u/Itchy_Border2191

Some of you may remember my previous posts about my 30's nephew - the quick rundown is:

He lived with me for a few years in order to be closer to his job. He was a great roommate; *personally* we hadn't had any issues and got along great. In 2024, he started listening to right influencers, who'd once been gaming podcasters and I didn't know it, but he'd cast his vote for Trump.

It took till Inauguration for him to tell me, and I was crushed ~ he was like a son to me; where had I gone wrong!? Unfortunately, the MAGAverse had gotten to him pretty hard.

Some days, we tried to avoid politics, and other days, he tried using right-wing talking points on me, usually shutting me down with, "You just hate Trump, you have TDS!"

Finally, his paranoia levels got out-of-control; he thought immigrants were the cartels that were out to get him, and he moved back in with his parents to get away from them.

He wanted to get even further away and find employment again, so he decided to join the Air Force.

His FoxBrain had a final outburst;

https://www.reddit.com/r/FoxBrain/s/CdIEQPZO9J

And here we are today. I had heard that he had made a few calls home to his family, but there hadn't been any replies to my texts. There was always the possibility that he would move on and end this chapter in his life, with his crazy Aunt.

Thursday: a single image sent from his account of an Air Force challenge coin, no caption. Stunned, I had to check the account over and over in disbelief. Was this a greeting or a warning?

'Congratulations!' was all I texted back.

He text-replied he'd finished boot camp but couldn't talk, he was going to a baseball game. OK.

The next day, HE called ME and we talked all morning. His experiences, his struggles and his knowledge gained. His first impression was how diverse his 'flight' was (that's like his company), at how many different minorities there were, and half were female. Amongst them he was an average recruit, one of the team who sweated and survived.

Towards the end, they worked with AF mentors of Staff and Master Sgts. from all walks of life and locations. Nephew said, he had an Epiphany; this was where he could excell, and he had never felt that way before.

That was one call, and he's off to training school for a few more months. He'll have more chances to communicate and I hope I have more positive news to report.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1345500697336722/?mibextid=9drbnH&s=yWDuG2&fs=e

So, my nephew will be leaving for the Air Force in about a week, in the meantime, he's muted me.

We last spoke about a week ago since I've been helping him get his documents and paperwork in order. With boot camp and his training school, I probably won't hear from him again for another six months. Some of you warned me that his listening to that Chinese psuedo-professor wasn't going to bode well.

So, I tried to counter with the facts; such as, when my nephew said that the best technological universities in the world were ALL in China, I Googled it and sent him a link showing that they were located around the world.

He was also looking into trying to get stationed somewhere in Asia. (Not likely)

So, with such little time remaining, I was trying not to bring up anything political when suddenly he did.

We'd been talking about family stuff, like, what did he do for Mother's Day? ...when Nephew announces that the people with the highest IQ in the world are the Chinese. Plus, he absolutely insists that I check that on Chatgpt. Well, I don't have that app and I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole so, nephew sends me a link to a Reddit post with a map of IQ averages for each country, with China (of course) showing the highest. Now that I've seen this, nephew also has to point out that the lowest scores are in Africa.

Now, I know there's IQ, and then there's IQ, and what this chart said to me was that *the education system* varied from country to country, and some students learned how to take tests better than others. Nephew is affronted, "Look at the map! Look at the map!", he insists. Okay, I tell him, I'll fact-check it, but he demands that I check it on 'X'. Elon Musk's rightwing echo chamber is another app that I have no use for.

So, I tried logic; I said the USA scores are almost as high, and we have a diversity of people - we've just educated them. "No-no," he protests, "It's that China has a homogeneous race!"

Oh. Shit.

He proceeds to spout the first MAGA propaganda that I have ever heard; 'White people are the most prosecuted race in America because there are no holidays celebrating White culture.'

I was trying very, very, very hard to stay calm, while he's starting to babble and railroad me into not being able to speak. I persevered and pointed out that Octoberfest was a celebration of German culture which is White. Any European holiday was a celebration of being white. Nephew countered erroneously that American white people were not European. WTF!!!?

I swear, I'm not making this up.

That's where the communication stalled to a dead stop. How the Hell did MAGA make my Mexican nephew racist!? I've been riding with him when the police pulled him over for DWB Driving While Brown - his favorite comedian used to be David Chappelle!

(Mods, the following is not my POV, but MAGA talking points that I have heard and disagree with)

However, I do see why my nephew was trying to convince me that Africans have lower IQs. Just a few days later, the SCOTUS desecrated the Voting Rights Act, and what better way to get average citizens to accept that than to convince them that Blacks are too dumb to vote?

I had to get off the phone by then and told my nephew that I had to go and do research. He told me not to, and we left it at that.

I haven't heard from him since then. He doesn't respond to my texts. It could be six months, or I may never hear from him again.

😢