an email I just sent to a MAGA cousin of mine.

[cab67]

73. I'm not boasting.

I'm sharing a situation I actually find very distressing. But it reflects the times we live in.

Since the 1980's those on the political right have been encouraged not only to oppose our ideas, but to view us as un-American enemies. It started with AM talk radio, then to cable news, and then to the internet and social media. It's getting worse.

I wasn't even remotely happy to send this particular email. But at a certain point, a line has to be drawn. Family disputes over money probably date back to when "money" was parts of the animal you just speared, and family disputes over politics may be even older than that. But this is different - a lot of people have been bamboozled into voting against their own interests. I've tried for decades to help these people understand this, but their movement is now a cult more than a political party, and they're immune to advice.

Efforts to create dialogue are almost guaranteed to fail. I've seen this in the few students in my classes who've asked why I keep teaching "hoaxes" like climate change and evolution; being polite, trying to be sympathetic, and calmly explaining the evidence might have worked 15 or 20 years ago, but not so much now. These days, I'm likely to be accused of arrogance and condescension (or, as one student put it in an after-term evaluation, "arrogance and condensation" ) and not acknowledged for efforts to engage and explain.

So, no - no boast here. Only regret.