I’ve had several conversations/arguments recently with my brother making clear my system of values and my hatred for the wealthy. He is nearly diametrically opposed on all accounts and often makes light of their actions. He goes so far as to say that poor people and people in need of social services should have to figure things out for themselves. He often defends Elon Musk and champions him for being self made.
He is getting married in a foreign country soon and I have been able to put aside our differences and have been planning on going
…up until yesterday that is. I asked him of his thoughts on Musk’s seig heil maneuver and he sent a right wing meme of democratic leaders caught mid wave, saying that “they did it first”. He continued to be avoidant and didn’t respond to me calling it a strawman.
In this moment it feels necessary to cancel my plans to send a message that this is not ok. Am I the (or an) asshole for not going to his wedding because of this?
No don’t you get what I’m saying? Let’s say my acquaintance Jim is a Nazi. I, mistakenly, think he is not a Nazi. Someone calls Jim a Nazi and I say, “no, Jim’s cool, he’s not like that”. That would make me WRONG. It would not make me a NAZI. People get fooled all the time, a fact everyone in this thread seems to be forgetting, and that fallibility applies just as much to Musk’s accusers as his defenders.