In the USA, do you hold political discussions or debates at family dinners?

[Julie4]

[14gurlz2gagonit]

Depends... My wife's Dad's side is fun to talk to and talking shit about any and all things political is just part of the fun.

Her Mom's side though... All they do is go off on random rants about Trump that sounds so retarded that all the normal people in the room can be seen rolling their eyes. You basically can't say anything nice about Trump or they'll go ballistic and shit their pants. That will probably be the last dinner they even let you go to. It's hard because they say some wacky shit that sounds like Racial Maddow herself made it up, but at the same time they're so mentally unstable you can't correct them on anything with facts... they will shit their pants.

[AviatorTom]

Occasionally, yes, we discuss politics, but we try to keep it to simple news items, like "Did you see that such-and-such happened?" We try to avoid controversial items. We each have slightly different political views, but none of us are radical left or fight, and arguments are rare.

Most of the talk during dinner has nothing to do with politics.

[midnightmoon05]

Never till 2 months ago when trump was elected… I have never talked about politics with family, friends.
we don’t waste our energy talking about politics during Christmas or holiday dinners when we all get together.

I shared with my own kids a leader is finally in the office. Plus a few more sentences… other than that… kids are focusing on their school work and friends

[lightbulb27]

We do discuss, thankfully we here are mostly aligned. It isn't arguments but discussion to see the bigger picture. There are different views in the greater family with the extremes in views.

[alice55]

I think they have a lot I saw a lots of americans complaining about some family member because they were not on the same political side as them

[BarryLiverstone]

Unfortunately because there are only two major political parties in the USA, more and more the political strategy to win votes is villainizing the other side. Therefore that is resulting in tribalism and people assuming that because someone supports one side they assume that person believes all things the same.

[alice55]

@BarryLiverstone oh well in France we have lots of political talk too but people are genrally accepting of others people view except some person who can’t expect others opinion

[BarryLiverstone]

Ya that’s more civil and not as divisive. Certainly it’s much better to ask people what they believe on certain topics than just assume based on their political party support. And in the USA both parties do this so it’s toxic.

The reality is like 90% of the world are normal people who just want to live supporting their families and communities and be happy. It’s extreme 10% on the edges who cause most of the issues.

[alice55]

@BarryLiverstone American are pretty extreme on a lot of things it seem they Even cut off people dépending on who they vote for

We have those in France too extremist but they re tiny minority

[BarryLiverstone]

If you are talking about people online then I’d agree with you. But talking to people irl is much different

[alice55]

@BarryLiverstone yes on internet, I never talked to nan American in real life

[BarryLiverstone]

I will be honest and say that I have blocked a few users on gag. However it’s not because of who they voted for rather it’s because they seem to only get on gag for propaganda. I’ll look at their profile and all questions are political, all extreme on one side or the other. And when answering they want to have debates and will argue in bad faith. I’m more than happy discussing politics with other topics on gag and treating others with respect, but whether it’s a hand or those individuals are stuck in their echo chambers it becomes a bit of white noise :)

[alice55]

@BarryLiverstone Some gag member are pretty crazy yes but most are pretty ok in general.
I have encounter those they re ok as long as you agree with them but if not they go bat shit crazy

[NathanDavis]

no... we're sane, we love and we like each other

[exitseven]

We usually just talk about how ridiculous he democrats are.

[abc3643]

No. It's really just my wife and me and sometimes we talk about this stuff but generally do not disagree (which is rare for us).

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

I tried with my uncle but the dude is seriously annoying.

Political junkies just can't be wrong and are seriously blinded by bias so I rather not anymore because it leads to arguments.

[KostasKouvalis]

With my dad at the dinner table, it's unavoidable. Speaking of politics, what are your thoughts on what they did to Le Pen?

[Julie4]

It's justified, she stole public money from us, and marine le Pen herself asked for ineligibility for politicians who steal public money. We call it karma here

[KostasKouvalis]

So you believe she did, even after her ballots were tampered with?
You think she'd risk her reputation? They've been targeting her for years.
I take it you're not a Le Pen supporter.

[Julie4]

Ne diffusez pas ses théories conspirationnistes sur les bulletins de vote truqués. Si les élections présidentielles ont été truquées, cela signifie que Marine Le Pen ne représente aucun danger. Parce qu'à chaque fois qu'elle se représentera, ils truqueront les élections, donc pas besoin de la rendre inéligible pour qu'elle perde.

Elle a pris de l'argent public, d'autres l'ont fait et ont été condamnés aussi.

[Julie4]

Don't spread her conspiracy theories about rigged ballots. If the presidential elections were rigged, that means Marine Le Pen represents no danger. Because every time she runs again, they'll rig the elections, so there's no need to make her ineligible to lose.

She's taken public money, others have done it and been convicted too.

