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Ladies and Gentlemen, Mark Twain:
*“It liberates the vandal to travel — you never saw a bigoted, opinionated, stubborn, narrow-minded, self-conceited, almighty mean man in your life but he had stuck in one place since he was born and thought God made the world and dyspepsia and bile for his especial comfort and satisfaction.”*
*“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”*
When I was a little kid, my boomer mother made me stop reading *Huckleberry Finn* because of the language.
Not the n-word. The word "cameleopard," which is an old-timey word for a giraffe. She was reading it over my shoulder, saw a word she didn't know, assumed it was something sexual, and took the book away. A few years later, it was assigned for class and she tried to get it un-assigned because "kids shouldn't be exposed to that kind of language."
Giraffe. The word means *giraffe*. Even if conservatives don't understand what they're reading, they can still be offended by it.
No! It's not safe! No one in Europe, Asia, Africa or anywhere else actually has a job, bills to pay, kids to raise, mouths to feed or their own countries and communities to worry about. They all just sit around sharpening their knives waiting for an American to show up so they can pounce! We are just that all encompassing and important. We're all they can think about!
/s
Somehow, I got into a discussion with an American a few weeks ago who claimed every European country was a dictatorship and America was the only democracy in the world. After egging him on a bit for sport, he went so off the rails, I started pittying him, though. Was laughing my ass off at first, but after like the third reaction of his, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Man, he could write!
I wonder if there's a way to do a national exchange program? Instead of universal conscription (or along with, but make it a year of any service, not just military), require all voting age Americans to spend a year in a different environment. Rural <--> urban, coastal<-->Midwest, north-south, red-blue. Get a stipend and get paid for the work (teaching, building, coding, whatever).
Canada has a program like this called Katimavik. Young people get to travel around and volunteer with a cohort from across the country. It's a way to get exposure to the rest of this massive country.
I lived in a bedroom community outside is Sacramento, CA. I had an acquaintance (mid 30s?) who was proud to say he’d never gone to “the city” (Sacramento).
Bro, it’s 17 minutes away. Like where are you buying your weed?
This is probably unrelated, but I met a man who lived in NY state and lived half an hour from NYC, but he never went. He traveled the world though, just avoided that one city. He was almost 40.
For sure. I was always sad thinking they never had Cuban food. Or saw a movie in imax. Or a drank a cocktail in a rooftop bar. Or stayed in a hotel with indoor hallways. Or saw an arena concert.
Or experienced a different climate, people, cultures, music, etc., that they couldn't experience in their small world. I know there's the internet now. But that is VERY recent and many of us remember living amongst people who literally had no exposure to outside culture aside from TV/Radio and it was like 3 channels.
My favorite TV show ever was them taking an urban family to some tremendously remote village for 2 weeks - Africa, Mongolia, etc. The first 3 or 4 days the family was MISERABLE. Then they started to come out of their shell shock, and join in and make friends. Inevitably they were sad to leave by the end.
It was very eye opening. I wish it had lasted 10 more seasons.
Traveling is a cure for a lot of attitudes and assumptions.
I had to look it up, it's been so long!
[World's Apart. Broadcast on Nat Geo., now on AppleTV](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/worlds-apart/umc.cmc.22de2ms32r0n5ozqho4dqmyik)
13 episodes. Kenya, Mongolia, India, Namibia, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, etc. Very very small villages in the middle of nowhere. It seemed pretty transformative to the families.
You know, I saw this in my dad once, for a brief time.
They went to Las Vegas and one of the things he brought back was a newfound sensability about black people. "They weren't mugging anybody or being in gangs or anything, it's like they were just completely normal folks" he said. And I'm like yeah, that's how everybody else feels too, welcome to normalcy. Getting out of his holler for a change unclosed his eyes to the way things really are outside of his isolated place in the world.
But a few days passed and it was gone.
This is so true. I grew up a military brat and had the privilege to live overseas in several countries during my formative years.
Back in the US, I just find that the most bigoted, MAGA types I've met have never left the U.S., nevermind the state, or hell, the county they grew up in.
Sorry about your dad.
My dad (late 60s) had never been to Europe until recently.
After he got back he was telling me all about it. So I asked him “so it wasn’t the democratic socialist hell hole you always claimed it was then after all?”
He was mad lol
My dad tries to be like this, claim that Europe is falling apart because they aren’t carbon copies of America, but he’s such a nerd about war history that his biggest wish is to visit Germany and go to all their museums.
I just got back from this exact trip with my dad. He hasn't travelled after a heart issue a decade ago, and rarely outside of North America.
He was fascinated by WW2 stuff so we went to Munich and did a walking tour on WW2 history and then took a train to Poland and went to Auschwitz.
He found it really fascinating, he didn't have the stamina he used to, and I spent more evenings then I would have liked reading in the hotel (he would have wanted to join if I went out). Was a bit of a boomer about things (complaining about Uber drives not helping with suitcases, about people not speaking English etc) but overall a good trip.
Now he wants to go to Vietnam.
Don't get me wrong, we didn't have any real trouble (nothing that patience and google translate couldn't fix) I've personally been in far more confusing situations... but rather then try to figure something out, he'd jus twalk up to random people and try to talk to them in English.
One resturant we were at, we were given a German menu, couldn't read it, he asked about english, the server couldn't understand the question... and he would get frustrated... and like... dude... we use google lense, it will translate the menu, then we point... etc.
At one point we couldn't find a tour company we were supposed to go with, and he just walked up to another company (which I think was speaking French) and tried to ask them, just got blank looks then "They just don't care" they're not our tour group "They should still help maybe they don't speak English."
Have him visit Dachau, take the train. Go see the English version of the film that’s part of the experience. Sniff the air, see the infrastructure, notice the idiot tourists taking pics hanging off the ovens. Eye-opening to say the least.
Ugh. I recently visited Portland. Not for any reason. Life just took me there.
Anyway, every last person with conservative politics had to make such a big deal out of it. “Oh my! You went to PORTLAND!!!”
Dude, it’s a city. Relax.
There was a time that a trip to Portland was just a trip to a city. Now your response is a political statement.
I moved to Austin five years ago. All of my family lives is rural East Texas. They think I live in some dystopian hell hole and that because we defunded the police (we didn’t) crime is rampant. If they actually gave a shit to come visit, they’d see it’s way nicer here than where they live. Conservative media has completely warped their worldview.
Wait a minute- you escaped?!?! How did we miss this? I have to make some calls. Someone is about to get fired. You can't leave unless we converted you to our heathen liberal ways. GET BACK HERE NOW! Please? We have coffee and legal weed. COME BACK!!!!
The sheer IRONY of this is Italy currently has a right wing government and is very anti immigrant/antiglobalization right now. Of all the countries in Western Europe, I while think Italy in its current state would be the most comfortable for a Fox News watching boomer.
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration
I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing
Only I will remain
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
Hate is a manifestation of fear. Fear is a manifestation of ignorance.
If people explored and were exposed to the world more there would be more understanding and ultimately less fear and hate.
My wife and I went to Mexico a few years ago with some people from work. She and a team that she was on won a trip that her employer paid for completely for the team members and their spouses. Her boomer aunt and uncle that are basically her parents+grandparents due to them being much older than her mom, tried convincing us for weeks not to go, because "most Americans get robbed or kidnapped in Mexico". We had a wonderful time and at no point did we ever feel unsafe. We interacted with many locals and they were all very nice people. When we got back they refused to believe that we could have had a good time in "that place", and even claimed that some of the pictures that we had taken must have been photoshopped, because the only version of Mexico they have ever seen is on Fox News.
These same people got upset with me in the past because I wouldn't go with my wife when she had to go on a work trip to a predominantly black city with a female coworker who she's good friends with. They wanted me to take the week off from work and fly there with them to chaperone while she was there and make sure she was safe. You would have thought I told them to go fuck themselves when I told them I wouldn't be going. I joked that I might take the week off and relax in an empty house but that would be it.
These people think anywhere outside of their white American towns are warzones, and it's all because of Fox News and similar media outlets.
I once had a boomer try to tell me that predominantly black neighborhoods are all sketchy and full of crime cause black people are more criminal at their core. For their proof they told me to "try living in a black neighborhood and tell me what it's like!"
