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I love talking about politics with my friends! I will say that my friend group is full of likeminded people. If there is a disagreement within the group I feel that because we have a similar mindset we are able to see where the other is coming from even if we don’t agree(?) if that makes sense. Ofc identity politics plays a big role which might create an idea of community or make others feel left out.
I think where we are in society today politics cant be avoided. Politics and policy is everywhere that even a simple conversation can be tied to so many aspects of it. I think discussing it with friends, people you trust and know have similar perspectives or ideas allows for a safe conversation (at least in my case).
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I think it has a lot to do with problem-solving mindsets, and with my friend circles tbh we are all of the notion that disagreement is inevitable but also a learning process and involves basic respect for each others' opinions. Also we kind of all sense that everything is political/connected as-is.
I do think there's a lot of avoidance in society lately but if you want to get along better and understand each others' contexts aka build that friendship, you gotta have that space to debate.
Jan 24, 2025
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to set the stage here I organized as a college student/adjacent to a political cult (was never 100% brainwashed and pulled in) so this answer is going to diverge from many other answers. I’ll say in my opinion that trying to divide or merge person and politic is a zero sum game or detrimental for my personal life and political consequences at large
I don’t allow myself to get into situations where this would be remotely possible and that either comes off as extremely myopic or cushioned from reality but I’m choosing to accept that. In my friendships or making new friends I try to be a remotely ok judge of character to determine if political beliefs will inflame the friendship
no amount of brain power would make me consider changing someone’s mind on politics in a friendship but its likely im on the same page of people who are moderate or political disengaged to discuss freely about it
Hannah Arendt once observed that the personal and political spheres merging creates this space where we can no longer ”act” in politics but we behave as economic actors or consumers. I think she’s on the money about this to this day - politics on the whole are very much boiled down to a market choice for me and not visible in my personal life much
Jul 14, 2024
lots of other thoughtful responses here but simply put, no. if someone supports a harmful political figure, they likely believe that figure’s beliefs or they at least don’t care enough about each impact of that politician’s whole platform. we can’t only think about how things impact ourselves; being kind to others is the bare minimum.
and there is nuance, like if someone believes we can’t abolish the police but thinks the current system is bad, so they support a politician who increases social services (that prevent crime), that’s different from someone who supports a politician that justifies police violence. the latter is highly, highly ignorant; but the former acknowledges social issues, which indicates space for further dialogue and growth
from an organizing perspective, i do believe in educating and calling in etc but those are learned skills and also a totally different thing from friendship and dating. you probably can’t just “fix” the views of friends or partners, and should not just leave that as a caveat of your relationship nor put up with their beliefs because you think you might be able to educate them.
article linked is specifically about dating but it’s a good, brief essay
Jul 14, 2024
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BOOK CLUBS!
I just started a book club with a friend today and even tho the idea has only been in the air for a couple of hours I LOVE IT! It has brought so much joy into my life!
Maybe we need more community building opportunities?
Jan 25, 2025