I’m a pretty conservative/libertarian and I come from a liberal family, live in a liberal area of Ohio, and I work and play in fairly liberal venues. So I have noticed (especially on my recent trip south to my sister’s wedding) that the last few years there seems to be an epidemic of people who seem generally tone-deaf when discussing politics— in ways that range from the annoying to the actively offensive. Now that the election is over, and passions have cooled, I provide some tips to help you avoid alienating your friends, getting sucked into pointless internet flame wars, and generally looking like a condescending twit.
- Note the venue. Some places are appropriate to these kind of discussions, some aren’t. Large gatherings of mixed company, not so much.
- If the person you’re talking to is silent, says “um” a lot, and is glancing around for escape routes, these are not signs of fascination with your devastating analysis.
- Someone being charming, witty, and an intelligent conversationalist does not automatically indicate that they share any of your political opinions.
- Not sharing your political opinions does not automatically make someone ignorant, stupid, or evil.
- Attacking policy based solely on an advocate’s stupidity or moral turpitude is a logical fallacy known as an ad hominem attack and it makes you look like an asshat.
- Understand that moral positions are based on revealed truth and are therefore not subject to logical attack or debate.
