Don’t avoid political conversations this Thanksgiving (thehill.com)

submitted 11 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Millions of Americans are gathering today with assorted family and friends — each with their own unique, and potentially problematic, political opinions.

Which means it’s also time for the slew of articles telling people that it’s okay to skip Thanksgiving dinner if you think someone at the table might strongly disagree with your politics — or providing tips on how to steer conversations away from current affairs to lighter topics. The message and general consensus seem to be that we should only talk about politics with people who will support what we already believe.

Most Americans agreed on this approach last year — three-quarters said in a survey that Thanksgiving was not the time nor place to discuss politics with family. More recent polling from State Policy Network, where I am a fellow, shows it’s not just at family gatherings that people are shying away from politics. Over half of voters say they have stopped talking about politics and policy with family and friends generally because it is too divisive.

While Americans don’t seem to like the baggage that comes with getting political information from their friends and family, they also have problems with other sources of information. For example, while 46 percent of voters say they have gotten news from social media in the last three months, just 15 percent have a high degree of trust in it. There is a similar pattern for broadcast news.

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[-] superduperenigma@lemmy.world 45 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

This is an absolutely delusional article. People avoid talking politics at Thanksgiving because that's what ruined previous Thanksgivings. What world does the author live in that they think everyone is suddenly going to be capable of having a calm, reasonable, and productive discussion this Year around?

[-] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago

It's delusional because it was posted literally as everyone was already at dinner.

[-] clearleaf@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

Maybe they got kicked out from theirs and spent the next 15 minutes angrily writing this article.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

My guess is they were the ones being uncivil and annoying- the axe forgets but the tree remembers

this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2023

68 points (81.5% liked)

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