Ask Lemmy

i think they mean well but are misguided for the most part

While I can see where they're coming from. I'm sure they want you to just be safe.

That said, it's a terrible idea. How will anyone know how many people hate the current government, if no one speaks up about it. Sure, it can be risky, and the governments most worth speaking up against are usually the ones where it's the most dangerous, but they're usually the ones that more people hate.

It’s good advice for certain reasons and bad advice for others. It also depends on your situation, especially in these times in the US. If you’re a US citizen you might have more freedom to stand up for yourself and others than if you’re an immigrant.

Fuck them.

In the metaphorical way.

Don't have sex with them.

Don't listen to them, you'll regret it. No you're not in the wrong, they are, but everyone and their cousin will disagree because theyre cowards who don't want to make their lives harder.

Imagine living 100 years in Germany and being worried about politics and your mom going "just keep your head down".

Cowards. The lot of them.

By my estimation non-cowards are about 1/50.

Seeing that the PRC has secret, illegal police in the US, are known to go after Chinese in the US, coupled with the US not being a country of laws...well, you do you. Just don't do it in ignorance.

I guess this means your parents are from China too? If yes, then they grew up in a country were demonstrating against the government gets you rolled over by tanks. They have been taught that politics is not something for the people, the party takes care of it for them and they should just focus on being good hard working citizens. So, I would think their behavior is a mix of fearing for your life, which they value way more than politics, and an ingrained lack of faith in the people being able to change politics.
Consider this bias and make your personal choice, especially if you're legally an adult.

Well it kinda depends. If criticizing the government could get you disappeared, then yeah, it's logical for your parents to discourage that so they don't lose you. It's possible that they lost someone in your old country because of that and they don't want to have that happen again.

On the other hand, if your new country has freedom of speech enshrined in law (and that law seems to be followed) then yeah, it would be silly not to criticize if you have criticisms.

Your mom has a point, focusing on things you cannot control might not be the best use of your time. If you disagree, then that's fine, that's your decision. I know that personally, I can get fixated on politics which will make me depressed, anxious, and overall shitty feeling. I need to carefully balance awareness/protest and what I can reasonably hope to achieve with my general quality of life.

You have to do you, OP, and accept potential consequences, good, bad, neutral. You may want to sit with that for a while before deciding.

It's hard to say without knowing what country you're in now. PRC is an undemocratic system to be embraced, escaped, or endured, but so are PRK, Iran, and a bunch others

OTOH, Canada or the USA were designed on the assumption that you'd agitate for the form of government. If you're in either one, especially if you're a citizen, you should definitely argue for the government you want.

The rest of the world is an interesting mix of "started undemocratic, embraced democracy" to "started democratic, embraced autocracy."

I definitely disagree. I just took my son to a protest last weekend. He is 12. I thought it was important for him to understand civic responsibility.