Ask Lemmy

Most of the people I interact with have different viewpoints, and I consider it a positive. The danger is never examining your beliefs and just accept them, even when new facts come up or the environment changes.

I'm 45 now. I grew up in a generally conservative community as well. Now I work in TV news and there are strong stereotypes about journalists. But people mostly think that about national journalists who generally live in major metropolitan areas. I work in local news, and I've lived in Georgia, Alaska, North Carolina, and Florida. I've heard co-workers bad mouth all of the presidents, and posit that at least 3 of them (from 2 political parties) intended to enact martial law to stay president.

Having similarly political minded people around you can be soothing to a degree. Like you said, you'll be thinking about things that others have figured out for themselves a long time ago. But some of those things are personal decisions anyway. Even given an answer you'll have to think about how you feel about trade-offs.

What's good is when you find someone of similar temperament and kindness. Even when you disagree, there doesn't have to be anger and resentment because you'll both feel that effort was made to do things the right way, even when you come to different answers about the best course.

Good luck with that.

We just moved cross country out of a loud Trump 2016 and 2020 area to a firmly blue state.

I will admit I see a lot fewer Trump flags/hats/shirts than I did a couple of years ago. I don’t care though, I’m not going to be surrounded by closeted MAGAts. Just because they are too embarrassed to fly the flag now doesn’t mean they won’t in the future.

In a map shown somewhere on lemmy this week I'm square in the middle of red where 80+ percent voted for trump. I'm surrounded by trumps chumps.

Anarchist surrounded by capitalists and the state...

Utah... FML

I'm in Tennessee and probably the only socialist for hundreds of miles. Completely surrounded by maga "christians". Needless to say, I don't have a lot of close friends or family. Almost everyone I know thinks tRump should be king for life. god's chosen, and all that nonsense.

Disclaimer: am Canadian, will be discussing using that lens.

On a daily basis, most people I interact with are about where I am. I probably have different reasons for believing and voting how I do, but if an election were to be called tomorrow, all my friends and most of my co-workers would be voting in roughly the same direction as me.

My family is a mixed bag. On the one hand, my father has never voted for anyone further left than the old Progressive Conservatives, and has even voted for the Christian Heritage Party on occasion. My mother also normally votes conservative, though she has confessed to be that she finds American-style conservatism in general and Pierre Poilievre in particular to be too odious to stomach and so I think she may have been spoiling her ballots recently. I don't know how my one sister votes, but her husband is a also an outspoken conservative, being a card-carrying member of the CPC.

On the other hand, my other sister has never voted for anyone further right than the NDP, and her husband is apathetic - he thinks all politicians are the same and doesn't bother voting.

Holidays are generally fine, as political opinions are generally off-limits, though inevitably at some point my father and brother-in-law (the CPC one) have an extended grouse session about the state of the country and how much they hate the Liberals.

For a while in my 20's, I lived with my mom. It was always something walking through the living room and hearing the quartering or Greg gutfeld or some other moron pissing in her ear about how I'm a domestic terrorist because I'm a leftist.

Also I live in Kansas, so it's not like leaving the house was much better

If we consider how religion is often part of political views (with conservatives almost always being christian chuds), imagine being someone who's fond of red candles, someone who as a cisman-presenting person enjoys letting their nails grow while painted with black and red polish, someone who sincerely worships the Mesopotamic Goddess of underworld and uses Her seal as a pendant necklace, someone who sees owls as literally sacred and literal manifestations of the Goddess, all this while having to exist in a mostly-christian country called Brasil (worse, having to biologically exist in a house rented by a bolsonarista, with nowhere else to go other than the public gravedigs of the cemetery, a place I've been seriously considering more and more as the days pass).

Imagine being possibly the only one holding this kind of belief in a range of 500km, with everyone around you parroting phrases such as "fica com deus" (a farewell phrase that literally translates to "stay with god") and "deus abençoe" ("god bless you").

Imagine attending therapists and mental health "professionals" who are visibly annoyed by your positive and ecstatic recounting of your spiritual experiences before the presence of Lilith during 3AM, to the extent of a psychiatrist diagnosing you as a "schizotypal" due to a perceived "atypical beliefs" and "magical thinking"; to the extent that even mental health care becomes part of the social bullying you face.

