Politics. That word probably evokes more fear and anxiety than that time your neighbor dressed up as a scary clown for Halloween. But unlike your neighbor’s scary clown costume, it doesn’t just come out for a few hours and then get buried in the back of a closet for the rest of the year. It’s everywhere. All the time. Everyone is constantly talking about it. Thinking about it. Fighting about it.
It’s easy to cast the blame of political divisiveness on the politicians. However, while they have done a lot to get us into this mess, the problem of political polarization extends far beyond the White House and Capitol Hill. As a country, we have become so divided and so hostile towards each other that our political differences are destroying relationships. They’re tearing apart families and friendships. And causing a lot of pain.
The hatred and tension in today’s political climate can seem overwhelming at times. How are we as individuals supposed to deal with all of this? What should we say? What should we do?
Sometimes, the best way to talk about politics is to not talk about politics. Problems are not always solved by talking about them and there are times when talking can cause more harm than good. In Part 3 of this series, I’ll discuss how to know when we should avoid talking politics.
But, given the number of political conversations that will be taking place over the next few weeks, I want to start the series by giving some tips on how to make the best of political conversations when you can’t escape them.
How can you talk politics without destroying your relationships or getting yourself fired?
Here are 3 key concepts to help you get your political conversations off on the right foot and avoid disaster:
1. Don’t assume the worst about the other person (or the best about yourself)
When we have conversations with people who have different political views than we do, it’s often tempting to reduce them to a single stereotype based on their political party and then assume the worst about them. We assume they’re ignorant, irrational, and perhaps even evil. After all, how else could they support the political party they do?