s some sort of “side gift”). Because it’s basically screaming “I’m not going to get you anything you want unless you change for me” — aka. I do not love you unconditionally, which a kid never wants to hear
I’m not joking or kidding or insincere. I actually don’t know what to do.
Get him something related to his interests. It’s weird to make Christmas political like this
Yeah, I’m not watching “why we need a war on Christmas” on YouTube. Sorry
This is totally valid. Fascism in this country is on extreme high. Especially in schools and other public places due to how the government uses propaganda at schools and banning everything related to being a good person.
I don’t know the situation so it’s hard to recommend anything besides education, remember that there human and make mistakes, don’t dictate but strongly suggest ways that what there learning is fundamentally wrong. I have no kids. But whatever happens remember there human. And being accepting and loving can go a long way.
It sounds like your question is not actually about what to get him for Christmas, but instead about how to cope with the situation and maintain a relationship with your son
My 1st thought as well
The article doesn’t mention this, so I am adding that you can also read that annotated version online for free at https://www.mein-kampf-edition.de/ (but only in German; not sure if there are annotated translations into other languages, I never checked because German is my first language).
Das Kapital
Start with video games. But try to make it a game that has couch co-op so your family can come together.
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.