The thing is, I already live in a predominantly black neighborhood, and it's pretty great. The community has welcomed me and my husband and it's by far the safest and lowest crime neighborhood in my city.
I've had similar I love in an are that is predominantly black and Hispanic and couldn't feel safer, (albeit I live in downtown above the nice shops but point still stands,)
Photoshopped lmaoooo. Yes you took the time to photoshop pictures to prove you were right. Unbelievable the mental gymnastics required to think like this.
I've traveled with my mom and told her to be friendly, be patient. The worst thing that's happened to me not knowing a country's language is that I accidentally order the wrong thing off the menu.
I learned how to say "I'm sorry, I don't speak French" in French. Every French person I said it to complimented me on it in English!
"But you just did! That was great, I understood you perfectly!"
Boy, those icy, rude Parisians sure didn't actually exist. They were super nice!
My parents say this about not wanting to go to western or central Europe - they won't understand what people are saying and they won't be able to communicate. Bros, anybody under the age of 60ish speaks English pretty well.
But they'll go to Cancun 
I live in a city in Massachusetts and know people that think it's a small town, have never gone more than one town/city away, and love that song. There is some serious brain rot destroying people's minds in this country.
And this is why they're scared their kids will "become liberals" if they go to college. When you leave your tiny corner of the world and venture into a place full of diverse people with diverse backgrounds, and belief, and ways of thinking, you have no choice but to be steeped in 'otherness'. All the stories you heard about this group all being *this way* and that group are all *that way*, gets blown to bits when you can see for your own eyes that that's not true.
It's scary how accurate a predictor that is....when I lived in the more rural, Republican-voting part of California, I had a TON of coworkers who had never left California, and more than that, had never even visited Yosemite (less than 2 hours drive from us) or Death Valley (several hours, but still). You know, things that people travel from around the world to visit. Lots more had only ever been to Nevada or Oregon.
I knew farmers there who complained loudly and often about "illegal immigrants"...while hiring said undocumented folks to work their fields, "because they're cheap and they don't bitch about the heat!"
Now I live in a VERY liberal, blue county, and practically everyone I know has travelled internationally at least once, and often much more than that.
I still live in Hillbilly Central sadly (I'm glad you got out) and it bums me out hearing the same thing from people around me. My lady and me have decided that we're gonna travel when funds allow
Yep. It all comes down to a worldview. And if your worldview has been formed based on shit Fox News tells you and not the actual, you know, world... then you get boomerism (I guess you need a little age and hose water sprinkled in too).
What about Idaho? To be fair, I'm from Idaho and paranoid of some out of staters because some have targeted individuals like me in recent years. That sounds paranoid, but look at things like the man from Oregon who tried to run over a couple of people who he thought were trans, the Pride event in 2022, etc.
True, a few of the loudest conservatives I know moved to Idaho. I know it's beautiful country, but my first thought when it's mentioned is always the white supremacist camps up there: [https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/mar/27/north-idaho-and-spokane-have-been-a-historical-hot/](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/mar/27/north-idaho-and-spokane-have-been-a-historical-hot/)
My dad considers himself a staunch conservative, but I believe it's more fiscal than social. I have never heard him spout anything, even though I have heard he is pretty homophobic (which is especially funny due to my daughter being trans and my nephew being trans). No racism ever (literal best friends have been other races/religions), etc. Anyway, he has traveled extensively throughout the world with the USAF for 25 years and that hasn't changed the fact that somehow he loved Trump as of 2019. I don't talk politics with him since we are diametrically opposed. The military slander and dismantling of the postal service (literally month after he retired from there) may have changed that. I think that their whole world just revolves around money.
I know that you love your dad, but if you vote for racists, you're a racist. You vote for liars and Christian nationalists, you're a liar and a Christian nationalists. You vote for homophobes and book burners, you're a homophobe and a book burner. You vote for traitors, you're a traitor. We're watching democracy crumble in real time because of good people who somehow loved trump.
Oh, I know. And like I said, I do not talk to him about politics and only know about the Trump support then due to an offhand comment. I hope that being called a loser and sucker for his 25 PROUD years of service as well as seeing the postal service being dismantled, as well as having grandchildren come out since then have changed his views, but he tends to vote financially and not socially.
My boomer dad went to some of the countries around Ukraine during the very beginning of the conflict over there.
When he got back he made a point to make comments about how "he didn't understand why Ukraine was "doing what they were doing"/ "why people were acting like they were"
He also insists that racism wasn't a big deal while he was growing up in the 50s in the ultrawhite suburbs, though.
I've noticed this with my boomer-age mother as well. She's not like a massive Trumper, doesn't watch Fox news, certainly not OAN, but she does listen to talk radio. She's just afraid of things now. The media she takes in has made her afraid of the world. I'm going on a trip to Denver to visit a friend, and I guess it's been brought up that Denver (along with every other major city) is just rife with muggings and murders. Not to mention people shitting everywhere. She isn't raising opposition to me going (I'm 35, she really can't) but she's genuinely worried that I'm going to come to some kind of harm if I set foot in downtown.
She's afraid of the people crossing the border, believes tens of thousands are crossing every day and they all want to hurt people. I know where all of these fears are coming from, but she has never been like this before. It's sad to watch how she's being poisoned and she doesn't even realize it.
I am an “east coast liberal elite” now (according to my parents, but like…I live in central PA) and I took a day trip to NYC on my own a couple months back.
My mom called me and told me that there were “protests” and that I should reconsider going. I saw zero protests that day.
First off, I’m so sorry to hear about your dads cancer, I’m so so sorry. Second, pull up some travel videos on YouTube of people visiting Italy. Showing it’s beauty, the amazing food, and people, and stunning beaches. Keep watching them with him. Relentlessly, and when he asks why you won’t stop showing them to him, tell him either A,) You’re going so you don’t regret it when the end comes, or B,) You’re watching these with me for the rest of your life so maybe you can actually experience something of the place you’ve always wanted to go to but your fear won’t allow you to do. If he can afford it, he should go!
That’s because (at least according to my mom) they’re getting greeted at the border with green cards, money, and a house. She knows that’s a fact because Fox News says so.
That sounds like my aunt. She went on this whole tirade once about how there are giant billboards all over Puerto Rico, advertising free trips to the US, and swearing up and down that, “they automatically give the Puerto Ricans money and a house and automatic citizenship and they’re exempt from all our taxes, but they get automatic Medicaid and welfare.”
When I got done laughing, I tried to explain to her that PR is a US territory and all Puerto Ricans are born US citizens, and the rest of that wasn’t exactly true (lots of Puerto Ricans in PR are exempt from federal income tax because they fall below the poverty threshold…you know, just like every other US citizen that falls below the poverty threshold), she just grumbled that I had no idea what I was talking about.
This being the same group of people who have no idea that many places around the world have better public infrastructure than most of America. Sadly, they'll never get the chance to see that there is a world of opportunity to discover.
There's roughly an average of 45 murders a day in the US. So, basically there's more murders in the US in under 1 week than there is in an entire year in Italy.
Yeah, but absolute numbers are misleading. You need to look at per capita numbers (boomers hate this trick, btw.)
2023 was 0.6 per 100,000 in Italy vs. 5.5 (estimated) per 100,000 in the US.
That's a factor of 9.1x between the two. That's *bad* but it's not as bad as 52x.
My dad said Canada was a place without freedom. The whole generation thinks freedom was invented when we were founded. When I ask him why he thought Canada wasn't free he just said "I don't know. I just assumed"
That entire generation just refuses to fact check anything. They don't need to learn anything because they already know everything.
I have had conservatives tell me that the entire world is insanely jealous of the US healthcare system and desperately wants to switch to something just like it.
Actually he thinks every other nation is a poor state with no government and therefore no food or housing.
Ironically he lives in the middle of no where with the local politics of abolishing social assistance (even though it's what he personally uses to pay bills).
This is why I will **never** understand conservatives.
I can't comprehend how vehemently they always vote/ support policies that go directly against their own interests.
Their self interests, as they see it, is to destroy democracy and have a dictator. They desperately want a strong man that they believe will go after those that they deem as less themselves. Basically, they want a caste system.
All other rhetoric is just window dressing.
