Tomorrow is the election time in Europe and double election time in Bulgaria. We’ll vote for a national parliament on top of the EU one. Elections bring political discussions into daily life and expose the divisions we have. I’m unsure about the proper way to handle that. My country’s society is very divided on many topics.
- Shall we send weapons to help Ukraine
- Was Communism good or bad
- More roads or higher pensions
- Are immigrants good or bad
- Shall we adopt the Euro
And the list continues. Any random person I meet can hold extreme beliefs on any of the subjects, and learning about that, or exploring it, can lead to changing the perception of that person, or them changing their perception of me if I express extreme beliefs.
For example, a plumber comes home to fix something, fixes it, and drops that whatever random thing has been bad for 35 years, implicating it was good before that, and before that was communism. I immediately recognize this person is radically in the “Communism Good” camp, while I’m in the “Communism Bad” camp.
Over the years, I have slowly learned that the best strategy for me is to avoid the subject outside of the family. It may not sound right, but it is the best strategy I’ve found so far.
Today I posted a comment about politics on some random blog and feel like I swam in poop. I posted it in the Reader and didn’t realize it’s some conspiracy blog. It’s a good reminder to me to not engage in politics until I find a way to engage without feeling that way.
In any case, it’s the peak of politics talk for the year for us. Time to vote.
Veselin.blog 
Hahaha – Politics 🙂 it´s like religion… don´t talk about it, don´t write about it. Vote for the good in man, not for partys. I was a business-owner – but i always voted for the green party. They have been bad for my business – but good for man in the long run. Vote for the things, that are good in the long run, for your kids. And thats always the green, the middle or the socialist party, but never rightwing.
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That’s a good strategy. It’s just difficult to not talk about it when someone engages you on the topic, and then to not have an emotional reaction when they something you strongly disagree with.
The case I described with the plumber is real and happened 2-3 weeks ago, just with another kind of tradesperson. I’m sure the 35-year thing was probing for like-mind-ness. What do you say in such situation?
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Oh, how sad to be “fooled” like that with that blog.
Politics is such a sensitive topic. I almost fell out with my closest friend over politics recently. Luckily we know why that happened so I kept my cool.
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Yeah, it’s divisive. I would appreciate tips for diverting the subject when a probing from the other side happens.
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I can totally relate to that. I could use some tips too 😂.
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No tips for me just plenty of stories of the consequences of discussing it outside of the family 🙂
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Lucky you, being able to vote in the European elections. Despite the majority of Scots voting to stay in the EU, we were dragged out. When Scotland does eventually get back in – as a member state – we can do our bit to counter the far right. Sadly, the EU’s move to the right is a chapter in the same old story: people in uncertain times looking for simple solutions. Certainties they think they can cling to; ‘others’ they feel able to blame. The veneer of civilisation is indeed very thin.
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Scotland is a beautiful country with beautiful people. I hope that it is part of EU one day again for a selfish reason – I want to be able to go there without worrying about passport control and roaming fees.
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I’m a bartender in the US where we are very divided right now. The city I live in has been traditionally right but is changing to the left with an influx of people fleeing very left California. People talk about it A LOT. I have found the best defense is to listen. When I begin to interject, I get angry too. But there are points on all sides, so listening helps me understand. It doesn’t always work.
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To understand everything means to forgive everything — attributed to Buddha
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I’m not always that good at forgiveness, but I do believe in humankind. Sometimes we’re all just confused, and politics is designed to confuse us more, often for the benefit of oligarchy.
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It triggers productive emotions. Makes people controllable. Not individuals but groups. See, we now talk about politics and don’t avoid the subject:)
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