As someone who wasted most of 2016 trying to reach Trump supporters, right wingers,trolls, and general baddies let me save you a year

1. The average trump supporter/troll online is the way they are because something sucky happened to them and they've been provided social justice as a reason why.

Bad break up. Bad Job. Bad life. Someone sold them that it was people of color and now its the core of their life.

2. Professional trolls (youtubers, twitter etc.) are 100% aware that what they're saying is bullshit. Inciting nazis, sexists, and racists is just a job to them and they find it eternally boring to question whether or not they're hurting people

3. PseudoIntellectuals (the petersons, the intellectual dark web) are equally aware that they're full of shit BUT they're also aware how to play the larger system of academia and publishing. Without fail they are all trying to go legit and they hate their readers/listeners

4. What all of these people have in common is total self obsession.

Admitting that they lack information, education, empathy, ANYTHING is a nonstarter. The only possible way to reach them is through personal experience.

I've literally watched them "not understand" one number

is larger than another but if they have a gay best friend suddenly their world turns upside down.

This is part of the reason why its so important to include queer folx and POC in our stories.

The worst of us are only capable of empathy through exposure

So even if you feel like you can't argue.

If you feel like debate is useless and you're outnumbered by stupid.

You can share stories. You can shotgun blast the humanity of the dehumanized into the world and sometimes SOMETIMES...it will land