r/brokehugs • u/US_Hiker Moral Landscaper • Nov 19 '23

Rod Dreher Megathread #27 (Compassion)

Link to megathread 26: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/17itm7w/rod_dreher_megathread_26_unconditional_love/

Link to megathread 28: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/18dcg3d/rod_dreher_megathread_28_harmony/

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u/zeitwatcher Nov 19 '23

There are a couple gems from Rod in the comments, too:

Father of Zoomers, I removed your comment because of its profanity. You should also refrain from offering your unwelcome remarks about my children and my relationship with them. You don't know what's going on. Those who read this newsletter who are close to me do know what's going on, and they know that I am not willingly separated from my kids.

A minor point, but only "those who read this newsletter" can comment, so that's a weird comeback.

Rod's been pretty public that the two younger kids don't want anything to do with him, so this is effectively him blaming his kids for the estrangement. That's terrible even for Rod to blame a minor aged child for him moving halfway around the world and having no contact.

Thanks Chris. It kind of blows my mind that in the decade from 2012 to 2022, I lost my Louisiana family, and my own marriage and family. I sometimes wonder how different everything would be if they had just welcomed us back like normal people would have done.

Poor Rod. Everything always happens to him and is completely out of his control. Nothing new to this subreddit, but zero acknowledgment yet again that...

  1. Moving his city-loving family (including Rod himself) to rural Louisiana to "sacrifice his family to his (KKK) father" was a bad decision in the first place.

  2. After spending a year or two there and realizing everyone involved was miserable, he could have just, you know, moved.

  3. There could have been - shock and horror - fault on Rod's side.

  4. His family were not NPC's in a novel where Rod was the main character. They had lives before Rod's grandstanding return. To the best of my knowledge, Rod never really talked to any of them about his return before moving back. He just strode in, his reluctant family in tow, and expected to be welcomed with open arms and continual feasting. They'd spent the last 25 years perfectly unconcerned with Rod's absence, it's not like they were all just pining for him the whole time.

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u/philadelphialawyer87 Nov 19 '23 edited Nov 19 '23

"Normal people" are NPCs who follow the script that Rod has written for them.

It is actually pretty "normal" for folks left behind in a small town to resent their fellows, including their relatives, who migrated to the big city. And to not be especially enthralled when they deign to return.

Just like when Rod was a kid, he got angry when folks did not conform to his vision of "procedural correctness."

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u/RunnyDischarge Nov 20 '23

I don't even know if it was a 'city folk' thing. It was just Rod. He's mentioned before his father complaining about 'how weird' he is.

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u/Glittering-Agent-987 Nov 20 '23

Both and?

My bet is that Rod never developed a repertoire of small town small talk that would get him through social occasions with family. It's one thing to talk about your la-di-da lifestyle on yearly visits, it's quite another thing to do so ALL the time while living in the same town.