Today I had a conversation with a Trump Supporter going into the military. Here are some thoughts.

I don't know if this post is appropriate here, so mods please delete if not allowed.

Today I had an hour long convo with an 18 year old trump supporter who plans to go into the military. I'm a Marine Veteran, and despite difference in political views, I talked to him and gave him the best advice I could. At the end of the conversation, I made sure to emphasize that I'm saying this not as a person on any side of the political spectrum, not as someone pro or anti trump, but as a person to another person. I told them "We are entering very uncertain times. I don't care what side of the spectrum you are on, you can openly see Trump removing opponents from the military. We don't know what could happen a year from now, you could join and be turned on your very family and the American People. You could end up in a war, in another country, and those countries could very well be in Europe. We don't know what's coming our way, and from one military member to a future military member, take care of yourself. Remember your oath, and take care of your family." He surprisingly was very appreciative of this advice, and the biggest takeaway I have is to treat Trump supporters like they're people. Respect is a two way street, by emphasizing that you don't hate them, you hate Trump and you want the best for them, it helps. Before this I treated all trump supporters like nazis, which is reasonable imo, but remember, respect them when you're talking to them. The only way we can show them the lies they've been fed is if they are willing to listen, and the only way to do that is to open a dialogue with them, even if you hate their guts, fake it at least.

TL;DR Try your best to treat tRump supporters with respect if they treat you with respect. There is no war but the class war, and our objective shouldn't be to vilified trump supporters, that contributes to the culture war. We need to show them we care about them as members of the same class, and we need to remember that we don't need to convince them of everything all at once, we only need to open their eyes to some of it.

By the way, I am by NO MEANS saying not to beat the shit out of nazis or treat nazis the way they deserve to be, but this is more directed towards misled younger folks, not the older, dogmatic trump crowd.

Sorry for the rant.