Seth, I loved this. I had the same struggles as a teenager (closeted, in denial) and I come from a very conservative household despite my surroundings. I'm a bit older than you so the peak of my teenage conservatism was 2015-2016, at the start of the Trump era. I regarded him as nothing more than a sideshow and social liberal, I was a loyal Brietbart reader and enemy of radical SJWs (I will admit, "woke" rolls off the tongue much easier). What broke me out of it was really my APUSH class that I was in at the time of the election. My class was 50/50 cons and libs, and my teacher was very open to letting us debate within barriers. Slowly I realized the contradictions in my personal life and political beliefs, and by the time I graduated high school I was pretty centrist. I wound up further left in college working through policy and on campaigns with some of my closest friends.
I am sure this is a common experience for many, which just goes to show how there is probably a significant portion of young people (particularly men) who have fallen down a conservative rabbit hole. It’s sad to see and hard to figure out what can start to shift their minds. My brother was the same way, except I’m not really sure what his motivation towards the left was. Online spaces are so dangerous for young people who are easily influenced, especially those in conservative households.
Seth, I loved this. I had the same struggles as a teenager (closeted, in denial) and I come from a very conservative household despite my surroundings. I'm a bit older than you so the peak of my teenage conservatism was 2015-2016, at the start of the Trump era. I regarded him as nothing more than a sideshow and social liberal, I was a loyal Brietbart reader and enemy of radical SJWs (I will admit, "woke" rolls off the tongue much easier). What broke me out of it was really my APUSH class that I was in at the time of the election. My class was 50/50 cons and libs, and my teacher was very open to letting us debate within barriers. Slowly I realized the contradictions in my personal life and political beliefs, and by the time I graduated high school I was pretty centrist. I wound up further left in college working through policy and on campaigns with some of my closest friends.
I am sure this is a common experience for many, which just goes to show how there is probably a significant portion of young people (particularly men) who have fallen down a conservative rabbit hole. It’s sad to see and hard to figure out what can start to shift their minds. My brother was the same way, except I’m not really sure what his motivation towards the left was. Online spaces are so dangerous for young people who are easily influenced, especially those in conservative households.