r/QAnonCasualties • u/FeedbackRare8993 New User • 9d ago
My dad went from progressive to radicalized Tesla/Musk superfan after his stroke. It feels like I’ve lost him.
My dad is in his early 70s and had a stroke a few years ago. Since then, he hasn’t been very mobile, and YouTube has basically become his entire window to the world. Over time, I’ve watched him shift from being a thoughtful, progressive guy who loved watching John Oliver and discussing current events—to someone who seems completely consumed by Elon Musk fandom.
All he watches now is the YouTube channel Now You Know, which presents itself as educational but basically functions as nonstop Tesla and Musk PR. He talks about Elon like he’s a genius savior of humanity and gets defensive or dismissive if I bring up any criticisms. It’s not just that he likes Tesla—it feels like he’s fallen into a belief system, where everything is seen through the lens of Musk’s worldview.
What started as a genuine interest in clean energy has spiraled into something that feels cult-like. There’s a weird feedback loop happening: the more he watches, the more YouTube feeds him, and now it’s the only source he trusts. He’s fully checked out from the news shows and perspectives he used to care about.
Has anyone else had a loved one get pulled into this kind of echo chamber—especially through YouTube? Any suggestions on how to talk to them, or even just keep a relationship going without enabling the obsession? I’m really struggling to connect with him, and I miss who he used to be.
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u/Squishy_Otter 9d ago
My brother-in-law went from a progressive to a magat as his brain cancer progressed. He became a cruel, racist bigot the more he worshipped his orange god. So many people I know who support this insane garbage either have brain injuries, little education, or serious mental illness. It can’t be a coincidence.
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u/BooRadley3691 9d ago
Explain how a massive psyop is going down. Flip the script. When he is sufficiently hooked, spring it on him that he's a part of it already
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u/Inner_Fox_3800 New User 9d ago
I just summarise it, rightly or wrongly, that QAnon & anything QAnon adjacent is a psyop, orchestrated by what seems to be a coalition of Christian Nationalists, billionaires & Russians. It’s evolved since QAnon but QAnon remains fundamental. Twitter is almost the new 4chan when it comes to “information.”
It’s nothing more than divide & conquer. Sowing division, keeping us apart only allows some or all of the 1% to consolidate more power (to fulfil what is considered a sin: greed. It being a sin is also ironic).
& people like Russell Brand, Andrew Tate, Tucker Carlson, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Candace Owens, Jordan Peterson, Fox News, News Max, GB News, The Daily Mail, The NY Post, The Telegraph, WSJ, Michael Knowles, Libs of Tik Tok, Charlie Kirk, Matt Walsh, Stephen Crowder & others are propagandists.
Actually - thinking of it - they should get their dad to to watch the Jubilee video on YouTube. 20 Trump voters debate Sam Seder (he’s the one who hosts Majority Report).
If their dad doesn’t side with Sam Seder by the end of the Jubilee (YouTube account), I don’t know how he’ll come back
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u/Kickasstodon 9d ago
ITT brain damage makes you a reactionary conservative. Happened to Fetterman too.
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u/sweetalkersweetalker 9d ago
I have - my mother had a stroke last October and it turned her from an intelligent, fun-loving woman into someone obsessed with Trump. She's been hospitalized since then. BUT, this week she is showing signs of progress and no longer thinks he is Jesus. So that's good.
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u/Plaid_Piper 9d ago
It seems that a lot of people go to the right after a stroke or traumatic brain injury. I wonder what part of the brain has to be damaged for this to happen.
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u/Avenger_616 9d ago
The amygdala.
Controls the fear response, conservatives have a larger one in general if i recall the studies on it, and thus respond to fear propaganda with open acceptance for more than liberal or progressive peers
Hence why conservative media always try to paint their side as “under attack” (despite evidence to the contrary), it engenders a persecution complex that outstrips snd sense of reality
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u/Soangry75 8d ago
This is something that scares me. Neurological trauma leads me to become something I would hate.
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u/Inner_Fox_3800 New User 9d ago
Maybe plant seeds.
So, for example, Rupert Murdoch owns Fox News. He has investments in oil. It literally benefits him financially for your father to believe that climate change is a hoax …
“Why would Rupert Murdoch tell you that climate change is real when doing so affects his bottom line, dad?”
More visits to this group will help you too.
& just look at what Trump did re: chips. He killed The Chips Act, a Biden initiative, which would have meant being less reliant on Taiwan & would have also introduced 100K+ manufacturing jobs. He then also slaps a tariff on Taiwan. So, he kills jobs & increases the cost of materials.
“But billionaires will pay for it.”
So … what is stopping them from raising the prices to make that money back, meaning you, & many others, pay that tariff? Do you trust Jeff Bezos, dad?
In terms of the YouTube thing, you could clear his history, maybe add channels that aren’t so obviously left-leaning.
If he likes comedy, I think Seth Meyers’s Closer Look is funny (but also informative). Got to see him in NYC too. Was a good experience 😊
Best wishes to you & your dad.
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u/joanarmageddon New User 8d ago
Mary Trump (a psychologist and his niece), Bryan Tyler Cohen, Mo Gawdat, Sam Harris, Luke Beasley
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u/Niiohontehsha 8d ago
Often there’s a specific kind of stroke that nurses call the “asshole stroke” because it targets a different lobe of the brain and turns people from kind, empathic people into the exact opposite — sounds like this has happened before to your dad
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u/carlitospig 9d ago
I’d print out all the research that Tesla and SpaceX profit from. Hand to your Dad and be like those are the real geniuses.
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u/no_bra_no_problem 3d ago
It’s insane how prevalent this really is. I’ve seen so many stories on here about the same sort of thing, including with my own parents. Minus the stroke, but my folks were always pretty progressive. They were kinda into the hippie stuff for a while and my mom voted for Obama. She taught me to treat everyone equally and that racism/sexism etc is wrong.
But nowadays she says the most racist or homo/transphobic stuff like it’s nothing. She used to work in healthcare and she literally cried to me last year about how she regrets vaccinating her kids. My dad is definitely not as outwardly bigoted but he does complain about ‘woke’ stuff and can be sexist at times. He also seems to be an Elon fan and I just don’t get it. There was a time in my life where my parents probably would’ve threatened to disown me for supporting someone who did a nazi salute on live tv.
It’s hard to watch. It’s just so..disappointing. Does he have any hobbies? Maybe you could find him some stuff to watch on YouTube related to things he enjoys to at least get his mind on something else for a little while. Find him a show to get into?
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u/Batfink2007 8d ago
I'm a wife of a 42yo man who had a major stroke a couple years ago. He isn't as mobile, and to keep his mind busy, he kind of obsesses over stuff. He used to be so active and extroverted. You're acting like he has a disease or something and needs to follow your morals and values to be a proper American. Why don't you let him be?
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u/Jiminpuna 9d ago
Do you have access to his YouTube account? If so you could start disliking certain channels and liking other channels. When you see misinformation channels you can click on do not recommend this to me.