Thanksgiving Throwdowns Are Good for You

From the New York Times editorial section:

People may think it’s polite to avoid injecting politics into a holiday that should be focused on family, food and football. But with all the talk of “safe spaces” on college campuses, it may be a blessing that relatives can still argue about politics without feeling personally affronted.

One friend who is no stranger to Thanksgiving arguments pointed out that, in some ways, it can be exhilarating to confront a relative with opposing views. In our ultrapersonalized, curated online world, the Thanksgiving table is one of the last nonsafe spaces. On Facebook, you can easily unfriend someone with whom you disagree. It’s a lot harder when that person is sitting across the turkey from you.

More here.

I will NOT be discussing politics with my conservative family for Thanksgiving, a tradition I have maintained for over a decade now. While probably not quite as conservative as I am liberal - well, maybe my dad is - my brothers and father are definitely as passionate about their politics as I am about mine. And we all know it. There's just no need for me to make myself "right" about things that ultimately have nothing to do with our familial relationship.

I mean, we may inadvertently tread on some political territory, but typically when that happens, I'm, like, "here's what I think," instead of "you are WRONG!" This is how we have festive holidays in the Reeder family; we all play along. It's absolutely nothing like one of my facebook threads. Actually, my discussion threads are typically pretty civil, but you know what I mean. There's no need to tell anybody at Thanksgiving dinner that they have no idea what they're talking about, which I often do on facebook.

But I do really like that this NY Times editorial encourages families to talk politics when they're together. We should ALL talk more about politics, especially across the aisle if that's your situation. It's just that I don't think that would work for the Reeders.

We're very proud men, you know.

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