Today especially has been pretty brutal. I see my dad for the first time in months and he dominates the conversation about his vitriolic hatred of Trump and anyone who supports him, calling them idiots. My girlfriend is sweet and nice but even knowing how I lean she can't help but say that she wants to go rip up Trump signs in front of people's houses and kill "transphobes". I've tried to curate my Twitter to be exclusively about my favorite game and content creators, but even after muting about two dozen political words and phrases it's just a bloody shouting match. It feels like the only time I'm not walking in a minefield is when I'm talking to a subsection of a group of friends who just like playing games. I went to cognitive behavioral therapy a few weeks ago, and it was really helpful, but even the positive thinking strategies that were effective just a few days ago aren't helping anymore. I don't feel suicidal, but I don't feel like living anymore. The two options of where I can live in the near future is chock full of people who have an open disdain/hatred for my thinking. Am I such a wretched human being for thinking that Trump's policies would be more economically sound and fair than Biden's? I apologize if this isn't the place to rant like this but how do I get past something like this?
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This is one of those problems where your options are simple but not easy:
Personally I've been going with #4 since my preferred options of #2 and #3 has proved untenable. And life is too short to worry that every social altercation with people with whom you are supposed to have some understanding of mutual aid and comfort will turn into a prolonged argument.
The failure of the 3rd should naturally lead to the 2nd. I have family members who I've made bets with and won, just to highlight their TDS. They paid up, yet still go on believing lies, so I simply never mention politics around them, it's simply not worth it.
In my experience, #2 (which always comes along with a little bit of #1) brands you as the closet bigot because merely not attacking [insert bad person here] means you're secretly in full support of them.
#3 will never work (you're not a billion dollar global propaganda machine).
#4 is not worth it. It's your life and these people are all you have. You being socially isolated is what the far left wants, don't give them that.
So you're left with #2 while gritting your teeth any time people feel like letting off some steam (#1). Try to surround yourself with people who are not insane. At least for the people that you do get to choose, like your significant other or your roommate. For people like your immediate family, understand that propaganda is very powerful. Try to remember them as the good people that they (hopefully) are. Try to engage in conversation about things that are socially meaningful but not incredibly political, you'll probably find that you agree with them more than you think.
Family is different: blood is thicker than water; and fortunately my family's politics more closely match my own than most of my friends. And if it weren't my threshold for tolerating them is higher.
I used to try #2 and this place was my outlet for when they often decided to not honor my requests. Eventually I just got tired of trying to keep the friendships that seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. My next door neighbors are sane though I wouldn't consider them "friends", and I think that's more important.