[Bill,
October 10, 2007]
Politics: More personal than they used to be?
This entry here talks about how the blogger lost friends because of his GOP support. I have no way to assess the facts in the situation.
I wonder, though, about the issue of politics and its affect on friendships. I know that since the election of Dubya, there have been some negative effects in some of my relationships because of politics. Occasionally, I've been subject to condescension. In other cases, I've been talked at, not to. And in other cases, people were willing to lump my conservatism in as just-another-of-Bill's-eccentricities. In my last job, my conservatism certainly affected my work relationships.
And many times I've heard people say things where they just assumed everyone around was a liberal. At one party, someone mentioned what an incompetent, evil nincompoop Clarence Thomas was -- at a company Christmas party -- as if everyone would automatically agree. I just kept eating ... manners, you know.
I dunno. I do know that since Dubya became president, a lot of people became deeply unhinged. People who were not political suddenly became political. It's been weird, man. Really weird.
I wonder, though, about the issue of politics and its affect on friendships. I know that since the election of Dubya, there have been some negative effects in some of my relationships because of politics. Occasionally, I've been subject to condescension. In other cases, I've been talked at, not to. And in other cases, people were willing to lump my conservatism in as just-another-of-Bill's-eccentricities. In my last job, my conservatism certainly affected my work relationships.
And many times I've heard people say things where they just assumed everyone around was a liberal. At one party, someone mentioned what an incompetent, evil nincompoop Clarence Thomas was -- at a company Christmas party -- as if everyone would automatically agree. I just kept eating ... manners, you know.
I dunno. I do know that since Dubya became president, a lot of people became deeply unhinged. People who were not political suddenly became political. It's been weird, man. Really weird.
I can see why Clinton drove/drives conservatives up the wall. His ego got to me, but his stuff always seemed more petty and about minor personal selfishness.
My old conservative neighbors used to do the same things me -- assuming I shared their views on liberals and constantly bombarding me with their humor and commentary. I tried to keep my mouth shut as much as possible since they were my neighbors, but that gets old. So I don't think it is really a liberal or conservative pattern. Naturally, it's bad worse style to talk about politics or religion at work for the same reason you shouldn't discuss them at many social events.
Just an idea, I don't know whether there's anything to it.
(Btw, I knew many people who disliked Clinton, but I never met anyone who thought that Clinton was the devil, or otherwise genuinely evil. Then again, didn't plenty of liberals hate Ragan with a similar antipathy?)