Imagine being unable to find employment because you don't want to let go of the one you've become fond of as yourself (how's compromising one's own values in order to be "allowed" among society, any different from suicide, when both situations involve letting go of the one who you've been?), because the "job market" requires you to be assimilated into yet another physical manifestation of an Agent Smith (don't even dare attending a job interview while having long painted fingernails because "your body looks like a male so your nails must be trimmed and you likely need to start repenting and going to church because you're indemoniated").

Yeah, this is me and this is my existence. And I've grown increasingly tired of existing in this shithole of a world.

!asklemmy@lemmy.world

Currently? I am center-left in Western Europe. Political views where I live generally lean left but are quite diverse, so it's hard to find people who are directly opposing... I do have a colleague who is a classic liberal (free market, deregulation and all that), but we are quite chill about it & that's pretty much it

I did spend 3-4 years living in majority Hispanic/Vietnamese neighborhoods in Houston though, and I'd be considered much more left-leaning relative to the US population. So I was a left-leaning person, in fairly right-leaning neighborhoods, in a left-leaning city, in a right-leaning state... having any discussions about politics was certainly an experience, I just tried to not talk about it for the most part lol

I am an anarchist in rural GA, so... completely surrounded.

I'm in a red region of a blue state. There's a good amount of Trumpism around. Most people I talk to made it through school without learning history or civics. They don't understand the economic issues and mostly vote red because they believe that the Democrats want to take their guns away, turn their sons into daughters, or give their money to brown people both at home and abroad.

I'm in a blue pinprick in a red state and all my family and all the surrounding towns are deep red even after Trump 2.0. I'm not sure they actually support the policies and positions but it's what they THINK their position is and it's what their "identity position" is (my dad was a Republican and his dad was a Republican and I'm a Republican). It's tough. I would love to move but it's easier to move TO something than from it.

We have had more than a few family battles to say the least.

I'm in Missouri, but in a major city here, so there's a big mix.

The inner-city is strongly liberal, as in we support our own taxation because we like the services liberal and even have a free commuter train line. The suburbs are deep, deep red, and they think they should dictate policy to us because they commute into the city often.

Socialist living a rural town, 30 minutes from a large city. I found some awesome like-minded people when I joined the local small community theater, but for the most part, everyone around me is super duper red. Birthplace of the KKK is like, a 10 min drive from me, so kinda figures.

After the Black Lives Matters riots in the city, I've been doing my own solo protests every Juneteenth, holding a big "Black Lives Matter" and "Happy Juneteenth!" sign by the main road through town. The first year I did it, had 3 separate people drive by shouting "white power!" and had the cops called on me, they told the cops I had a gun, presumably hoping that I'd be shot. I wasn't carrying, I was not shot.

I've been doing it every year, and the "white power!" yells have ceased, now just people flicking me off or yelling "All Lives Matter!" which is progress, I guess! But the vast majority of the interactions are thumbs up and friendly honks from like minded people, in a 75-25 ratio.

Maybe it's making a difference, maybe not, but I DO love yelling at racists. So far they've all been too cowardly to take me up on my offer to whoop their ass, but I'm hoping that will change 😊

I'm in a very red part of a purple-trending-blue state. The people immediately around me are mostly conservative. I'm much closer to an anarchist in my personal beliefs than anything else.

The people at the church I attend--Unitarian Universalist, because there aren't any Satanists near me--are mostly old hippies. The people I work directly with are mostly marginalized people. So the people I have the most contact with are definitely on the left side of the political spectrum. OTOH, I'm spoken with someone in another dept. at my work place that's a genuine Nazi apologist, and claims that they only murdered Jews because the Allies waged war against them.

My entire family is maga, which is awful, but it's literally just them. Otherwise I'm in an urban city, in an educated and liberal profession, and dating an awesome guy with a very sweet family. Being surrounded by normal and healthy people really makes my interactions with my family feel that much worse. :) Sometimes I'll bother to tell them they're wrong, but it doesn't matter. They're not acting out of reason. They're acting out of hatred and avarice.

