Honestly don’t know what to say to my Trumper parents; brother likely losing job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t you tell your father directly that he knowingly voted for a candidate who said he would do what he is now doing? It’s not a surprise. And tell your father you don’t have emotional bandwidth to make HIM feel better about it because you need that bandwidth to emotionally support your brother.

In future conversations you can use a shorthand: “this is what you voted for” and then get off the phone immediately.

This is good advice.

Do this OP.

[Anonymous]

OP, your parents voted for what they perceived to be the good of the country.

They are now worried it may lead to their son's job loss because he was doing work that paid well, but the taxpayers really do not need it.
Many people / families are in the same boat.
Many of the federal jobs are not really necessary unfortunately.
It's hard for me to dis-respect the people who voted against their own self-interest.

I would try to make contingency plans with them about supporting him financially while he looks for other work or makes plan to move out of the region.

[Anonymous]

Why are you letting his emotional stake up any of your time.

"Dad, this is what you voted for. It sucks for Brian and for every other federal worker getting unjustly fired by this clown. But this is what you chose. I honestly don't have patience or time for your upset. Call the White House to complain. Call your members of Congress."

[Anonymous]

My friend is going through this right now. Her Dad's a massive Trumper, she's a contractor, her husband a fed and they're both at risk for losing their jobs. My friend also had an ectopic pregnancy before her first was born. Her Dad doesn't care about any of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your parents voted for what they perceived to be the good of the country.

They are now worried it may lead to their son's job loss because he was doing work that paid well, but the taxpayers really do not need it.
Many people / families are in the same boat.
Many of the federal jobs are not really necessary unfortunately.
It's hard for me to dis-respect the people who voted against their own self-interest.

I would try to make contingency plans with them about supporting him financially while he looks for other work or makes plan to move out of the region.

You are deep in the cult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your parents voted for what they perceived to be the good of the country.

They are now worried it may lead to their son's job loss because he was doing work that paid well, but the taxpayers really do not need it.
Many people / families are in the same boat.
Many of the federal jobs are not really necessary unfortunately.
It's hard for me to dis-respect the people who voted against their own self-interest.

I would try to make contingency plans with them about supporting him financially while he looks for other work or makes plan to move out of the region.

You have no idea what the son’s job is — yet you’ve concluded, based on zero information, that “the taxpayers really do not need it “. That’s interesting, to say the least.

I’m curious. How do you feel about the millions of dollars that the taxpayers are already spending for Trump to play golf at his properties? Given your concerns about taxpayer’s needs, would you suggest that he play at military bases instead—like many previous presidents did?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your parents voted for what they perceived to be the good of the country.

They are now worried it may lead to their son's job loss because he was doing work that paid well, but the taxpayers really do not need it.
Many people / families are in the same boat.
Many of the federal jobs are not really necessary unfortunately.
It's hard for me to dis-respect the people who voted against their own self-interest.

I would try to make contingency plans with them about supporting him financially while he looks for other work or makes plan to move out of the region.

You have no idea what the son’s job is — yet you’ve concluded, based on zero information, that “the taxpayers really do not need it “. That’s interesting, to say the least.

I’m curious. How do you feel about the millions of dollars that the taxpayers are already spending for Trump to play golf at his properties? Given your concerns about taxpayer’s needs, would you suggest that he play at military bases instead—like many previous presidents did?

I don't have any input on where Trump should golf.

Our family is in the same boat, with one of us working for a government affiliated corpotation We did not vote for Trump, but have many friends that did, many of whom are feds / contractors or have feds in the family. Voting one's self-interest is not necessarily a strong indicator of having a moral fiber. It really it not.

However, there is a practical question on how your brother will support his family and his career trajectory. If your parents are normal people, they should be thinking about how to support their family member.

[Anonymous]

Same. Except I am at risk of losing my job before my brother bc and my parents aren’t worried about me bc he’s the son. My parents still haven’t admitted they were wrong for voting for Trump. It angers me every time they ask about my job. I can’t tell if they are truly concerned or curious in order to just hang up and celebrate to cut of waste and fraud.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry. I think there are lots of people in this situation. It is hard. I have a friend who is a fed, as is her husband. Her parents voted for Trump and they are now worried that they will both out of jobs. Her dad expressed sympathy about it and she kind of lost it on him. Which is understandable but not what she wants to do with her elderly parents. Things are such a mess and we (as a country) voted this in. It is hard to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your parents voted for what they perceived to be the good of the country.

They are now worried it may lead to their son's job loss because he was doing work that paid well, but the taxpayers really do not need it.
Many people / families are in the same boat.
Many of the federal jobs are not really necessary unfortunately.
It's hard for me to dis-respect the people who voted against their own self-interest.

I would try to make contingency plans with them about supporting him financially while he looks for other work or makes plan to move out of the region.

These jobs are actually necessary you moron.

[Anonymous]

It's 100% their fault, although that message seems less helpful than this one: "Sounds like you were lied to." Let them draw their own conclusions about the candidate they stupidly supported.

[Anonymous]

Honestly if you haven’t confronted them about the fact that they voted for this and caused it, you are a better person than me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm telling my relatives outright they've wished this on my family and that I hope not voting for a black woman was "worth" this to them. Because f them.

+1

OP, don't be a doormat and just tell them that they brought this on themselves. They should be apologizing big time to your brother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly if you haven’t confronted them about the fact that they voted for this and caused it, you are a better person than me.

OP here. I have confronted them. My dad and I have had two big fights over it. But honestly I don’t want our family to be divided in part because I know that is what Donald Trump and MAGA *want.* I know they want us to stop talking, understanding, caring for and respecting each other. I’ve made the case many times that this is not about Democrat vs. Republican, that this is about Trump/MAGA, which I consider to be a different entity from the Republican Party. But anyway, we’ve fought, and it doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t make either of us change our minds.

I don’t want to fight more, especially since my aunt—my Dad’s only sibling—died very recently, and I know that life is very short. But he and my mom know I’m angry and hold them accountable. I just don’t want all this to take over the limited time we have left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dad is going on and on about how worried he is; my brother is a fed and will likely be fired soon. Mom and Dad call and Dad especially goes on and on about how worried he is and how unfair it is and how HE is on pins and needles over this. I want to scream at them to keep their “worries” to themselves since they brought this on themselves. They voted for this! They went into a booth and chose this. And the only reason why they care at all is because it’s their son; they don’t care about the thousands upon thousands of other people who have been or will be unjustly fired. I honestly want nothing to do with them right now. I don’t know where to go from here. I don’t think I can get through one more phone call. I certainly am not inviting them to visit.

I came to an observation recently that I think explains MAGA thinking.

They don’t have make cause-effect connections. So when things happen in their life they don’t connect the dots to their prior actions or choices.

I think it’s supposed to be taught in school.

DP, and also dealing with similar parents. (I posted earlier that they can’t seem to imagine bad things affecting anyone at all if they personally are not affected.) The Fox News brainwashing has been characterizing every generation after theirs as a bunch of whiners and takers. My own parents earned every cent they have from the federal government, but they’re convinced that they did things the hard way. They’re sitting comfortably in retirement, traveling the world, and just sort of laughing and shrugging off what’s happening. Until their cruise ships are affected, they won’t care.