Of course, it is commendable to believe in the good in people, and there are certainly those who are simply so gullible that they believe the mindless far-right propaganda despite all its obvious contradictions.

In this case however, which seems to me to be typical of the current behavior of many MAGA demagogues, I think that it is just a matter of pure selfishness, of self-preservation: the regime is losing credibility even among its loyal supporters because it is going too far with its criminal activities and its boundless greed. It seems only fitting to me that those opportunists who, like this lady, have loudly supported it for a long time are now trying to portray their support as a naive misstep. That’s also how it was before the Nazi regime was overthrown in Germany: suddenly, no one wanted to be a Nazi anymore because then, of course, they would have had to answer for all the crimes they had made possible or even participated in themselves.

Furthermore, I have no tolerance for intolerant people. I don’t think that’s a contradiction, because I believe that people’s freedom ends where it interferes with the lives of others. There must be good reasons for this – for example, when the actions of individuals pose a danger to the general public. Blind racism or intolerance towards minorities who simply want to live their lives cannot be such a reason. That’s why I have no sympathy for people who think it’s okay to impose their twisted worldview on others—I can’t muster any sympathy for them and want nothing to do with them, especially since it’s pointless to try to have a rational discussion with them, as this post shows (she lost friends and family just to support some hardliner party who couldn’t care less - and that is because she just would not see reason).

I realize, of course, that in the US in particular, due to the sheer number of deeply racist and poorly educated citizens, it is necessary to build bridges, but I still think that people like this woman or MTG should not be accommodated. The reason: with their ideology, from which they are unwilling to deviate, they are a danger to the general public, to democracy, and especially to the groups against which their blind hatred is directed.

It is simply impossible to work with people who are so deluded. I think it would be dangerous to respond to them with anything other than strict rejection, because that would only reinforce their unshakeable conviction that their ideology and inhuman actions are even remotely acceptable.

You are right, of course, that democracy requires discussion and a willingness to compromise, but that is not possible with this kind of MAGA cultists because they refuse to accept rational arguments. IMO this disqualifies them as discussion partners, since rationality is a fundamental prerequisite for reasonable, productive discourse and thus for any democratic process.

So I don’t think that strictly rejecting deluded extremists will lead to further extremism. Rather, I think that extremism can only be stopped by strictly excluding people like this woman from the discourse – anything else will only lead to the discourse sinking to their level, as has unfortunately long been the case not only in the US.

In short, I think we have tried long enough to keep extremists in check by treating them with understanding—this has led to the situation in which not only the US finds itself today. I don’t think we should keep this up.

Edit: By “these people,” I don’t mean conservative voters in general, but only demagogues like this woman, who poison the discourse with their loudly expressed hatred by spreading racist slogans and untruths instead of presenting arguments. I think the woman’s post, if it is genuine, says very clearly what kind of person she is.