1. No ridicule. (that stops half their arguments already).
2. Don't assume you know my position. Amazing how they take the lib lies on what conservatives think.
3. Remind them we can talk rationally. We talk fine on other subjects, and respect each other’s opinions.
Anyway, this is where I am right now talking to my step son (which believe it or not we are really tight with each other), but I have been avoiding politics with him because of the three comments above.
“How do you talk to relatives who are politically stupid?”
Personally, I scream at them.
But seriously, your most important effort is to build credibility with anyone you engage in political conversations with.
The number one priority is to help them see that there is a battle being waged for control of their mind. They need to become critical thinkers.
That is really the main difference between most conservatives and most liberals.
Yes, there are thinking liberals who generally have to do mental gymnastics to arrive at their crazy conclusions. And yes, there are conservatives who do not really understand their own ideology. But generally, I find that conservatives think and liberals emote.
As a result, it is often best to logically show a liberal how their emotion-based objectives can only be reached by conservative policies and actions.
For example, the news will tell their audience that conservatives want women to be abused, and they want children to work in sweat shops and have no education. In other words, liberals claim to be for women and children. In actuality, womanhood, and motherhood particularly, are despised within liberalism. The idea of a woman becoming a mother and rearing her children is despised. That’s what liberals consider public education to be for. And liberalism is completely anti-children. Not just in terms of feminism. In terms of population control, abortion, adoption, etc.
One thing to remember about anyone who has been to medical school. They were taught ethics based on Utilitarian Philosophy (see Peter Singer).
You can make a very logical argument but if they at their core accept immoral premises you have a battle of axioms on your hands.
Ask questions, offer no answers unless asked. If asked, one sentence answer only.
We now have parties, family reunions, get togethers with no problem.
I’m not very nice........I tell them to shut up and clean the shit out of their ears or between their ears and pay attention. My family lives in Canada and I have to explain to them continually where the bear shits in the woods.
I never bring up politics with my family, and 95 percent of them are knee-jerk fake news Koolaid drinkers, horribly ignorant and uninformed.
When a moron family member blurts out something stupid and false about Trump and conservatives, I just smile and say, “We won, elections have consequences” and “ I voted for Trump, I think he’s a great President.” In the past I have utterly destroyed moron family members in debates, so with time they’ve learned not to start something with me.
people are either statists or they are liberty minded.
statists are difficult to reach. It takes a decade to
convert a statist
Perhaps she has inhaled too much of the knock out gas????
But really my entire Okie family is liberal. I just don’t go around them anymore. Sadly, but I couldn’t take it anymore. They are smug, arrogant, liberal, and usually WRONG!
I talk to them, but if they’re leftist, which “politically stupid” usually translates into, at some point they don’t talk to me - at least about government or politics.
Arguing politics with a devout liberal is like arguing with a blind man about the color of the sky. Liberals want to believe the lie, which is why they are so dishonest.
You must prioritize. There are a lot of good people who are leading busy lives, working hard, helping people. They believe the media. They don’t have the time or inclination and sometimes not quite the IQ to synthesize a ton of info flying around and pick out the truth using common sense.
I believe my relationship with good family members and friends is more important than them knowing everything I know. So I don’t talk politics with them. There are plenty of other things to discuss. I love plenty of gullible people. I’m ok with that. I’m no crusader, though if pressed for a serious political discussion, I will come out of the closet (unless it’s with the families from my children’s schools because I don’t want to hurt them socially).
I gave up on that years ago. I used to talk to them like I talked to my dog but realized that was insulting to my pet.
I find it helps to draw pictures.
“How do you talk to relatives who are politically stupid?”
Speak only about associated issues from a personal point of view. Are you taxed more or less this year? Ask how your relative is doing with that. Speak in general terms about how you like to hold your own social beliefs without others dictating their beliefs to you or putting their abnormalities in your face.
In other words, instigate ideas rather than dictating them.
I usually tell the person that liberals are either 1) stupid, 2)uninformed, 3) dependent on the government (on welfare, teacher, works for government, etc), or 4)a socialist/communist. I then say the majority of the working liberals fall in the 2nd category above. This gets the conversation going.
When politics comes up I just smile a say: "Oh you're so right about that."
That usually ends all conversation. I figure that reality will hit them
hard in the face one day and they'll wake up.
However, some are so deceived or hard core
nothing that happens will ever change their minds.
They're hopeless leftists. True believers.
It’s like playing Chess
with a Pidgeon.
They strut around the board
Knocking over the pieces and
crapping on everything then
They declare Themselves
the Winner and Fly Off.
Good Luck,
Your mileage may vary.
Fain incontinence and rush to the lou.