Yes!

I lived in Stuttgart for 5 years, so everything you said about Germany rings true to me. It’s hard to come back to states and make sense of things after being there.

I have seen many other conversations with Trump supporters that echo exactly what you have experienced.

There’s a certain type of person that gets drawn to this demagoguery. To a large extent, it’s exactly the stereotype- those people we graduated high school with who failed to thrive. The ones who never left their small hometown, never went to college, never advanced past a low paying job, and yet believe they understand how everything works.

Then there is the person who refuses to take responsibility for their lives. The ones who made very poor decisions which resulted in broken relationships, multiple divorces, and estranged children, and rather than take ownership of their lives, they embraced evangelicalism — the absolute worst kind of religion that preaches authoritarianism, nationalism and encourages hate and divisiveness to achieve its own ends. It’s all a smoke screen to avoid dealing with one’s own life.

But it’s not just those people. I’ve seen doctors who claim that the pandemic is a hoax designed to derail Trump. That’s how far deep this runs.

All these people have a certain trait in common — they lack social and emotional intelligence.

Thus, there’s little chance that there’s anything anyone can say that could get them to think differently, so I consider it a waste of time to even engage with them.

The only answer is to defeat them. I’m done talking.

And then rebuild our society to teach empathy, and focus on mental health so that this never happens again.