This is something I have wondered about since I was a teenager. How come Jack is such a nice man, as long as he doesn’t mention politics? Jill helps all people in need, but when she opens her mouth nothing but the vilest opinions come out….I have met all kinds of humans during my four decades on earth: nice fascists, kind communists, gentle racists, sweet anarchists etc.
I learned this: don’t talk politics with a person you are not willing to disagree with. It has to be OK that you don’t see events in the same light. Don’t expect to change the other person’s mind. Chances are their political views were ingrained in childhood. Maybe it was something a father/mother/uncle/friend said, or something they experienced in school….Chances are, even if one of you pleads your case with the utmost logic and patience, the other cannot change their mind. The mind is like that. It can hold on to what it deems dear and right even if it senses that it is wrong….make that – even if it knows it is wrong…
Can we change anybody’s mind? Can *we* change? I believe we can, but at a glacial pace. Sometimes the only hope is that the change from one generation to the next will also lead to a change of consciousness…