I’ve observed if I say nothing (because I simply don’t know how to react), opinionated people think you agree with them, which I don’t. I don’t care.
what I want to tell him, next time he starts ranting: ‘I don’t care what you think, leave me alone’.
However, I may have to work with this person in the future, so what about ‘you don’t have to tell me everything you think, most of the time I don’t pay attention’ and if he keeps pushing it ‘it’s tiring working with a person who has to rant to feel good, it’s boring and makes me ignore you, which is a problem, because we work together.’ And leave.
What about ‘everybody has problems, maybe talk to a therapist? I cannot help you’.
Or maybe simply leaving when he starts his rants?
You got pretty good answers last time you asked this. Were they insufficient? I don’t see that you responded to any of those answers: https://linux.community/post/837122
And clearly, he works/lives in a place where he has this kind of character around. It’s not really fair to say “why are people like this in general”.
Like if this guy works at a redneck pawnshop in the middle of nowhere, I can imagine he gets a disproportionate amount of these opinions from people who can’t read the room.