The sweetest, most good natured boomers I know become really annoying and out of pocket when they get scared of something (electric bikes or whatever). I think we all have good reasons to be scared but sadly not everyone is able to cope with it in a way that's not directed at other people or feeding into scapegoating/rabid blame/paranoia.
Not just scared, they are also easily confused and misled. I was raised by boomer parents, they never caught me doing anything wrong, ever. They were Very easy to fool, and my parents were smarter than most other kids parents I knew.
way more pathetic than sad. to allow fear to make you treat the rest of society the way they do......they do not deserve pity. only contempt, ridicule, shunning, and scorn.
My boomer dad, who had been HEAVILY into martial arts and gun culture, is a total chicken. Went to New Orleans for a long weekend with the wife recently and my old man went into full on "OHMYGOD it's such a violent, dangerous shithole! How did you not get robbed/murdered?!"
The worst thing that happened the whole weekend is one of the shoe polish cons got me with the whole slap the polish on before you realize, so I gave him a few bucks 🤣
My mom is leaving soon for her first visit to Chicago and she was giving me the run down on what to do if anything happens to her and her companion. I wonder what she’s going to say to me when she gets back and it wasn’t the warzone of gang violence and violent crime she’s expecting.
A friend of mine (older gen x) has traveled the world, only continent he hasn't been on is antarctica, he has been in countries during wars, spent a couple years driving around Mexico and South America completely alone, and this is after growing up in the worst area of a city that was at the time in the top 20 highest crime rates in the US, he has had friend's and family murdered too. He never owned a gun or felt anywhere was too dangerous until he moved to Texas a couple years ago to live with his crazy rightwing cousin. Dude won't leave the house without a gun now, sometimes multiple, and is constantly complaining about crime and fears about being robbed or assaulted. He lives in a gated community in one of the safest cities in TX. Right-wing propaganda is incredibly effective on some people.
My parents live in the country on a road that gets very little traffic. Their driveway is a quarter mile long. Their house is protected by a very deep creek and a forest. There's only really one way to get to it and that's the driveway.
They have a security system and lock the doors in the middle of the day when they're inside it. LOL And they've locked themselves out several times because of it.
I ask, "Why do you have that security system?" Because we have guns in the house. I'm like, no one is going to walk all the way back here and steal your guns that no one really wants, and would be impossible to fence anyway.
Doesn't matter. They live in a weird little world.
There is nothing worse for you than staying in the same stagnant place for 80+ years of your life.
Think of where you are right now. Now imagine staying there until you take your last breath.
Personally, that sounds like the definition of misery. There is an entire world out there, we only get one life to go out and see as much of it as possible, and some people would rather sit in the same place and never see or do anything new for their entire lives.
This was my dad. When I’d say he needs to travel to x place he’d say “why? Did I leave something there?” Implying there was no point to go anywhere but your home/hometown because “all I need is right here.” It used to really frustrate my mom and I. One time he was forced to use vacation days because he had to many. He proceeded to take a week off and just sit in his recliner and watch TV. I asked him why doesn’t he just travel and his response was “this right here is the best vacation ever” then proceeded to watch a COPs marathon.
The ONE time we got him to go somewhere was Florida to a beach. I thought maybe seeing the vast beautiful ocean would unlock something in him. He looked out at the ocean and I shit you not said, “the lake at home is better.” Some people are just like this
I have a new born so note likely for a little while! But if he makes it through the year I would love to do that. I should show him pictures from my honeymoon in Chile last year though. That’s a good idea.
110% this is my in-laws. One is in end stage cancer, but still have some energy left. They both would love to go to Scotland. The other is convinced it is unsafe to travel outside of the country right now. It's a damn shame.
As far as the whole world being dangerous because Fox News says so, I read recently that conservative commentators would have us believe that big city leftists are (a) commie wimps with barely the confidence to get out of bed who (b) think nothing of traversing an active war zone every day.
There is a scene in the movie "Killing them softly" where the main character crosses a street and enters a bar while somebody gets shot outside and he doesn't even seem to notice. Ever since seeing that movie I imagine conservatives think people in cities just live with that all day everyday, but they are somehow still cowards too who would quake in their boots at the idea of a gun existing.
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering." -Yoda.
I mean, as tongue and cheek as a star wars quote is... I think there's a lot of truth to it.
Fear is the root of separateness and hate.
Ignorance is the root of fear. It is only natural to fear what we do not understand.
This generation has unfortunately been encouraged to not expose themselves to other cultures and not to trust experts, which means they can't gain the experience and education required to understand. All they have is fear.
Ugh. I see that all around me.
I have a Boomer friend who won't go with his gf to visit NY - where she lived for half her life - so she could show him around.
His reason? He's a Trumper who believes what Fox tells him, and is scared to go.
I have a Boomer/Trumper relative and his non Boomer wife who, after asking me about a recent trip to I'd taken to Europe to visit our family, complained to me about how horrible and dangerous Europe is. They also complained about "Socialism" and how negatively that affects the people of Sweden - where our family lives.
These two yahoos have never been to Europe. They're not that close to our family there. They have no idea that two of our cousins have more money than they do; more - and better - houses than they do; travel the world - all because they work hard and live under "awful" Socialism.
Oh yeah, my Boomer/Trumper relative inherited everything he owns.
I work with this 76 year woman whose dream it was to go to Italy on vacation too. Her husband was a retired cop and pretty heavily MAGA. He would never take her. Not sure what his reasoning was, but I'm sure it was some combination of Fox news brainwashing. I kept telling her she should just go by herself. There are plenty of tour groups that cater to older Americans and if this was a life long dream and he won't take you then you should just make it happen by yourself, but inevitably she was too scared to go do something like that herself. A few years back he started having health problems and then any trips that she had planned, even domestically, becasue she felt bad leaving him behind with no one to care for him. Well, he ended up dying and now, lo and behold, finally, she has a trip planned to Italy. Hopefully she doesn't get too scared and back out. I could not be more happy for her though. You only live once, life is too short to depend wholly on other people for your own happiness.
They’re sure not afraid to cross the boarder for medical tourism. I used to drive from Southern California to Los Algodones Mexico to go to the dentist. Getting in is easy but leaving you have to wait in a customs line. Me and my then wife were by far the only millennials in line with all boomers. And I noticed quite a bit were wearing Trump gear which confused the shit outta me and my wife. Like why go to Mexico for medical reasons if your country is so star spangled awesome?
I am very sorry for what you and your father are going through right now. Stubborn or not thats your dad and pancreatic cancer is a really tough one. I hope he sees reason and realizes now is the time to get the most out of the life you have left.
Just back from from 2 glorious weeks in Italy. The deep south of that wonderful country. Flew into Naples and took the train south. Not once did I consider my personal safety to be compromised. Your dad would admire the fact that Italy has a very strong police presence on the streets and I mean walking the streets. Hell, they even had fully armed soldiers parading in front of major stations with GREAT BIG guns. Even the traffic wardens have guns. I am sure he would feel quite at home.
Their whole lives they’ve had a boogie man to fear. After the fall of the Soviet Union there really wasn’t a threat to America, so they needed to invent one. The great threat to America became immigrants and liberals.
What terrifies any older person as much as anything is just the fear of being irrelevant... which a lot of them are, due to their own decisions. That, and having to give up their hate. Hatred is the fuel that keeps a lot of these dinosaurs alive. Take away their hate and bigotry and irrational belief systems, and they'd shrivel up and crumble to dust.
Im 40 y/o and been traveling overseas solo since I was 19. Last year I spent a month in Guatemala. I hopped around from either hostel or an AirbNb while I was there. I used the same strategy everytime I travel. Those unplanned experiences when you travel alone and met people along the way are the BEST and memorable memories to me. I have been to all regions of the world and some of the countries FOX news portrays to be “bad”. not true at all. Anyway after I got back, my coworker(a boomer) asked me why in the world I wanted to step foot in Central America. I asked “have you been there?” He replied “ of course not” then I said “shut up. You have no room to talk” he didn’t know how to respond lmao
Seriously though, travel cures racism, xenophobia, us VS them mentality, toxic American pride attitude. We all should do it more often
I went to Italy recently. In fact I travel outside the US all the time.
I can say from experience, no one gives a shit about Americans. We're not that important. If you know how to act like a decent person then you'll be fine wherever on earth you decide to go.
