Not the wisest decision to debate politics with your father-in-law in his house. According to my partner, he would have kicked me out if I wasn’t family.
Basically - very stubborn white man in his 60s. Travelled a lot in the Asia-Pacific for work most of his life.
I’m an Australian-born Chinese and I know NOW that nothing that comes out of my mouth will ever change his mind. I mean, he HAS said before that “China can never be trusted” so I have no idea why I thought I could have a sensible discussion with him.
He believes in the Tibet and HK crap. He believes NATO is a defensive alliance. He believes NATO is not led by the USA.
He believes the USA is not out to get Russia or China. He believes that Russia had no reason to invade Ukraine but that the USA was justified in being upset over Russian weapons in Cuba.
He believes that the USA, with their 800 military bases around the world, is merely “being prepared”, while China is stepping WAY out of line in the South China Sea.
He believes that the 2 main aggressors in the world are Russia and China. He believes the Australian mainstream media is telling the full truth and that independent journalists are crazy conspiracy theorists.
And because I challenged him on all the above, I’m apparently heading down a ‘dangerous’ path. You know the guy who shot tons of Muslims in New Zealand mosques a few years back? He actually used that as warning of how extreme I could become.
I give up. He can continue thinking that the white man is the noble saviour of the world. I’ll bet he strutted around Thailand, Indonesia and PNG feeling real good about himself.
I’ve learned that too many people just don’t have any room in their heads for a differing point of view or fact. They don’t WANT proof of this or that. Their truth gives them comfort. To challenge it would be to question their entire identity and would cause an existential crisis.
That’s why, to these people, the West MUST be the good guys.
The racism is deep-rooted. That’s at the bottom of it all.
I had to argue with my politics teacher a few weeks ago about the war in Ukraine. He said something similar to your father, that Russia had no justification, but no matter how much I show him evidence of Ukrainian war crimes ( I mean the bombardment of the Donbas people since 2014 ) and the Nazi problem he wouldn’t still continue ignoring it or say that these Nazis aren’t actually Nazis. My advice is to not talk about stuff like that at all, since no matter how much evidence you show him that the west ain’t the “good guys” he’ll continue to speak complete bs, no matter how much you try.
Yep, point taken. I won’t ever bother with challenging him again. Better stick to safe and agreeable nods and smiles. That’s all they seem to be able to handle, especially from a Chinese face. So much for the independent thinking and freedom of speech that he’s so proud of.
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