I agree with you 100%.
There are a lot of maga people in the rural area where I live. Heck, I went to school with many of them. I used to hang out with them when we were young. Though certainly not all, most of those who know me still like me. They find me an odd character, but aren't as hostile as others have been towards me in the past decade. And there are lots of don'y know I exist, or are half-way between friendly and hostile.
I encountered one in the grocery store a while back. We've known each other since the early 1970s, and never been friends. An environmental issue came up, and he talked for a while. I said I disagreed, and started to speak more when he shouted, "You're not going to change my mind!" I assured him I had no intention of trying to ..... that I can respect opinions other than my own. That concept seemed to be foreign to him, but in the few times I've seen him since, he was almost friendly.
In the past month, through friends and associates, I've learned more about an event that took place a few years back. Three non-white young ladies, who had recently graduated the town's school, had organized a small "Black Lives Matter!" rally. A bunch pf magas were sure that antifa was joining BLM to invade and take over the community. I've talked with a couple of these people on facebook sites. None are "friends." I asked them what BLM and antifa would do if somehow they did take over? None had thought that far, for fear and hatred had saturated their being.
I knew of one guy who watched from his station wagon in a nearby parking lot, with a loaded shotgun. There were a lot more that I only recently learned of. We need to reduce the levels of hate, or that river will continue to spill over its banks.
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