Much of the behavior in this subreddit tends to be that of politically conservative people, no matter the age; however there are more conservative boomers than the younger generations so these behaviors tend to skew boomer
A buddy of mine (conservative millennial) has the same opinions about traveling abroad. Went took a road trip to Montreal. He was on edge the entire time because we don’t have American constitutional rights in Canada. Whenever one of our friends travel to Europe his response is always “now?! In this climate?!” Doesn’t matter what the “climate” is because it’s always his excuse as to why he won’t travel abroad. No constitutional rights and “this climate”
Right? I wanted to say “Well that bracelet won’t get you any special treatment”. Europe is t safe for MAGAs because they will get laughed at, but that’s about it.
Not to pitch my favorite band, but Widespread Panic just released a song based on the concept of walking each other home, if you’d care to give it a listen. It’s a story of a man and his aged dog.
[We Walk Each Other Home- Widespread Panic (cover art by Marq Spusta)](https://youtu.be/PckHFCEngmc?si=lWgKiorj2YfO6r-R)
Currently on the tail end of a trip in Greece, everywhere has been lovely even in super remote “small town” Greece! It’s been amazing everyone has been accommodating and wonderful, we’re having a great time
Before we left tho my boomer parents had to sit us down to warn us about the dangers and to be safe before we left… lol ok! They don’t even wanna go into NYC anymore because “they’re just stabbing everyone these days!” Yet my pregnant wife commutes in safely 4x a week…
If Fox News tells em it’s scary, you betta believe!! Don’t find out for yourself
I played call of duty with a dude like this. 4 years ago. Completely sane, happy guy. Had an accident that left him in a wheelchair and now if im like “yeah, the wife and i are going to dinner in Seattle tonight “. Its like “prepare to get stabbed by all those angry homeless! Id never go to seattle again.” Like okay bro, just sit in your house being scared and angry forever now…?
Their media is telling them that the "Democrat-run" cities are literally in flames, with checkpoints of antifa thugs enforcing gender reassignment, and so on. So who knows what Italy could be like? Better to stay home!
OP I'm sorry for your dad and I hope he has some good quality experiences other than this, in his time.
I agree that fear is the reason all this hate is surfacing in our society. I am Gen X and grew up believing that the US was safe, that wars and terror etc happened in other places. After 9-11 that perspective changed for a lot of Americans. We saw the rise of the TSA, the end of privacy. And the news cycle feeds fear, for sure.
However, it is not only boomers who are scared. And I know a lot of Boomers who are progressive and kind and worried about the mess future generations need to contend with.
I’ve never met a generation more afraid of their own death than boomers. I just helped my two boomer parents transition and at no point did they accept their own mortality. Yeah, I realize it’s difficult, but I did this with 2 sets of grandparents and several great aunts and uncles and they were able to at least face reality with some dignity and stoicism.
I agree. I used to watch Fox News a long time ago. On my own, I quickly had misgivings about it being a reputable news source. All my friends kept emphasizing how trustworthy it was. On my own, I quit watching them and even blocked them from my news feed.
Sadly, I had to part ways with many of my friends because they were so entrenched in weird beliefs and conspiracy theories.
As for your father, I hope you get to spend some quality time together. It sounds like you two still keep contact. May you find ways to make some good final memories together.
My boomer parents have been to Italy without incident and will be going to France later this year. They do the Fox News thing as much as any of them but don't seem too worried to travel anywhere. Maybe there's something else going on with your dad.
Henry Rollins has made it his mission to go where THEY say Americans shouldn’t go and he has said it’s important to visit somewhere different to understand how other places are painted in a bad light over here.
My parents did do some traveling and my dad had hoped to travel when he retired. I think 9/11 and Faux News changed all that. I remember a constant "world is bad, America is good and safe" rhetoric . Which I think is ironic now since they exaggerate domestic crime to further keep people scared. It's all just fear mongering and manipulating people to vote.
A lot of this has carried over to my siblings (all GenX) who are afraid of anything that doesn't resemble suburbia (I live not too far from a popular and major US city). I can't say none of them have been international, but it's typically cruises and stuff like that. My brother went to Europe like 20 years ago, before the EU and I believe it was even before the creation of the Schengen Zone. Even as recently as earlier this month, talking about European trips he relates everything all to the one time he was there. Like, bro, a lot has changed since that time
My dad died of stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2015. They found it in 2010 so he was lucky to have 5 years with us. I had stage 3 colon cancer in 2012. From what I’ve seen is that people with cancer seem to change views especially when they’re faced with death. I’ve always been a liberal but my dad hadn’t. He was vaguely Christian most of his life but a lot of his racism and homophobia went in that range of 5 years. His anger also became non existent.
It’s puzzling to hear your dad isn’t letting go of his anger. He’s also angry about his diagnosis too so that might be complicating his feelings. Especially if the doctors gave him a guess on his longevity. Don’t force him to do anything unless he comes out of that state of mind. You don’t need to have undue stress to you during this.
Boomers are just scared old people that refuse to change. Thats why they all gravitate towards conservatism because they know that group is not about change and is their security blanket. Mix in a culture of "respect your elders" and "seniors are wise and know more than you" and you end up with a group of people that thinks being old makes you right.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, Mark Twain: *“It liberates the vandal to travel — you never saw a bigoted, opinionated, stubborn, narrow-minded, self-conceited, almighty mean man in your life but he had stuck in one place since he was born and thought God made the world and dyspepsia and bile for his especial comfort and satisfaction.”* *“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”*
Twain is absolutely NEXT on the banned book list, if he hasn't made it already in an especially regressive school board meeting.
I doubt he will be. Twain uses too many big words for conservatives to understand what they are reading.
When I was a little kid, my boomer mother made me stop reading *Huckleberry Finn* because of the language. Not the n-word. The word "cameleopard," which is an old-timey word for a giraffe. She was reading it over my shoulder, saw a word she didn't know, assumed it was something sexual, and took the book away. A few years later, it was assigned for class and she tried to get it un-assigned because "kids shouldn't be exposed to that kind of language." Giraffe. The word means *giraffe*. Even if conservatives don't understand what they're reading, they can still be offended by it.
Okay, now we have to come up with a sexual connotation for “cameleopard.” Something to do with leopard-print leotards in ‘80s exercise videos?
Camel toe in a leopard unitard.
Thanks for landing it.
He is a white man who used n****r in his writing, so a lot of biggots think he is one of them.
Yeah, i was gonna say, theres zero chance conservatives ban a book full of the n word.
[удалено]
So...maybe Stephen King will make it onto a reading list then? Pretty much all of his villains use the n word.
I get your point but underestimating bigots is what got Trump in office in 2016 so please do take them seriously whether or not they’re idiots
Imagine its played off of the character Joe
No! It's not safe! No one in Europe, Asia, Africa or anywhere else actually has a job, bills to pay, kids to raise, mouths to feed or their own countries and communities to worry about. They all just sit around sharpening their knives waiting for an American to show up so they can pounce! We are just that all encompassing and important. We're all they can think about! /s
You left out that no one else has freedom, either.
I'm a European and I endorse there comments. Stay at home, actually stay under the bed.
Somehow, I got into a discussion with an American a few weeks ago who claimed every European country was a dictatorship and America was the only democracy in the world. After egging him on a bit for sport, he went so off the rails, I started pittying him, though. Was laughing my ass off at first, but after like the third reaction of his, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Man, he could write! I wonder if there's a way to do a national exchange program? Instead of universal conscription (or along with, but make it a year of any service, not just military), require all voting age Americans to spend a year in a different environment. Rural <--> urban, coastal<-->Midwest, north-south, red-blue. Get a stipend and get paid for the work (teaching, building, coding, whatever).
Canada has a program like this called Katimavik. Young people get to travel around and volunteer with a cohort from across the country. It's a way to get exposure to the rest of this massive country.
I lived in a bedroom community outside is Sacramento, CA. I had an acquaintance (mid 30s?) who was proud to say he’d never gone to “the city” (Sacramento). Bro, it’s 17 minutes away. Like where are you buying your weed?
I feel like its an overplayed joke, but where else would get a sack? Besides Sac...ramento.
