Avoiding political discussions
Laura says that’s her thing. In the real world, I avoid it too as my views tend to annoy and anger my friends who have little Ds and Rs after their names.
16 Responses to “Avoiding political discussions”
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July 21st, 2011 at 10:04 am
Well I for one like it and think you should do it more.
Those people with their Ds and Rs need their cage rattled more than a little bit!
July 21st, 2011 at 10:52 am
The problem is that the 2A and the RKBA IS a Political issue, and Elections have Consequences. Does anyone think that Gunrunner/Fast and Furious wasn’t part of some Political Agenda?
July 21st, 2011 at 11:01 am
Les – while I agree that is is a political issue, unless you grew up in a family of antis I don’t think I’d easily explain my situation to you. It’s a delicate one, and one best avoided if an individual wants to enjoy time with family.
And honestly? Getting along with the small amount of family members I actually have means more to me than spouting political agenda.
July 21st, 2011 at 11:09 am
“It’s a delicate one, and one best avoided if an individual wants to enjoy time with family.”
Unless you enjoy arguing with your family. But then again I’m from Maine, and that’s our state sport!
July 21st, 2011 at 11:14 am
I not only avoid political discussions, I avoid people who insist on starting them.
July 21st, 2011 at 11:56 am
Weerdy – I hate arguments. Hate them. And now, thanks to my post, I’ve been Godwinned. Ugh.
July 21st, 2011 at 11:57 am
@Ellen, +1.
July 21st, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Oh, and Ellen? I’m the same way. I just don’t have the energy for the arguments.
July 21st, 2011 at 1:31 pm
With my family I avoid those type of discussions.
With my wife’s communist (seriously, he admits to being a Marxist and is a business professor!) I’m silent until he brings it up then it is “gloves off”. My wife isn’t happy about it but I can’t let him get away with that shit–especially when he is in my house. Or my state for that matter (he lives in Chicago).
He visits again over Labor Day weekend. If I don’t push him in the lake and get arrested I may have more blogging material…
July 21st, 2011 at 2:08 pm
I used to avoid them, but I am beginning to think of avoiding these conversations as irresponsible. There are a number of people who vote and get most ot their opinions from television. They need to hear things that they will not hear on the idjitbox…whether they find it unpleasant or not, it is a responsibiliity…
July 21st, 2011 at 6:04 pm
Thanks Don. I am appalled at the number people I meet who are completely ignorant about politics and the economy who still insist on voting because it’s their “duty”.
I do what I can to Enlighten them. Maybe it helps, maybe not, but it would be irresponsible not to try.
July 21st, 2011 at 6:59 pm
I used to get hooked in those discussions with my leftwing family members. Now I just say That I don’t keep up, since I shot my TV a few years ago.
July 21st, 2011 at 9:33 pm
My family who are all D insist I’m an R. They live and breathe to hate R. Too damn bad I’m an L…ha!
July 21st, 2011 at 10:22 pm
I guess I’m fortunate, because my liberal step-family made it very easy for me to not have to worry about avoiding the topic of firearms. They proved themselves to be racists as well, so now we just don’t speak at all anymore.
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:37 am
I completely empathize with the desire to avoid conflict, especially with family. The reason why I can’t always agree with keeping silent, however, is twofold.
First, a lot of plain facts have been politicized. A simple example: gun laws only affects the law-abiding. It’s a fact (a tautology, even) and yet it’s politically charged. If that’s precisely what needs to be said at a given point and someone keeps silent, that fact just got nudged out of the light and into the shadows one more step — where the Left wants it: unseen.
Second, pursuant to the first: have you ever been to a party or social event where some loudmouth Leftist (I know better than to call them “liberals”) keeps nudging into politics here and there, in bits and pieces, as if trolling for opposition while trying not to be too open about it?
I call this “establishing hegemony”, and it isn’t necessarily confined to parties; it’s any neutral situation or venue where a leftist subtly politicizes it for the purpose of making things comfortable and open for himself and his thinkalikes — while attempting to make conservatives/libertarians/Objectivists feel isolated and alone — and therefore, inclined to keep silent.
Challenging the hegemony carries not only the perceived risk of being the only sentient in the room, but also the likelihood that *you’ll* be the one who is seen as “Captain Buzzkill” with the politics.
It is important to short-circuit this Leftist hegemony wherever possible, for the sake of others, especially young people, who may be open to (or actively seeking) alternative ideas, but do not know whether there is anyone out there who shares their distrust of the hegemon’s ideology. I’ve never been much of a party person or conformist, so I’m one who usually errs on the side of open dissent for the benefit of such people.
You don’t have to actually have the argument; just make clear that you do not agree (to break the spell and to signal the presence of dissent), *then* if they attempt to engage, politely demur on the grounds that this isn’t the venue for political debates. If he presses matters, now he’s the one politicizing — an easy sell to everyone else at the party who noticed the same thing you did. If he *explodes* — which does happen due to the underlying psychology involved with such people — he’s the one who looks bad, both in his own right and as an example of his “side”.
There are situations where the explosion is the best outcome. I once triggered one of these by proxy, on an email list discussing “web cinema” some years BY (Before Youtube).
That seems like a safely non-political topic, yes? Movies on the web? A friend of mine, not I, was on this list. I’m an Objectivist, and he likes to “prod” me with antithetical viewpoints to see what
I’d say. So, he starts forwarding to me some of the Leftist/collectivist proselytizing that this one list member was engaging in. Mr. Leftist was a prolific poster, always on topic, but constantly peppering everything with critiques, asides, and smuggled-in premises from collectivist angles. It was clear that he had established hegemony over the list, maintaining a constant low dose of ideological radiation calibrated to irritate, isolate and drive off dissenters without giving them sufficient cause to challenge lest the moderators come down on *them* for going off-topic/”political”.
One day I did a spot of fisking on one of these and sent it back to my friend with a last line saying that he could post it if he wanted. To my surprise, he did. The detonation was something to see. He completely dropped his feigned “reasonableness” and vented sieverts of undiluted Leftism in a huge rant. He went as far as to accuse my friend of racism, which just turned fission into fusion as it was not only obviously false, but Mr. Leftist forgot that that my friend was black. Many other list members did know this, however. D’oh!
He later grovelled and apologized to the list, but it was too late; all that pent-up resentment he’d carefully built up came out in dozens of posts attacking him. The damage was done, and his hegemony and status broken.
Some months later, my friend told me that the tone of the list had changed for the better, with more vigorous participation by list members — and less politics.
So yes, it’s a tightrope to walk. Each of us has to balance things in the way that best suits our family and friends. All I’m saying is to keep the full context of what’s going on, and try not to let basic truth be driven underground in the name of “peace”.
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:39 am
damn, that was a lot longer than I thought it was. sorry! Probably should have just posted it on my own blog.