The Reason Harmful Ideologies Persist Is People Play With Kid Gloves.

Had a discussion with my coworker who brought up Hillary's comments about deprogramming a while back.They felt she should not of said that and should've used teach. They also felt that it's up to the person to change their ideologies and that all society should do is to teach them about other ideologies and let them decide their own beliefs. My coworker's belief throughout history from slave owing white supremacists to Nazis to modern day ideologies, is the problem; it is a kid glove solution. 

The reason why troublesome ideologies and beliefs persist is because people refuse to deprogram; instead valuing individualism and letting others decide if they want to get rid of their own harmful ideologies. There are two ways to eradicate ideologies. One is violent, the other is not. As a communist, I know that Marx, Engels, Lenin, and every one of their students understood this.

Solely presenting or explaining alternative perspectives will not eliminate deeply ingrained indoctrinated ideologies, as they can create strong emotional associations, cognitive biases, and rigid thinking patterns. Effective counter-indoctrination requires a comprehensive approach, incorporating psychotherapy, including critical thinking exercises, emotional regulation techniques, empathy-building activities, cognitive restructuring, and social support networks.

A combination of alternative perspectives, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and social influence can increase the likelihood of ideological change. Establishing trust, understanding motivations, presenting nuanced counter-narratives, fostering critical thinking, and providing social support are key steps. This approach acknowledges the complexity of indoctrination and seeks to replace harmful ideologies with new perspectives that foster new ideologies.

As long as we are afraid to take on the harmful ideologies, humanity will never rid itself of them. An enlightened people understand that sometimes giving people options is not an option. Criminals don't get options to avoid punishment and rehabilitation, society says they're getting one or both. Ideologies that harm humanity is not a punishable crime but if it's harming humanity, one must ask why is it not?

One can give the slippery slope reasoning but at the end of the day, the slippery slope reasoning is often an excuse to do nothing but protect the way things currently are, leading to a repetitive harmful cycle with those ideologies.

For those that still disagree, do you think the genocide of the Jews and WW2 against the Nazis still would've happened if we deprogrammed the Nazi ideology, or that the Nazis would've stopped if we hadn't used violence against their ideology, which was still half-assed?

When dealing with harmful ideologies, response must be proportionate. In extraordinary circumstances, where humanity's very existence is threatened, and all other options have been exhausted, the unthinkable might become a necessary evil as a final and last remaining ethical option. In such events, cognitive dissonance, moral absolutism, and ideological ridgity have no place.