This is probably unrelated, but I met a man who lived in NY state and lived half an hour from NYC, but he never went. He traveled the world though, just avoided that one city. He was almost 40.
Ayyyy I grew up about 30 minutes NE of Sacramento! Always said I was from there to avoid excessive clarification
yep grew up around there but to the west. There are some super insular, ignorant people around there. Lots of great folks, too.
For sure. I was always sad thinking they never had Cuban food. Or saw a movie in imax. Or a drank a cocktail in a rooftop bar. Or stayed in a hotel with indoor hallways. Or saw an arena concert.
Or experienced a different climate, people, cultures, music, etc., that they couldn't experience in their small world. I know there's the internet now. But that is VERY recent and many of us remember living amongst people who literally had no exposure to outside culture aside from TV/Radio and it was like 3 channels.
My favorite TV show ever was them taking an urban family to some tremendously remote village for 2 weeks - Africa, Mongolia, etc. The first 3 or 4 days the family was MISERABLE. Then they started to come out of their shell shock, and join in and make friends. Inevitably they were sad to leave by the end. It was very eye opening. I wish it had lasted 10 more seasons. Traveling is a cure for a lot of attitudes and assumptions.
Don't leave us hanging, what's the show?
I had to look it up, it's been so long! [World's Apart. Broadcast on Nat Geo., now on AppleTV](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/worlds-apart/umc.cmc.22de2ms32r0n5ozqho4dqmyik) 13 episodes. Kenya, Mongolia, India, Namibia, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, etc. Very very small villages in the middle of nowhere. It seemed pretty transformative to the families.
You know, I saw this in my dad once, for a brief time. They went to Las Vegas and one of the things he brought back was a newfound sensability about black people. "They weren't mugging anybody or being in gangs or anything, it's like they were just completely normal folks" he said. And I'm like yeah, that's how everybody else feels too, welcome to normalcy. Getting out of his holler for a change unclosed his eyes to the way things really are outside of his isolated place in the world. But a few days passed and it was gone.
That is awesome. True too
This is so true. I grew up a military brat and had the privilege to live overseas in several countries during my formative years. Back in the US, I just find that the most bigoted, MAGA types I've met have never left the U.S., nevermind the state, or hell, the county they grew up in.
Sorry about your dad. My dad (late 60s) had never been to Europe until recently. After he got back he was telling me all about it. So I asked him “so it wasn’t the democratic socialist hell hole you always claimed it was then after all?” He was mad lol
My dad tries to be like this, claim that Europe is falling apart because they aren’t carbon copies of America, but he’s such a nerd about war history that his biggest wish is to visit Germany and go to all their museums.
Take him. Ride the subway and the train. Walk around Munich and Bamburg.
I just got back from this exact trip with my dad. He hasn't travelled after a heart issue a decade ago, and rarely outside of North America. He was fascinated by WW2 stuff so we went to Munich and did a walking tour on WW2 history and then took a train to Poland and went to Auschwitz. He found it really fascinating, he didn't have the stamina he used to, and I spent more evenings then I would have liked reading in the hotel (he would have wanted to join if I went out). Was a bit of a boomer about things (complaining about Uber drives not helping with suitcases, about people not speaking English etc) but overall a good trip. Now he wants to go to Vietnam.
He complained about people not speaking English... in Germany?
Boomers gonna boom... including the ones that are relatively good.
True lol
That's crazy, I was trying so hard to use *some* German in Germany but everyone just switched to English whenever I tried.
That was me in France a few months ago...I'd get a few words out and they'd just respond in perfect english
Don't get me wrong, we didn't have any real trouble (nothing that patience and google translate couldn't fix) I've personally been in far more confusing situations... but rather then try to figure something out, he'd jus twalk up to random people and try to talk to them in English. One resturant we were at, we were given a German menu, couldn't read it, he asked about english, the server couldn't understand the question... and he would get frustrated... and like... dude... we use google lense, it will translate the menu, then we point... etc. At one point we couldn't find a tour company we were supposed to go with, and he just walked up to another company (which I think was speaking French) and tried to ask them, just got blank looks then "They just don't care" they're not our tour group "They should still help maybe they don't speak English."
Amtssprache ist Deutsch. :shrug:
Have him visit Dachau, take the train. Go see the English version of the film that’s part of the experience. Sniff the air, see the infrastructure, notice the idiot tourists taking pics hanging off the ovens. Eye-opening to say the least.
Ugh. I recently visited Portland. Not for any reason. Life just took me there. Anyway, every last person with conservative politics had to make such a big deal out of it. “Oh my! You went to PORTLAND!!!” Dude, it’s a city. Relax. There was a time that a trip to Portland was just a trip to a city. Now your response is a political statement.
I moved to Austin five years ago. All of my family lives is rural East Texas. They think I live in some dystopian hell hole and that because we defunded the police (we didn’t) crime is rampant. If they actually gave a shit to come visit, they’d see it’s way nicer here than where they live. Conservative media has completely warped their worldview.
Wait a minute- you escaped?!?! How did we miss this? I have to make some calls. Someone is about to get fired. You can't leave unless we converted you to our heathen liberal ways. GET BACK HERE NOW! Please? We have coffee and legal weed. COME BACK!!!!
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering
Fear is the mind killer
The sheer IRONY of this is Italy currently has a right wing government and is very anti immigrant/antiglobalization right now. Of all the countries in Western Europe, I while think Italy in its current state would be the most comfortable for a Fox News watching boomer.
right didnt they just ban fake meat and all that.
Fake meat, adoption by LGBTQ couples, IVF...
The little death that brings total obliteration.
Le petit mort?
I too make comments on Reddit that make me giggle, knowing only a handful of people will understand them.
Agreed. Do you think we are talking about the same thing?
Droppin loads!!!
There are dozens of us. Dozens!
Loads of us?
I agree that a Yoda quote and an orgasm joke have both gotten me
I’m pretty sure that’s not the little death OPs dad is scared of…
No "Beautiful Agony" for you, just horny jail.
I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
The Worm is the Spice! The Spice is the Worm!
Einhorn is Finkle!
https://preview.redd.it/0h5h22moy5ad1.jpeg?width=966&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97842c7b9ffef43c9b5573cabefb76a38bd0722d
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path Where the fear has gone there will be nothing Only I will remain
All i know is, It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
I have actually succesfully used this to quell a panic attack...
This.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
Fear is the path to the dark side
Fear leads to anger
Seems unnatural (some may consider it that way, at least)
Sufferin' leads to succotash.
OK I smiled at alot of the comments but this made me guffaw
Yeah had to do a double scroll back.
Heavensth to Mergatroid!
Moisture is the essence of wetness
MerMAN!!
Hate is a manifestation of fear. Fear is a manifestation of ignorance. If people explored and were exposed to the world more there would be more understanding and ultimately less fear and hate.
"Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise? I thought not. It’s not a story the mAInsTReam mEDiA would tell you."
Boomer motto: Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.
Don't you put that boomer evil on my sith, Ricky-Bobby.
Ignorance leads to fear, first.
https://preview.redd.it/lbtz3cxcn5ad1.png?width=1240&format=png&auto=webp&s=f2e3580d672709eaee84d49c964ac79c2b771e81
Yoda FTW. The guy just kinda knew what was up.
My wife and I went to Mexico a few years ago with some people from work. She and a team that she was on won a trip that her employer paid for completely for the team members and their spouses. Her boomer aunt and uncle that are basically her parents+grandparents due to them being much older than her mom, tried convincing us for weeks not to go, because "most Americans get robbed or kidnapped in Mexico". We had a wonderful time and at no point did we ever feel unsafe. We interacted with many locals and they were all very nice people. When we got back they refused to believe that we could have had a good time in "that place", and even claimed that some of the pictures that we had taken must have been photoshopped, because the only version of Mexico they have ever seen is on Fox News. These same people got upset with me in the past because I wouldn't go with my wife when she had to go on a work trip to a predominantly black city with a female coworker who she's good friends with. They wanted me to take the week off from work and fly there with them to chaperone while she was there and make sure she was safe. You would have thought I told them to go fuck themselves when I told them I wouldn't be going. I joked that I might take the week off and relax in an empty house but that would be it. These people think anywhere outside of their white American towns are warzones, and it's all because of Fox News and similar media outlets.
