can you talk politics w/o getting personal?

[Dancing Fire]

we need a 24 hr politcal thread...

 

[TravelingGal]

we need a 24 hr politcal thread...

Which will last approximately 2 hours, 38 minutes before it's locked.

 

[somethingshiny]

I don't think there's a way to be impersonal about politics, at least in your own country. I think many can start off objectively but will always end subjectively. Politics is about making decisions. Most base their decisions on personal beliefs or experiences.

 

[monarch64]

I don't think there's a way to be impersonal about politics, at least in your own country. I think many can start off objectively but will always end subjectively. Politics is about making decisions. Most base their decisions on personal beliefs or experiences.

Yup--what she said. Speaking/writing objectively about politics seems pretty impossible to me. I really enjoy sharing lots of things here on PS, but I for one am happy that the decision was made to ban political and religious discussions. I don't want to think differently of my comrades here because their views may differ from mine...I much prefer keeping it light and fun, and I don't feel that political discussions are conducive to a lighthearted atmosphere. Politics is just loaded, heavy stuff...it always has been. And really, it's not so much that I fear being offended, it's that I fear I would offend someone else here and I don't WANT to make enemies!

 

[diva rose]

Politics yes. For me personally - I'm open however I do know some people take it very personal.
Hence it's one area besides religion, I feel is best to remain diplomatic about.

The way I see it is - arguing with someone on politics is questioning their core foundation/belief. Hence people have a right to be upset and take it personal. So as much as I may disagree with their views - I prefer to respect their choice. Sure there are moments when I'm boiling inside but hey..who am I to tell them they should live a certain way of life?

 

[katamari]

Yes, I absolutely can. However, if I may parallel Jay Smooth's argument here, people unfortunately too often make it personal. I can talk for days, politically, about words, phases, ideologies. But, the moment someone makes it about character, I want out. I want to talk about ideas, not idea-holders.

 

[VRBeauty]

DF - that is a great question!

I'l have to get back to it later though - right now, it's dinner time!

 

[kenny]

The question contains a paradox.
Politics IS personal.

Politics gets your personal views to apply to everyone.

 

[yssie]

I don't think there's a way to be impersonal about politics, at least in your own country. I think many can start off objectively but will always end subjectively. Politics is about making decisions. Most base their decisions on personal beliefs or experiences.

Exactly that.

No, I can't be impersonal about politics, if we're discussing issues that I feel strongly about - and I wouldn't bother getting involved in a discussion on something I don't care about, so that's self-fulfilling.

 

[zoebartlett]

I like talking about/learning about politics, and I can discuss it without getting in a heated debate. I love learning about why others feel the way they do about a variety of subjects, and politics is no different. It was never a taboo subject in my family.

 

[Pandora II]

I was a politician until May last year and worked for Party HQ for over 5 years. Both DH's and my families have been involved in politics in one way or another for generations - although we are not all in the same Party! 99% of our friends are also involved in politics and span the whole range of parties and the various factions within each one. DH also studied politics at Oxford for his degree. Politics is a standard lunch or dinner topic in all our houses.

One of DH's and my close friends is a Socialist, we are Liberals but about as far from socialism as you can get. Our respective views rarely agree but it doesn't affect our friendship. She and I were both Borough Councillors at the same time but on opposite sides of the Chamber... we would often spend the evening speaking against each other and making derisive remarks. At the end of the session we would then go to the pub together.

I would have found it hard to be married to someone who didn't have broadly similar political views to mine - it was one of the things that drew DH and I together - and I absolutely couldn't have married someone who had different religious views to mine - we're both atheists and secular humanists. Again in our families, it's (excuse the pun) a very broad 'church': FIL is Jewish, MIL is an ordained Anglican priest (as is step-FIL), BIL 2 is religious, BIL 1 & 3 are non-believers/don't care ditto both my sisters. My parents are atheists/secular humanists but my brother is very religious (Anglican) and married to a religious Catholic. The friends we had over for lunch on Sunday are an evangelical Christian vicar and his wife, amongst other friends we cover most major religions and levels of belief. Other than with my brother, we can/do all argue religion and theology with no tears or fights and still all like each other at the end.

Ultimately it's a question of respect and not getting personal. Perhaps when it's your job it's easier to separate someone attacking your political views from them attacking you as a person. Or at least that's how I see it... and I apply that to other issues too.

 

[MAC-W]

I like talking about/learning about politics, and I can discuss it without getting in a heated debate. I love learning about why others feel the way they do about a variety of subjects, and politics is no different. It was never a taboo subject in my family.

totally this.

I wish I could find out more about the political views of people I respect on this forum, so I understand them more.

 

[Tuckins1]

no

 

[atroop711]

I will admit it..no I can't talk about it without getting personal esp. if I think someone is so completely wrong and they know they are but their decisions are based on money not common sense or common good for all. I'm one party, my sis and bil are the other and they constantly talk politics and I have to walk out. They are never wrong according to them even though "their" party picked a numbnut to run for VP

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I don't think there's a way to be impersonal about politics, at least in your own country. I think many can start off objectively but will always end subjectively. Politics is about making decisions. Most base their decisions on personal beliefs or experiences.

This.

 

[TravelingGal]

I can talk about politics without getting personal. Religion too. If the other person gets offensive, I'll just say enough. I have my core beliefs, but I like listening and learning. I find many people talk about these two subjects not to listen, but to try and change your mind . If you are the type of person that is more interested in a discussion, I'm happy to partake.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

we need a 24 hr politcal thread...

You mean here on PS or in real life?

EVERYTHING ends up personal on PS. People flip out over everything, so no we cannot talk w/out getting personal.

