an email I just sent to a MAGA cousin of mine.

[cab67]

69. I left out additional context to focus on an issue of broader interest to DU.

I've helped this person repeatedly. So have other relatives. But the help is always a one-way street, and the help is often wasted, requiring even more help within days.

Her nephew once took out a bank loan specifically to help her. MAGA cousin promised to pay him back. The rest of us urged him not to do so - there's no way she could ever pay him back, even if she actually intended to do so - but he took the "never turn your back on family" approach. He's out the $10k he borrowed.

Sometimes, turning one's back on someone is a matter of self preservation. I pointed this out in the email I sent - I can't keep giving this person money without risking our ability to deal with emergencies. Ill-intended family members can also sow discord among relatives and ruin every family event they attend.

I should also add that when Jinglesphincter's people went after federal science support, dear cousin cheered. Finally - no more money wasted on climate change, evolution, or creating transgender rodents! As far as she was concerned, those who became scientists made bad life choices. (The irony of that attitude is dense enough that light can't escape its surface.) When I pointed out that I rely on NSF for much of my research funding, she merely said that this was a good thing - it would encourage me to abandon conspiracy-driven liberal ideology (as though evolution and biotic response to environmental change - two things I work with - are Marxist plots to redistribute wealth and lead our youth astray and not, you know, physical reality) and maybe get a real job for once. This isn't the first time she showed nauseating levels of condescension, only to point out that she needed my money.

There comes a point where enough is enough. Need help? Happy to provide it - but I would appreciate some courtesy in return, and I take great exception to having it diverted to something frivolous and not applied to the new refrigerator you actually need.