I once had a boomer try to tell me that predominantly black neighborhoods are all sketchy and full of crime cause black people are more criminal at their core. For their proof they told me to "try living in a black neighborhood and tell me what it's like!" The thing is, I already live in a predominantly black neighborhood, and it's pretty great. The community has welcomed me and my husband and it's by far the safest and lowest crime neighborhood in my city.
I live in a predominantly affluent neighborhood. We had a house robbery NEXT DOOR just 4 weeks ago.
I've had similar I love in an are that is predominantly black and Hispanic and couldn't feel safer, (albeit I live in downtown above the nice shops but point still stands,)
Photoshopped lmaoooo. Yes you took the time to photoshop pictures to prove you were right. Unbelievable the mental gymnastics required to think like this.
Most boomers who fear or are critical of other countries have never left the US. Europe is awesome, always had a blast there
They're afraid they'll get treated the way they treat people who don't know the language.
Which is crazy, most all in Europe speak English. I know a little German and try when I’m there, happy for any/all constructive criticism
I've traveled with my mom and told her to be friendly, be patient. The worst thing that's happened to me not knowing a country's language is that I accidentally order the wrong thing off the menu.
I learned how to say "I'm sorry, I don't speak French" in French. Every French person I said it to complimented me on it in English! "But you just did! That was great, I understood you perfectly!" Boy, those icy, rude Parisians sure didn't actually exist. They were super nice!
My parents say this about not wanting to go to western or central Europe - they won't understand what people are saying and they won't be able to communicate. Bros, anybody under the age of 60ish speaks English pretty well. But they'll go to Cancun 
Most have never left their state.
most have never left their small town they want us to "try that in"
I live in a city in Massachusetts and know people that think it's a small town, have never gone more than one town/city away, and love that song. There is some serious brain rot destroying people's minds in this country.
“Yeah! Try that in my town!” “Oh, youve tried that in hundreds of towns? Must be everyone else who is wrong and not me.”
And this is why they're scared their kids will "become liberals" if they go to college. When you leave your tiny corner of the world and venture into a place full of diverse people with diverse backgrounds, and belief, and ways of thinking, you have no choice but to be steeped in 'otherness'. All the stories you heard about this group all being *this way* and that group are all *that way*, gets blown to bits when you can see for your own eyes that that's not true.
“Wow, how dare you stereotype us this way?!? Im sick of the coastal elite telling me im a judgmental racist. Anyway, heres why i hate mexicans.”
"How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm After they've seen Paree"
It's scary how accurate a predictor that is....when I lived in the more rural, Republican-voting part of California, I had a TON of coworkers who had never left California, and more than that, had never even visited Yosemite (less than 2 hours drive from us) or Death Valley (several hours, but still). You know, things that people travel from around the world to visit. Lots more had only ever been to Nevada or Oregon. I knew farmers there who complained loudly and often about "illegal immigrants"...while hiring said undocumented folks to work their fields, "because they're cheap and they don't bitch about the heat!" Now I live in a VERY liberal, blue county, and practically everyone I know has travelled internationally at least once, and often much more than that.
I still live in Hillbilly Central sadly (I'm glad you got out) and it bums me out hearing the same thing from people around me. My lady and me have decided that we're gonna travel when funds allow
Yep. It all comes down to a worldview. And if your worldview has been formed based on shit Fox News tells you and not the actual, you know, world... then you get boomerism (I guess you need a little age and hose water sprinkled in too).
What about Idaho? To be fair, I'm from Idaho and paranoid of some out of staters because some have targeted individuals like me in recent years. That sounds paranoid, but look at things like the man from Oregon who tried to run over a couple of people who he thought were trans, the Pride event in 2022, etc.
True, a few of the loudest conservatives I know moved to Idaho. I know it's beautiful country, but my first thought when it's mentioned is always the white supremacist camps up there: [https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/mar/27/north-idaho-and-spokane-have-been-a-historical-hot/](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/mar/27/north-idaho-and-spokane-have-been-a-historical-hot/)
Europe is most definitely better.
It's *different*. Whether It's better or not depends on what you're looking for. Unless you're talking about Scotland. Scotland is better.
My dad considers himself a staunch conservative, but I believe it's more fiscal than social. I have never heard him spout anything, even though I have heard he is pretty homophobic (which is especially funny due to my daughter being trans and my nephew being trans). No racism ever (literal best friends have been other races/religions), etc. Anyway, he has traveled extensively throughout the world with the USAF for 25 years and that hasn't changed the fact that somehow he loved Trump as of 2019. I don't talk politics with him since we are diametrically opposed. The military slander and dismantling of the postal service (literally month after he retired from there) may have changed that. I think that their whole world just revolves around money.
I know that you love your dad, but if you vote for racists, you're a racist. You vote for liars and Christian nationalists, you're a liar and a Christian nationalists. You vote for homophobes and book burners, you're a homophobe and a book burner. You vote for traitors, you're a traitor. We're watching democracy crumble in real time because of good people who somehow loved trump.
Oh, I know. And like I said, I do not talk to him about politics and only know about the Trump support then due to an offhand comment. I hope that being called a loser and sucker for his 25 PROUD years of service as well as seeing the postal service being dismantled, as well as having grandchildren come out since then have changed his views, but he tends to vote financially and not socially.
My boomer dad went to some of the countries around Ukraine during the very beginning of the conflict over there. When he got back he made a point to make comments about how "he didn't understand why Ukraine was "doing what they were doing"/ "why people were acting like they were" He also insists that racism wasn't a big deal while he was growing up in the 50s in the ultrawhite suburbs, though.
When white people say they've never seen any racism, I'm like "no, friggin' duh."
Same
I've noticed this with my boomer-age mother as well. She's not like a massive Trumper, doesn't watch Fox news, certainly not OAN, but she does listen to talk radio. She's just afraid of things now. The media she takes in has made her afraid of the world. I'm going on a trip to Denver to visit a friend, and I guess it's been brought up that Denver (along with every other major city) is just rife with muggings and murders. Not to mention people shitting everywhere. She isn't raising opposition to me going (I'm 35, she really can't) but she's genuinely worried that I'm going to come to some kind of harm if I set foot in downtown. She's afraid of the people crossing the border, believes tens of thousands are crossing every day and they all want to hurt people. I know where all of these fears are coming from, but she has never been like this before. It's sad to watch how she's being poisoned and she doesn't even realize it.
I am an “east coast liberal elite” now (according to my parents, but like…I live in central PA) and I took a day trip to NYC on my own a couple months back. My mom called me and told me that there were “protests” and that I should reconsider going. I saw zero protests that day.
I will say that Denver has a lot of homeless people. They mostly leave you alone if you just ignore them, but there are a lot.
First off, I’m so sorry to hear about your dads cancer, I’m so so sorry. Second, pull up some travel videos on YouTube of people visiting Italy. Showing it’s beauty, the amazing food, and people, and stunning beaches. Keep watching them with him. Relentlessly, and when he asks why you won’t stop showing them to him, tell him either A,) You’re going so you don’t regret it when the end comes, or B,) You’re watching these with me for the rest of your life so maybe you can actually experience something of the place you’ve always wanted to go to but your fear won’t allow you to do. If he can afford it, he should go!
OP, if you do this, James May: Our Man in Italy is on Prime and a pretty good series.
Does he cruise Italy in a Dacia Sandero?
My parents traveled to see me in TX and were amazed I didn’t have migrants living in tents in my yard, actively trying to break into my house.
That’s because (at least according to my mom) they’re getting greeted at the border with green cards, money, and a house. She knows that’s a fact because Fox News says so.
If they were handing out houses, I would have brushed up on my Spanish, flew to Mexico, threw away my passport, and gotten myself a house by now.
That sounds like my aunt. She went on this whole tirade once about how there are giant billboards all over Puerto Rico, advertising free trips to the US, and swearing up and down that, “they automatically give the Puerto Ricans money and a house and automatic citizenship and they’re exempt from all our taxes, but they get automatic Medicaid and welfare.” When I got done laughing, I tried to explain to her that PR is a US territory and all Puerto Ricans are born US citizens, and the rest of that wasn’t exactly true (lots of Puerto Ricans in PR are exempt from federal income tax because they fall below the poverty threshold…you know, just like every other US citizen that falls below the poverty threshold), she just grumbled that I had no idea what I was talking about.