[KostasKouvalis]

It's not a conspiracy theory. I had a reliable source from inside France that told me, the ballots that French citizens were being sent, in a lot of them, the paper for Le Pen was either ripped or missing entirely, making it impossible to vote for her. How would I even know you guys vote this way, unless a French person told me?
It was all over the internet and was proven.

[Julie4]

I voted, and the other members of my family voted in France, and none of us saw what you describe.

And once again, even if the election is rigged, there's no need for ineligibility to disqualify Marine le Pen. So the theory that Marine le Pen represents a threat to the globalized elites, and that's why there's been this court case, goes out the window.

[KostasKouvalis]

Just because yours wasn't tampered with, doesn't mean others weren't. Obviously they're not gonna tamper with all of them, because that would be obvious. Also, surely they know which areas are left leaning and which are right leaning.

Do you know the song "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. Go ask a certain girl, I think she'll know.

[Julie4]

This theory is absolutely ridiculous. But as I said, if the elections were rigged, why in these conditions would the system and the globalized elites have needed to put Marine le Pen out of the game with this court case, when all they have to do is rig the presidential elections every time?

[KostasKouvalis]

To cover their own assessment. To keep her from running completely.

The same thing happened with Trump.

The Russian tampering line didn't work, so they impeached him not once but twice. That didn't work, so they rigged the election than tried to jail him for January 6th. That didn't work, so they tried to jail him for other things. That didn't work, so they levied felony charges on him thinking that would prevent him from running. And when THAT didn't work, the only thing left was to assassinate him, and THAT didn't work either😂

The left in France has been trying to put down Le Pen for years.

[Julie4]

In France, if we are to believe your theory, election rigging has worked very well, so I don't see why it shouldn't work again, there's no need for this affair to prevent it from winning

By the way, the RN ex FN owes its popularity to the left, in the past Jean-Marie Le Pen was an unknown, François Mitterrand, President of the Republic, decided to invite him in the media etc. to boost his popularity rating, so that they would take votes from the classic right, weakening it and knowing that the FN would have no chance of winning.

Very clever, but FN voters should stop believing they're anti-system, because it's literally the system that created them. 😂

[KostasKouvalis]

Yeah, it's working. And they keep getting away with it.

I'm assuming those are political parties and FN is the party of Le Pen. Is that supposed to be Front Nacional?

[Julie4]

Yes, they changed FN for RN

[Anonymous]

no because I'd wreck every single one of them in a political debate though most of them vote the way I do

[RyanEC]

Sometimes but we all mostly agree.


Do you do that?

[Julie4]

Yes it's not uncommon for us to do that here, but it's often hectic because there are political disagreements lol

[RyanEC]

Does most of your family agree or are there differences.

[Julie4]

In my family there are people of classic left, others who vote RN. Other centrists

[RyanEC]

You have more political parties so that makes sense.

Does it cause tension?

[Julie4]

Sometimes yes, but on the whole I'd say no because it's not our main topic of discussion when we're together.

[Julie4]

Personally, I have more monarchist tendencies, so I'm quite different from the rest of my family. 🤣

[RyanEC]

Yes I imagine that would be quite unique compared to the current party positions.

But of course which parties in France are the biggest have changed quite a lot in the last 15 years so this could change as well.

[ewok737]

No, never have. That is an explosive device waiting for place to happen.

[nawtee_me]

No, politics is off limits at the dinner table

[slatyb]

No, we all hate Trump

[Dargil]

We sometimes discuss political issues.

[BarryLiverstone]

Yes, it comes up as a topic

[BarryLiverstone]

Lots of times people disagree and can have strong opinions. Does that also happen in your family?

[Julie4]

Yes, it can create tension lol.

[BarryLiverstone]

For sure! Mix in some alcohol and family drama.. those dinners can feel tense alright. Anything you avoid discussing?

[Julie4]

Exactly. Not really, but if I know there are sensitive people I'm not going to add fuel to the fire.

[BarryLiverstone]

Makes sense. And if you are having family dinner around camp fires it’s best to have less tension or someone could get burned ;)

[Julie4]

Yes 🤣

[BarryLiverstone]

Of course my mom and her sisters will discuss the British royal family and argue over that as well

[Julie4]

you are English?

[BarryLiverstone]

My grandfather was born in the UK. So yes, ig I’m part English.

[BarryLiverstone]

Are you English?

[Julie4]

No , French lol

[BarryLiverstone]

That’s like a whole other country ;)

[Julie4]

Yes lol

[BarryLiverstone]

Thought you would see wee wee

[DrPepper12]

Yes. Routinely. It's important!!!

[TwoToTooTutu2]

No, there is zero point to it.

[Staximus]

No politics allowed at the dinner table

[Anonymous]

Sometimes we do.

[PrincessC16]

No, I don't

[Sono83]

No, we do not. It is a recipe for disaster.

[NataliaNYC]

No never.

[loveslongnails]

Not a chance.

[Bklynbadboy12]

Absolutely not

[eagle1951]

no way