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Not a political thread, but...

bosch

bosch

Master TSC Shave Member
Not intending this to be political, but curious to know if others have had friends walk away or walked away themselves from friendships due to the split nature of our country at this time? Prolly just yes or no answers are best. Again, not trying to start something, but I have experienced this recently and need to know if this is a thing or if I'm an outlier?? Thanks, guys. Peace.✌️
 
bosch said:
Not intending this to be political, but curious to know if others have had friends walk away or walked away themselves from friendships due to the split nature of our country at this time? Prolly just yes or no answers are best. Again, not trying to start something, but I have experienced this recently and need to know if this is a thing or if I'm an outlier?? Thanks, guys. Peace.✌️
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I should add that this happened to me with a long term friend of 17 years; I'm trying to comes to terms and deal with it. Thanks, again.
 
For me, "our country" is Canada. Even when we have disagreements, we say "sorry," buy each other a Tim Horton's, and shovel their driveway.


EDIT: The above story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
 
Personally, no. I’ve taken a posture of listening for the most part for a long while now, let other people say their bit, and try to empathize as much as I can.

Then again, I’m not much of a conversationalist anyway unless pushed. I have a large circle of acquaintances but a relatively small circle of friends.
 
GearNoir said:
Personally, no. I’ve taken a posture of listening for the most part for a long while now, let other people say their bit, and try to empathize as much as I can.

Then again, I’m not much of a conversationalist anyway unless pushed. I have a large circle of acquaintances but a relatively small circle of friends.
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Thanks @GearNoir
 
The friends I have in my life...in person...no matter the political, religious, societal, or ethical stances have and always will be my friends. We take the stance that we should be able to discuss our views intelligently and keeping in mind that we should want to change anyone's mind. If we change our views, it's because of thought provoking discussion and research and we came to that decision of our own accord.

So to answer your question...in real life...or IRL as the kids say these days...the answer is no. Not to say that discussions didn't run hot.

However, if you are talking about "social media" or "internet" friends...then oh yeah! I have blocked and or deleted some pretty insufferable people. Oh, and they were not just one side of the spectrum. It was both sides of the isle.
 
We used to debate principles and issues. Now too much time is spent debating character. My friendships appear intact, but I was always the crazy liberal of the bunch anyhow.
 
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I have 3 sets of friends.

In person friends: we work through our differences and can easily work through out differences.

TSC shaving Friends: there's a group here that are my friends and I talk with on a regular basis. I see them as family and close friends

Internet friends like facebook: not afraid to unfriend or mute. I don't need to read your stance on social issues, and if that's why you have a profile I'm most likely not your friend
 
GearNoir said:
I have a large circle of acquaintances but a relatively small circle of friends.
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That describes me pretty well Chris. I haven't had many close friends I could call my brother - list is maybe 3 or 4 people long including a best friend in high school. I've learned I can't talk politics or social issues with family without conflict so I just avoid it. I like to debate issues, but when they leave the fact based realm and become emotional I can't deal with that. I have a coworker that is on the opposite end of the spectrum and we can debate issues, find common ground, and walk away slapping each other's back. Lately, he's been very emotional in his stances on things so I just stopped talking with him about politics. In order to argue with an emotional person you either have to dive into that emotional mess, or try to bring them out into the calm world of facts. Often emotional people won't listen to facts or even consider them so I don't bother. Many times I do drive by's..........meaning I'll ask a question and let others answer then walk away. Gets people thinking and maybe if they think more it will help them. I'm a fan of doing your own research on topics. Being spoon fed information and not looking into it yourself can be pretty dangerous these days. Fact check the fact checkers and find out who works there to see if they have a political bias. I find the loudest voices usually get all there information from one source and their minds aren't open to other facts or fact patterns. This plays out in relationships and the current political divide. I tune out a lot of the people who parrot the major news headlines, so I guess it has effected me in many ways.
 
I had friends once...I got voted off the island and NOW I don’t have any friends. Oh sure, they SAY they are my friends but I know they are the ones that voted me off (and voted for that OTHER guy) that’s why I burned down their outhouse and sent the letter to their boss. Well, it serves them right because they voted me off the island. Now life is good, I can vote for who I want and it doesn’t matter. Heck, this last election I voted for everyone...twice, then I stood on my NEIGHBORS lawn and shouted at the top of my lungs “don’t bother voting because I voted for everyone” and I didn’t loose one friend...

The truth is, in my professional life I make great efforts to research and evaluate political and economic issues with as little bias as possible. This mean I’m not surrounded by clients with opinions or that I don’t have my own opinions...or that my opinions aren’t deeply held or that I don’t have biases. I would like to think I have earned my opinions and that my opinions are “more correct than yours” but experience (wisdom) has taught me that everyone else (especially those who are WRONG) thinks THEIR opinion is the right one. I have found the concepts of “open mindedness” and critical thinking are about as rare as the southwestern jackalope. SO I pick my battles. Unlike most of those who have opposing viewpoints as I do, I have actually put my “money were my mouth is” and run for office, supported and formed relationships with others who are or were in office. Not surprisingly this has cost me a couple clients, but not the ones I would have thought.
 
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