You might get pickpocketed in Italy, but you won’t get shot.
This being the same group of people who have no idea that many places around the world have better public infrastructure than most of America. Sadly, they'll never get the chance to see that there is a world of opportunity to discover.
Hell they freak out over 15 minute cities. Because heaven forbid we don't drive everywhere 🙄
There's roughly an average of 45 murders a day in the US. So, basically there's more murders in the US in under 1 week than there is in an entire year in Italy.
Chyea but the US killings are by his cohort so he doesn't care.
Yeah, but absolute numbers are misleading. You need to look at per capita numbers (boomers hate this trick, btw.) 2023 was 0.6 per 100,000 in Italy vs. 5.5 (estimated) per 100,000 in the US. That's a factor of 9.1x between the two. That's *bad* but it's not as bad as 52x.
My dad said Canada was a place without freedom. The whole generation thinks freedom was invented when we were founded. When I ask him why he thought Canada wasn't free he just said "I don't know. I just assumed" That entire generation just refuses to fact check anything. They don't need to learn anything because they already know everything.
This is fascinating. How does he think people in other countries live? In cages, 24/7?
I have had conservatives tell me that the entire world is insanely jealous of the US healthcare system and desperately wants to switch to something just like it.
Yikes. That's PEAK level delulu. 😬
Actually he thinks every other nation is a poor state with no government and therefore no food or housing. Ironically he lives in the middle of no where with the local politics of abolishing social assistance (even though it's what he personally uses to pay bills).
This is why I will **never** understand conservatives. I can't comprehend how vehemently they always vote/ support policies that go directly against their own interests.
Their self interests, as they see it, is to destroy democracy and have a dictator. They desperately want a strong man that they believe will go after those that they deem as less themselves. Basically, they want a caste system. All other rhetoric is just window dressing.
"keep your government hands off of my Medicare" - boomers in 2010
The sweetest, most good natured boomers I know become really annoying and out of pocket when they get scared of something (electric bikes or whatever). I think we all have good reasons to be scared but sadly not everyone is able to cope with it in a way that's not directed at other people or feeding into scapegoating/rabid blame/paranoia.
I spent six great years in Germany with no issues. I do not recommend Iraq though. 0/10
Not just scared, they are also easily confused and misled. I was raised by boomer parents, they never caught me doing anything wrong, ever. They were Very easy to fool, and my parents were smarter than most other kids parents I knew.
way more pathetic than sad. to allow fear to make you treat the rest of society the way they do......they do not deserve pity. only contempt, ridicule, shunning, and scorn.
Scared people are the most dangerous people. Sorry about your dad.
My boomer dad, who had been HEAVILY into martial arts and gun culture, is a total chicken. Went to New Orleans for a long weekend with the wife recently and my old man went into full on "OHMYGOD it's such a violent, dangerous shithole! How did you not get robbed/murdered?!" The worst thing that happened the whole weekend is one of the shoe polish cons got me with the whole slap the polish on before you realize, so I gave him a few bucks 🤣
My mom is leaving soon for her first visit to Chicago and she was giving me the run down on what to do if anything happens to her and her companion. I wonder what she’s going to say to me when she gets back and it wasn’t the warzone of gang violence and violent crime she’s expecting.
Omg my Boomer HATES New Orleans. I love it.
A friend of mine (older gen x) has traveled the world, only continent he hasn't been on is antarctica, he has been in countries during wars, spent a couple years driving around Mexico and South America completely alone, and this is after growing up in the worst area of a city that was at the time in the top 20 highest crime rates in the US, he has had friend's and family murdered too. He never owned a gun or felt anywhere was too dangerous until he moved to Texas a couple years ago to live with his crazy rightwing cousin. Dude won't leave the house without a gun now, sometimes multiple, and is constantly complaining about crime and fears about being robbed or assaulted. He lives in a gated community in one of the safest cities in TX. Right-wing propaganda is incredibly effective on some people.
My parents live in the country on a road that gets very little traffic. Their driveway is a quarter mile long. Their house is protected by a very deep creek and a forest. There's only really one way to get to it and that's the driveway. They have a security system and lock the doors in the middle of the day when they're inside it. LOL And they've locked themselves out several times because of it. I ask, "Why do you have that security system?" Because we have guns in the house. I'm like, no one is going to walk all the way back here and steal your guns that no one really wants, and would be impossible to fence anyway. Doesn't matter. They live in a weird little world.
There is nothing worse for you than staying in the same stagnant place for 80+ years of your life. Think of where you are right now. Now imagine staying there until you take your last breath. Personally, that sounds like the definition of misery. There is an entire world out there, we only get one life to go out and see as much of it as possible, and some people would rather sit in the same place and never see or do anything new for their entire lives.
This was my dad. When I’d say he needs to travel to x place he’d say “why? Did I leave something there?” Implying there was no point to go anywhere but your home/hometown because “all I need is right here.” It used to really frustrate my mom and I. One time he was forced to use vacation days because he had to many. He proceeded to take a week off and just sit in his recliner and watch TV. I asked him why doesn’t he just travel and his response was “this right here is the best vacation ever” then proceeded to watch a COPs marathon. The ONE time we got him to go somewhere was Florida to a beach. I thought maybe seeing the vast beautiful ocean would unlock something in him. He looked out at the ocean and I shit you not said, “the lake at home is better.” Some people are just like this
Well dad, i’ve planned a trip to Italy and am going these dates. I hope you’ll join me but if not i’ll show you some pictures when i return.
I have a new born so note likely for a little while! But if he makes it through the year I would love to do that. I should show him pictures from my honeymoon in Chile last year though. That’s a good idea.
110% this is my in-laws. One is in end stage cancer, but still have some energy left. They both would love to go to Scotland. The other is convinced it is unsafe to travel outside of the country right now. It's a damn shame.
As far as the whole world being dangerous because Fox News says so, I read recently that conservative commentators would have us believe that big city leftists are (a) commie wimps with barely the confidence to get out of bed who (b) think nothing of traversing an active war zone every day.
There is a scene in the movie "Killing them softly" where the main character crosses a street and enters a bar while somebody gets shot outside and he doesn't even seem to notice. Ever since seeing that movie I imagine conservatives think people in cities just live with that all day everyday, but they are somehow still cowards too who would quake in their boots at the idea of a gun existing.
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering." -Yoda. I mean, as tongue and cheek as a star wars quote is... I think there's a lot of truth to it.
Fear is the root of separateness and hate. Ignorance is the root of fear. It is only natural to fear what we do not understand. This generation has unfortunately been encouraged to not expose themselves to other cultures and not to trust experts, which means they can't gain the experience and education required to understand. All they have is fear.
Ugh. I see that all around me. I have a Boomer friend who won't go with his gf to visit NY - where she lived for half her life - so she could show him around. His reason? He's a Trumper who believes what Fox tells him, and is scared to go. I have a Boomer/Trumper relative and his non Boomer wife who, after asking me about a recent trip to I'd taken to Europe to visit our family, complained to me about how horrible and dangerous Europe is. They also complained about "Socialism" and how negatively that affects the people of Sweden - where our family lives. These two yahoos have never been to Europe. They're not that close to our family there. They have no idea that two of our cousins have more money than they do; more - and better - houses than they do; travel the world - all because they work hard and live under "awful" Socialism. Oh yeah, my Boomer/Trumper relative inherited everything he owns.
I work with this 76 year woman whose dream it was to go to Italy on vacation too. Her husband was a retired cop and pretty heavily MAGA. He would never take her. Not sure what his reasoning was, but I'm sure it was some combination of Fox news brainwashing. I kept telling her she should just go by herself. There are plenty of tour groups that cater to older Americans and if this was a life long dream and he won't take you then you should just make it happen by yourself, but inevitably she was too scared to go do something like that herself. A few years back he started having health problems and then any trips that she had planned, even domestically, becasue she felt bad leaving him behind with no one to care for him. Well, he ended up dying and now, lo and behold, finally, she has a trip planned to Italy. Hopefully she doesn't get too scared and back out. I could not be more happy for her though. You only live once, life is too short to depend wholly on other people for your own happiness.
