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My next-door neighbor. She goes to Dunkin’ Donuts every day and she hates Republicans especially Donald Trump and Elon Musk...Needless to say, if we want to remain friends, we do not talk politics.

I had this exact same situation with a friend I'd known since high school. After being apolitical, he decided rather late in life that he was going to jump on team Democrat. Mid-life crisis perhaps, or, more likely, he finally gave into all the propaganda and wanted to be in the "cool kids" crowd.

We had an unofficial policy of not talking politics, but there are some things that are unavoidable. For example, when the whole COVID scam happened, I felt it to be my duty to have a frank conversation about the shots, especially with regard to his kids, because he didn't question anything, just obeyed the TV like a good NPC. I tried to be as gentle as I could. He called me a right wing conspiracy theorist and all that good stuff and eventually didn't want to have any contact with me anymore, due to that and other political hot potatoes.

The problem is that for many leftists, their compliance with the leftwing ideology isn't just a belief system, it becomes their whole identity, and any threat to their beliefs is a threat to their identity. Eventually, the only way to co-exist with them is to compromise your own beliefs, or your own right to speak of your beliefs, because they can't tolerate dissent. In the case of my ex-friend, his embrace of leftism day-by-day reduced him to a less pleasant and enjoyable human being, like Gollum with the Ring.

Good luck with your friend.

“...his embrace of leftism day-by-day reduced him to a less pleasant and enjoyable human being, like Gollum with the Ring.”

Very well put.

I have seen the same thing, again and again.