My friend group consists of a mix of people on the "far-right" wing and the "far-left" wing. Some of them are political active, some are active politicians. None of them are racists. My experience is that they all want the same for our society, they just disagree on how to get there. All discussions are civil and we don't think less of them on the opposite wing.

Disclaimer: I'm not in the US. Obviously.

I live in Texas… I consider myself Progressive… yeah it sucks. Only saving grace is I live in a city and most all my friends are liberal, so I can be open with them.

Outside of there though, i used to have to stay quiet, but lately, if someone brings up something political, I very much am more outspoken about telling them my thoughts. I usually get disgusted looks, but don’t care.

Some though, are truly just ignorant. Was talking with one person about Madhani and she asked “isn’t he trying to make everything islam there?” I told her about all the things he’s doing, including a coop grocery store for lower prices and she was genuinely surprised.

I live in a very blue area, but most of my coworkers are conservative. I spend a lot of time at work so inevitably political topics come up here and there. I have to handle them with kid gloves when we do talk politics, but they do extend respect to me and can agree to disagree with me. Well, as respectful as they can be considering some of their conservative political beliefs.

Im an anarchist who works blue collar in the rural Bible Belt. It's torture. Either I get in arguments with everyone around me or i spend all my time biting my tongue. Ive gotta get out of here.

Going to DSA meetings is a breath of fresh air but I never have the time.

I have slowly but efficiently removed every single Republican from my life (except for my grandmother, because I love her to death).

If I find out that you are a Republican, that will be the last voluntary interaction we have.

Am in Scotland. Frequently overhear people talking about how Trump has a plan to save us. Never tried to engage with any of these people, but they dont sound like theyre joking.

My whole life has been a weird back and forth of this. I grew up in a hyper conservative household and lived in a hyper conservative town, but I wanted to go to art school. So I moved to Seattle.

Fast forward I was a conservative in Seattle of all places, and racist af to boot. Being 18 coming off the heels of my family meant I had no original thoughts and just repeated everything my mom taught me.

I quickly learned better, both through college education but also meeting the people I'd been brought up racist against. Being in a multicultural hub like Seattle means having to see the charicatures my mom had painted for me live, breathe, and talk to me, and it's hard for anyone with 2 braincells to run together to keep thinking those things when you interact with the people daily.

I stayed in the area after college and became increasingly more leftist. Then at a point I ended up moving to a small conservative town again due to financial issues.

Here I faced the flip side of what I'd experienced in Seattle. I'm white so everyone would try to pull me into conversation about immgrants or people on welfare or LGBT people and I was the sole voice against those views. I tried to reason with them, provide an alternative perspective, and over the years I've had mixed results. But the thing I'll say that was different was the amount of violence and threat I've felt being the outsider in these communities.

I said some straight up racist shit when I was younger in Seattle. I lost friends and reputation over it but I never felt afraid. In the small town though, I lost jobs, was threatened, flipped off, verbally abused... I never had anyone physically attack me but it came close a few times. And the only thing I said in those areas was things like "they aren't bad people because they are Mexican, they're bad people because they did X to you, Debra."

The racism and homophobia was the biggest hurdle honestly. People in that sphere dont think the things they are thinking are wrong. Often they only know what they have somehow been slighted, and they misatteibute their frustrations to race or politics. "I can't afford groceries because so many (insert race) people are on food stamps." No, you can't afford groceries because your work isn't paying you anything but beans and Walmart is the only grocery store in town. There are so many people on food stamps because they are socio-economically disadvantaged. Perhaps if you can't afford groceries you might also qualify for food stamps."

But that's hard to quantify, it's easier to blame the have-nots as being morally lacking than it is to be mad at systems that are hard to quantify.

Nothing has made me more right wing than left wing propaganda and vica versa

Of course "left/right wing" is a ridiculously over simplified perspective in the first place but if nuance is a political stance, I suppose I'm heavily outnumbered

I live in Canada and on an island where the capital city is historically extremely liberal and leftist, but immediately outside of that city it is conservative country all around. Its pretty wild living 25 minutes out of the city where I can go from being out in full pride gear to feeling less and less safe the closer I get to home.

