Quote:
Originally Posted by htismaqe
It's 2020. I'm not sure that's actually possible.
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There are tons of non-poltical topics to talk about, and tons of things to talk about in a non-political way.
Problem is, politics has increasingly been the exertion of power over the lives of others. So when politics comes up, even innocently or obliquely, people are invested.
For instance, you can talk all the live-long day about a delicious steak, or you can moan about carbon footprints and slaughterhouse procedures. You can talk about a movie, or moan about representation and subtext and messaging in the movie.
Now small talk has been transformed into judgment.
There is a dynamic that needs to be addressed without recrimination, because it's there, but people get their hackles up about it. The left has this notion that life is political, but they hate politics. This is in part because they make politically 'charged' remarks without being explicit. For some it's passive-agression, for some it's that they are legitimately oblivious to how politically charged they sound. The right OTOH, actually wants to avoid politicization, but when politics come up, they are blunt and explicit. They aren't oblique or symbolic or coded.
So you get an exchange like;
L: 'geez, what is with the world today?' /eyeroll . . . [subtext, all my political opponents are really messing things up]
R: 'yeah, thank Gawd for Trump!!'
L: 'WTF!?!? Where did that come from?'