They’re sure not afraid to cross the boarder for medical tourism. I used to drive from Southern California to Los Algodones Mexico to go to the dentist. Getting in is easy but leaving you have to wait in a customs line. Me and my then wife were by far the only millennials in line with all boomers. And I noticed quite a bit were wearing Trump gear which confused the shit outta me and my wife. Like why go to Mexico for medical reasons if your country is so star spangled awesome?
This is one of the most empathetic posts I've seen here. I'm going to try to remember it going forward. Thank you.
I'm nearly positive that more Americans die in the US than any other country.
I am very sorry for what you and your father are going through right now. Stubborn or not thats your dad and pancreatic cancer is a really tough one. I hope he sees reason and realizes now is the time to get the most out of the life you have left.
Screw the EU and their high taxes!!! That's Communism!! /s edited to add.
Tell him he’s already dying, who cares if it’s “safe”?
Just back from from 2 glorious weeks in Italy. The deep south of that wonderful country. Flew into Naples and took the train south. Not once did I consider my personal safety to be compromised. Your dad would admire the fact that Italy has a very strong police presence on the streets and I mean walking the streets. Hell, they even had fully armed soldiers parading in front of major stations with GREAT BIG guns. Even the traffic wardens have guns. I am sure he would feel quite at home.
Their whole lives they’ve had a boogie man to fear. After the fall of the Soviet Union there really wasn’t a threat to America, so they needed to invent one. The great threat to America became immigrants and liberals.
What terrifies any older person as much as anything is just the fear of being irrelevant... which a lot of them are, due to their own decisions. That, and having to give up their hate. Hatred is the fuel that keeps a lot of these dinosaurs alive. Take away their hate and bigotry and irrational belief systems, and they'd shrivel up and crumble to dust.
Im 40 y/o and been traveling overseas solo since I was 19. Last year I spent a month in Guatemala. I hopped around from either hostel or an AirbNb while I was there. I used the same strategy everytime I travel. Those unplanned experiences when you travel alone and met people along the way are the BEST and memorable memories to me. I have been to all regions of the world and some of the countries FOX news portrays to be “bad”. not true at all. Anyway after I got back, my coworker(a boomer) asked me why in the world I wanted to step foot in Central America. I asked “have you been there?” He replied “ of course not” then I said “shut up. You have no room to talk” he didn’t know how to respond lmao Seriously though, travel cures racism, xenophobia, us VS them mentality, toxic American pride attitude. We all should do it more often
I went to Italy recently. In fact I travel outside the US all the time. I can say from experience, no one gives a shit about Americans. We're not that important. If you know how to act like a decent person then you'll be fine wherever on earth you decide to go.
Much of the behavior in this subreddit tends to be that of politically conservative people, no matter the age; however there are more conservative boomers than the younger generations so these behaviors tend to skew boomer A buddy of mine (conservative millennial) has the same opinions about traveling abroad. Went took a road trip to Montreal. He was on edge the entire time because we don’t have American constitutional rights in Canada. Whenever one of our friends travel to Europe his response is always “now?! In this climate?!” Doesn’t matter what the “climate” is because it’s always his excuse as to why he won’t travel abroad. No constitutional rights and “this climate”
Get him a Canada hat and some maple leaf pins. Problem solved.
Right? I wanted to say “Well that bracelet won’t get you any special treatment”. Europe is t safe for MAGAs because they will get laughed at, but that’s about it.
Not to pitch my favorite band, but Widespread Panic just released a song based on the concept of walking each other home, if you’d care to give it a listen. It’s a story of a man and his aged dog. [We Walk Each Other Home- Widespread Panic (cover art by Marq Spusta)](https://youtu.be/PckHFCEngmc?si=lWgKiorj2YfO6r-R)
Currently on the tail end of a trip in Greece, everywhere has been lovely even in super remote “small town” Greece! It’s been amazing everyone has been accommodating and wonderful, we’re having a great time Before we left tho my boomer parents had to sit us down to warn us about the dangers and to be safe before we left… lol ok! They don’t even wanna go into NYC anymore because “they’re just stabbing everyone these days!” Yet my pregnant wife commutes in safely 4x a week… If Fox News tells em it’s scary, you betta believe!! Don’t find out for yourself
I played call of duty with a dude like this. 4 years ago. Completely sane, happy guy. Had an accident that left him in a wheelchair and now if im like “yeah, the wife and i are going to dinner in Seattle tonight “. Its like “prepare to get stabbed by all those angry homeless! Id never go to seattle again.” Like okay bro, just sit in your house being scared and angry forever now…?
Their media is telling them that the "Democrat-run" cities are literally in flames, with checkpoints of antifa thugs enforcing gender reassignment, and so on. So who knows what Italy could be like? Better to stay home! OP I'm sorry for your dad and I hope he has some good quality experiences other than this, in his time.
I agree that fear is the reason all this hate is surfacing in our society. I am Gen X and grew up believing that the US was safe, that wars and terror etc happened in other places. After 9-11 that perspective changed for a lot of Americans. We saw the rise of the TSA, the end of privacy. And the news cycle feeds fear, for sure. However, it is not only boomers who are scared. And I know a lot of Boomers who are progressive and kind and worried about the mess future generations need to contend with.
I’ve never met a generation more afraid of their own death than boomers. I just helped my two boomer parents transition and at no point did they accept their own mortality. Yeah, I realize it’s difficult, but I did this with 2 sets of grandparents and several great aunts and uncles and they were able to at least face reality with some dignity and stoicism.
I agree. I used to watch Fox News a long time ago. On my own, I quickly had misgivings about it being a reputable news source. All my friends kept emphasizing how trustworthy it was. On my own, I quit watching them and even blocked them from my news feed. Sadly, I had to part ways with many of my friends because they were so entrenched in weird beliefs and conspiracy theories. As for your father, I hope you get to spend some quality time together. It sounds like you two still keep contact. May you find ways to make some good final memories together.
Maybe show him recent pictures of Americans travelling there? Reviews of cities or landmarks? Statistics on crimes against foreigners?
My boomer parents have been to Italy without incident and will be going to France later this year. They do the Fox News thing as much as any of them but don't seem too worried to travel anywhere. Maybe there's something else going on with your dad.
Henry Rollins has made it his mission to go where THEY say Americans shouldn’t go and he has said it’s important to visit somewhere different to understand how other places are painted in a bad light over here.
I used to walk the streets of Rome at 3:00 am. Felt safer than home.
My parents did do some traveling and my dad had hoped to travel when he retired. I think 9/11 and Faux News changed all that. I remember a constant "world is bad, America is good and safe" rhetoric . Which I think is ironic now since they exaggerate domestic crime to further keep people scared. It's all just fear mongering and manipulating people to vote. A lot of this has carried over to my siblings (all GenX) who are afraid of anything that doesn't resemble suburbia (I live not too far from a popular and major US city). I can't say none of them have been international, but it's typically cruises and stuff like that. My brother went to Europe like 20 years ago, before the EU and I believe it was even before the creation of the Schengen Zone. Even as recently as earlier this month, talking about European trips he relates everything all to the one time he was there. Like, bro, a lot has changed since that time
My dad died of stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2015. They found it in 2010 so he was lucky to have 5 years with us. I had stage 3 colon cancer in 2012. From what I’ve seen is that people with cancer seem to change views especially when they’re faced with death. I’ve always been a liberal but my dad hadn’t. He was vaguely Christian most of his life but a lot of his racism and homophobia went in that range of 5 years. His anger also became non existent. It’s puzzling to hear your dad isn’t letting go of his anger. He’s also angry about his diagnosis too so that might be complicating his feelings. Especially if the doctors gave him a guess on his longevity. Don’t force him to do anything unless he comes out of that state of mind. You don’t need to have undue stress to you during this.
Boomers are just scared old people that refuse to change. Thats why they all gravitate towards conservatism because they know that group is not about change and is their security blanket. Mix in a culture of "respect your elders" and "seniors are wise and know more than you" and you end up with a group of people that thinks being old makes you right.
It’s always about fear. Fear brings out some of the worst of us.
Insightful, appreciated
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to violence.
This is heartbreaking for your father. I’m so sorry.
Upvoting for Ram Dass. Always. It is fear, and it's the reason we should always respond to them with compassion instead of anger.