In real life, unless someone else clearly supports the same beliefs I do, I avoid talking about anything religious or political (not that I don't want to hear them, it's just nobody wants to hear me...do I really want to spend an hour having my grandma tell me that brain chips in our heads will be the mark of the beast and we'll all have 666 on our foreheads and I won't go to heaven if I have one of those?). I don't want to ruin a friendship b/c someone is against something that really doesn't make a difference in a friendship. I have had to avoid certain people though because I do not want to have religion pushed on me and also a couple kids have said mean things to my kids (not sure if I can post what's been said to my older son that made me FUME!)

 

[princesss]

I can talk about politics without getting personal. Religion too. If the other person gets offensive, I'll just say enough. I have my core beliefs, but I like listening and learning. I find many people talk about these two subjects not to listen, but to try and change your mind . If you are the type of person that is more interested in a discussion, I'm happy to partake.

This, exactly. I love talking about politics when it's a genuine discussion, but if your goal is to show me how "wrong" I am, forget it. Actually, I had a really great date with a guy where we ended up talking politics - just kind of feeling each other out. We were on total opposite sides of the fence, but had a great conversation and a really interesting discussion on WHY we felt the way we do. But with other guys I've known, it would have immediately turned into a diatribe on why I'm wrong to feel the way I do.

However, it seems like discussions like that are few and far between. So for the most part, I stay out of political conversations because they generally turn into political arguments, and I have very little time in my life for that right now.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I can talk about politics without getting personal. Religion too. If the other person gets offensive, I'll just say enough. I have my core beliefs, but I like listening and learning. I find many people talk about these two subjects not to listen, but to try and change your mind . If you are the type of person that is more interested in a discussion, I'm happy to partake.

It's hard to find discussion-type people. All my relatives are NUTS. They won't listen, just blab away. That's why they go to voice mail lol

 

[TooPatient]

I can talk about politics without getting personal. Religion too. If the other person gets offensive, I'll just say enough. I have my core beliefs, but I like listening and learning. I find many people talk about these two subjects not to listen, but to try and change your mind . If you are the type of person that is more interested in a discussion, I'm happy to partake.

Agreed.

I've got no problem discussing politics (and religion!) with people and do on a regular basis but I will NOT just sit silently while the other person tells me I'm wrong and I have to believe the same as they do.

Done correctly (respectful, grown-up, etc), a political discussion can be fascinating and educational -- even if each person has different ideas! I love to hear different views and, especially, WHY people think/feel/believe what they do.


The problem is that the discussions can very easily turn sour.

 

[Dancing Fire]

i can talk politics w/o holding any grudges.that's why i still love Thing 2 and Karen and the rest of the young PSer liberals... as they get older they will come to my side of the fence...

 

[zoebartlett]

Pandora -- you brought up a good point about whether spouses agree on political issues. I live my life pretty conservatively but I consider myself a liberal when I think about social/political issues for others.

It would be difficult for me to be with someone who didn't share my beliefs if they varied drastically from mine. My husband and I happen to share beliefs on political and social issues, but I wouldn't have a problem if they differed somewhat. If we didn't see eye to eye on most things though and if we were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum, I could see that causing some problems.

Without naming names, in the US, we have a couple of politicians whom I shake my head at when I hear them spout historical "facts" (and other information) to pundits on TV. They have it completely wrong (the historical facts), and I find it unbelievable that they won in the recent elections. I feel like these people need a history lesson. I would have a very hard time not getting into some sort of debate if I was married to someone who shared these politicians' beliefs. I don't think it would work if we were polar opposites in this regard.

I often wonder how Mary Matalin and James Carville get along.

 

[suchende]

SO and I have very different views and get along fine. It probably helps that we're both law students and forced to evaluate/defend our positions all the time, so when we get into disagreements, they're not personal but more academic.

 

[Dancing Fire]

after listening to the state of the union i think President O is leaning more towards the Right.

 

[CherryBlossom]

after listening to the state of the union i think President O is leaning more towards the Right.

really? I think he's being smart and moving to the center, which is what any smart politician would do when they are facing re-election. He's also laying the trap for the GOP to walk into but that's a whole other conversation.

anyway, on the topic at hand. I'm a pretty hard core Democrat, but I listen to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity almost every single day. I think it's important to understand why people believe the things they do, the reasoning behind it... otherwise you just isolate them and it's easy to make caricatures of them.

I don't think that you can really separate the personal from the political. No matter what we do in our everyday life everything is political. From the place we purchase our jewelry to where we decide to shop for food. I don't understand how some people want to tune it all out. I don't like Ralph Nader, but he once made a brilliant statement "Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you"

 

[CherryBlossom]

.

 

[CherryBlossom]

Pandora

Without naming names, in the US, we have a couple of politicians whom I shake my head at when I hear them spout historical "facts" (and other information) to pundits on TV. They have it completely wrong (the historical facts), and I find it unbelievable that they won in the recent elections. I feel like these people need a history lesson. :

are you talking about a young lady from Minnesota who has a difficult time finding the right camera to look into?

LOL. sorry, I just has to do it.

 

[Kaleigh]

Yes, I can always walk away, no hard feelings and agree to disagree. MY Father was head of the Republican party in Philadelphia, and remember him having big issues with peoples thoughts. I didn't lke any of that, so walked away thinking there had to be a better way.. My son is a HUGE republican, he has issues with how I feel. I just say.... Deal with it.. I can't change how I think...

 

[HollyS]

No. We DON'T need a political thread.

Been there. Done that. Misunderstanding after misunderstanding, which too often slid right into snark and snide and sneers.

No, thanks. PSers have proven, without a doubt, that politics cannot be discussed here. Impossible.

I don't miss it.



Besides, I know I'm right. And I don't feel the need to keep telling y'all.

 

[Dancing Fire]

ladies and gentlemen...
introducing the next President of the U.S. Holly S.....