I think it was worth your time trying. There's always the possibility somewhere down the line that the individual(s) you spoke to will encounter a situation in their life that will force them to reflect on their views and attempt to update them from archaic to pre-modern.
Discussion is never a failure, in my opinion, but I absolutely believe it can be seriously draining.
I definitely agree with you but I'm not sure how far they can take this in an economic situation that is currently devolving into a major recession and has all the macroeconomic factors of an incoming second depression.