This is pretty much the playbook I tried with my father last night, to no avail.
You see, it’s not about rational arguments - and if you try to fight it on those grounds, you’ll have Brexit all over your hands, and it’s a nightmare to clean up.
No - last night I explained how the proposed legislation would directly hurt him, how it would take away freedoms he currently enjoys. Everything looped back to “but Obama crippled the internet in 2015” and “but I want internet freedom”.
When those didn’t fit, it turned into generational crap. “My generation invented the internet. Yours just uses it for smartphones and twitter and facebook. We wouldn’t even be having this argument if it weren’t for millennials messing up the internet.”
He’s not stupid - he’s just suspending the rational thought he’s amply capable of in favour of comforting lies. No, he’s broken, without hope.
The content, the detail, the logic, the impact - all irrelevant. What is relevant is picking at the feeling of trapped failure that pervades much of society, and providing the population with a facile solution to their complex problems. “Vote for internet freedom, imagine the flag flying in the breeze against a clear blue sky and an eagle flies by, just like the good old days, when pop would put you on his shoulders to see the marching band”.
Problem is, when you try to argue either the immediate argument or the broader emotional trap they’re in, they dig in deeper - nobody wants to be the fool who fell in a trap.
It’s very nearly if not actually checkmate politics - I cannot see an out that doesn’t require going through hell, and I’ll be delightfully surprised if this doesn’t pass into law with roaring popular support.