On my island generally people are very close-knit (at the village level) and unfortunately give too much credit to right-aligned politicians, especially when it comes to immigration. The place is a migration crossroads, and there's always vultures ready to rile people up for political gain. Otherwise very community-minded, kind people who are abundantly helpful and welcoming. Make it make sense

My personal, close social circle is pretty much only leftists, both egg and hatched

My state is overwhelmingly conservative and I stick out like a sore thumb that wants universal healthcare.

I filter out the vast, vast majority of people and basically have a dozen people I know and hang out with who are also not conservative.

I live in America in a deep blue state. The divide is about as classically pronounced as the railroad tracks here when the trailer parks grow numerous. Representation is deeply gerrymandered.

It's also extremely militarized out here, with most people being attached to the military bases in some way.

I spent 10 years working on the county level. For a time in a rural red area and for a time in the bluer area. Blue areas tend to be corporate owned and worship police. Red areas are desperately poor and distrust government.

Out here the first point of wealth is to insulate and isolate from politics. So it has always been much easier to discuss politics with the rural poor folks. Free breakfast and childcare is a service that's appreciated and used.

I don't even know how to reach the deep blue folks living beyond their gates. Maybe the delivery workers can try to leave fliers.

Im in a technically far-right town, but most of the people i know about are either left-wing, either right or far-right, but in that case never militants : they're just too stupid, too lazy or too mistaken to get over their reactionaries prejudices, and most of the time they end up agreeing with progressive views when there's a political discussion. But those are quite rare tbf, people dont talk that much about partisan politics.

Practically 100%.

I live in the only red district in Hawaii. I have a few anarchist friends and left leaning folks I cruise with, but by and large , if anyone here is political, they are maga.

That being said, I do go work on progressive campaigns in progressive areas. But here it's red red red.

I live in a supper conservative, traditionalist and patriotic country... I've worked in different corperations from small to big and most people have been racists conservative at worst and reactionary centrists at best.

At work I'm often considered a mood kill as I often can't take it and have trough in a sarcastic remark that breaks their minds a little bit so they move on from their distastefull discussion.

In my free time I mostly hang out with people that are leftist as well and I also enjoy going to leftist political marches and activities.

I’m in a blue state, so not very. But I work in an interesting environment where people hold a lot of conspiratorial and junk-science views (recently there was a rumor about an upcoming seven-second loss of gravity.) I navigate it with shutting down any sense that I would ever humor it. I don’t maintain any sort of connection beyond general courtesy otherwise. Worst case was “we have to agree on reality to discuss it” and that was that.

I live in Madison and everyone seems to have the same liberal political views, I almost never meet someone who opposes liberal/leftist ideals. All my friends are trans and some of my friends/coworkers even like Linux. we rarely encounter hostility, though I’d like to venture out more. It gets tiring when everyone agrees yet we can’t even solve the housing crisis.

I’m a weird mix of both. I’m a blue dot in a sea of deep red… But I also work in the arts, so my coworkers all tend to be extremely blue. So in my work circles, I’m surrounded by blue. But in my personal life, I’m surrounded by red. I get both extremes, to the point that I’m seen as the rainbow sheep of the family, but I’m the most cishet person in my department. And ironically enough, I also heavily suspect that I’m the farthest left in my department, (I’m firmly in the anarcho-communist hole) despite the fact that I’m the only cishet person in the office.

It can be good for getting the current talking points from conservatives. I like to stay on top of that kind of thing, so I can see how they’re forming the views they are. Even if I fully disagree with the reasoning, or recognize that they’re working with incorrect/incomplete/biased sources, it can be helpful to know how both sides are approaching certain topics. It makes debates easier, because I have a fairly good grasp of how conservatives think. I’ll see a major event hit the news, and my coworkers will have a vastly different take on things compared to my family.

Wildly surrounded. I'm very used to interact with people with vastly different political opinions.

I have a straight up openly francoist coworker.

But I'm also surrounded by a lot of left leaning people. It's kind of diverse here right now.

Anyway, I think it's better for you to have to think the arguments rather than you repeating arguments you heard somewhere else. It would make you find your own believes, and have a firmer consolidation on why you believe in what you believe.