My son has gone on the march

[funkadelic]

Hi, have been on here years but only lurk, don’t post. But today is the day.
I am in bits. My 22yr old DS is in London on this march. I am shaking and utterly appalled. We differ on politics massively and have done for some time. I work in education, have travelled and am bit of a lefty hippy but to be honest it’s becoming more about values and morals. He is fully immersed in the manosphere algorithm and I’ve always thought he is exploring himself and things and have chats about why he has the opinions he does and try and understand his point of view. I try not to belittle him but try and get him to critically think about things.
But this I can’t deal with. I am so upset that my son has gone to this, and that it is something that is so far away from me and my values, something that I thought I had instilled in him as well.
I am totally aware that it’s triggered embarrassment but that is my issue and I’m not putting that on him. He is still my son and I love him and his passion and interest in the world, just in something I believe is so wrong and makes me sad.
Please talk some sense into me.

I take it all back. The march is about getting your boobs out.

That is what she means, yes?

And signs about Muslims.

Leftists: Ukraine is for the Ukrainians! It’s a sovereign nation. Let’s hang flags in solidarity! They’re fighting for their identity and culture! Look at Zelenskyy in his fatigues…

Also leftists: Aren’t those British flags disgusting and intolerant? If people want to come here via small boats, let them. The UK is for everyone. Urgh, toxic masculinity…

The OP is not forbidding her son to attend the march; she just feels upset about it.

What does your husband want to say that’s not allowed!

Moobs or boobs?!

No and there hasn't been hotel riots in Scotland,the one in my home city had 120 protesters out of a population of roughly 193000 adults.
These clowns are not the protectors of women and children.
The extreme far right use it as a vehicle as they've always done and they've been doing it for decades.

Thank you @CapriceDeDieux my hopes too. So much mis interpretation on my words at times here. One thing to explain, I didn’t mean my son’s pre frontal cortex has been rewired by this!! I was referring to the young brain. A teenager brain rewires up until the age of 25!! And that’s science.
ducks ready for flaming about ‘science’
I do not and never have wanted my sons to be carbon copies of me or my husband (who married to for 24 years and is on the fence about this but a good role model to our son and less emotional about things at times which is good.) I accept differing opinions and his concerns about the current immigration situation, my views are not ‘black and white’. What is my concern is him attending a march organised by Yaxley - Lennon potentially aligning himself with raciest and hate.
What I do need to do is find out more from him, we do have chats but I think some of you are right that I jump to him potentially being led off down a far right hate rabbit hole. My anxiety potentially. Politics to me is very separate to hate.
I can see as many conclusions on here been jumped to about the left as the right?

Trans, right?

What absolute bs. The OP simply knows the difference between right and wrong. Have you ever heard the term being on the right side of history? The citizens of 1930s/40s Germany believed that Hitlers views were right and the ones that didn't were afraid to speak up. The problem we have at moment is that the vast majority of the population don't have any memories of WW2 and the aftermath so the same old far right ideology is raising its ugly head again. It's terrifying.

The majority of protestors in our city were mostly from England, bussed in for the day.

Perhaps women of all and any ethnicity, nationality or race could choose with whom to enter relationships.

Yes, it is.

You both sound reasonable people. I think you should keep the routes of communication as open as possible. It sounds as if your message has had a positive effect.
I have heard some people say (online) that they want to attend the march because they believe that they are fighting for freedom of speech. Of course, some will simply be racists who want to remove all non white people from the UK.

Just watched the free speech rally on Sky News and it's a huge gathering but looked peaceful so far with lots of unity and flag waving. He will be fine.
You can't police his views though. I have different political views to my dad and also to my daughter. Would I stop them marching for their beliefs? Hell no. It is important to stand up for what you believe in.

do you think the million or so people at the march today are far right? Far right is trotted out all the time, to the extent it’s almost meaningless. It’s said to shut people
down. Of course the far right exists. Just as the far left exists.

But there has been a huge movement towards deliberate misinterpretation of facts. Charlie Kirk is a great example of this. Rewriting and reimagining and misquoting him, out of context.

I disagreed with many of his opinions but respected the way his devout Christian upbringing shaped him. And he always debated in a calm measured way. Since his death. the internet has spewed disgusting bile about him, taking clickbait quotes completely out of context to make cheap shots.

The first casualty of the culture war is the truth.

At least The Times have got it right!

Ah, Thankyou.your capacity for reasoned logic confirmed.

I recently travelled extensively outside the West and it was eye-opening, because it highlighted how much we sometimes exist in a bit of a bubble when it comes to political discourse.
Just one example is the time I shared a table with a young professional of Chinese heritage who had studied in the UK. He heard me speaking and English & struck up conversation.
I asked him if would ever like to come back to the UK to live.
Without hesitation he said no & stated his belief that the UK’s immigration policies are too lax, even physically pointing to himself “us, Chinese for example” and saying there should be more restrictions.
Conversations like this were fairly common, with people expressing views that, in the West, might be considered ‘controversial’, yet they were shared there without hesitation or fear of judgment.
I didn’t agree with all of them, but it was enlightening and refreshing.

Yes.

@legsekeven It is not about saying things that are not allowed, it is about showing up en masse, peacefully and letting the people in power know that they are there because 'we' put them there and they need to act in the best interest of tour country and not the best interests of Ukraine, Gaza, Isreal or any other place that is not the UK.

I would be very upset too; I think that Tommy Robinson and his lot are a very poisonous influence on Britain.

However, if I had to choose, I would much rather have a family member attend this march in London, than have them protest outside hotels or other accommodation that actually housed asylum seekers.

Context is everything. People who aren't trying to suppress other people are the good guys, Putin is the aggressor in this situation. Nobody is trying to oppress us here. So we don't have to get our willy waving flags out.

This