I intended to write this blog about the difficulties that people encounter on Thanksgiving when faced with discussing politics with their relatives. It appears things have gotten so dire in this regard that there was an article in the New York Times that was intended to be humorous, but the idea that crisis negotiators could offer some valuable advice on the tactics one would need to deal with political conversation amongst relatives didn’t seem so far-fetched. I thought I would come up with a cute top five list of advice to share on how to navigate the mine-filled terrain that is the political Thanksgiving conversation with the relative at the polar opposite end of the political spectrum. But then I read an article that described the Twitter “conversation” (and I use the term in the loosest possible sense) that has exploded over the past few days about the tragic situation erupting in Ferguson, Missouri. I encourage you to read it – there is a striking graphic that depicts the great divide that exists in the conversation between liberal and conservative people on Twitter when it comes to sharing opinions on the Ferguson decision. This graphic reveals that there is very little communication occurring between people holding differing opinions on the decision, further illustrating the siloing that often occurs in social media.
I thought I would advise you to avoid political conversations whenever possible in the interest of family harmony, thinking “What could possibly be gained by talking past each other?” Instead, I humbly offer the following advice: to begin with, do avoid the political conversation during Thanksgiving dinner. After all, everyone should have the opportunity to have a stress free dinner in the interest of family harmony and the promotion of good digestion. But after dinner, I would encourage all of us to ask each other some questions. Pose questions about Ferguson, Obamacare, immigration, or whatever issue you feel is worth raising. And then listen to what your relative with the polar opposite opinion has to say. You might find their opinion to be crazy, you might question their news sources, or perhaps you might find you both have some questions left unanswered that you could explore together. You could both realize that you don’t have all of the answers – maybe you could at least agree on what questions remain unanswered. Maybe it would be some small victory for both you and your relative to realize that there is something left to be discovered; some piece of evidence remaining to be mulled over. And maybe in that moment, you could both realize that there is some value in searching further for more information and in keeping the conversation going.