How many people argue with their family members?

[muh_roads]

My mom is such a staunch Obama supporter it would disgust most anyone. I thought I was making some progress on getting thru to her but to my astonishment she embraces the next bailout to take the bad assets off and get the loans going again.

Has anyone made any headway breaking thru to their family & friends? I imagine this is easier to do if your family supports republicans because anything anti-obama related is a bandwagon they can jump on...

Liberal supporters are the most stubborn group I swear. They always think they are right and they have the media on their side constantly. Anything used to contradict them is "crazy talk". And while Bush was a huge turd biscuit, they will always put the blame on him and solely on him. And I imagine four years down the line it will still be Bush's fault.

So how does one break through to these people? There has to be a way...I'm a former democrat who voted for Al Gore after all. Why does Ron Paul make so much sense to me while he doesn't to others?

[The One]

My family has left holiday gatherings on non-speaking terms after political and religious arguments. It amuses me.

[muh_roads]

My family has left holiday gatherings on non-speaking terms after political and religious arguments. It amuses me.

Same. After we get together for dinner or drinks we don't speak or e-mail each other for about 1 week to a month.

It just saddens me to come from a family whom I once admired and looked up to. Everyone does when they are younger. Your parents are your heroes. And now all I can do is view them as being so goddamn stubborn and stupid. :(

[sailor]

Never argue with family members.

Unless it`s over a juicy inheritance! :eek:

[muh_roads]

Never argue with family members.

Unless it`s over a juicy inheritance! :eek:

That is the pickle...I probably stood to inherit quite a bit at one time (super inflation excluded)...my father is a successful business owner. Probably not going to inherit anything anymore after all of our vicious arguing over the last couple of years...lol

You hate to argue. The other thing is the shadow such families have over you if you know what I'm talking about. So long as you don't own your own successful business you will "never know more than them"...in their eyes.

[Chieppa1]

My parents are now Ron Paul lovers. Only one or 2 liberals. And I just talk over them.

[mediahasyou]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=2036214#post2036214

[muh_roads]

Something else I might add...my fathers company is in the toilet at the moment... But they suddenly have lots of interest in them because they have machines that can make components for wind energy. His industry will go thru a retooling phase but they are all happy because he was worried about laying everyone off and shutting down the plant.

Having said that it is hard to argue against Obama's wind energy stimulus with them because his customers will benefit from it and everyone working there can keep their jobs.

I try to explain how there are winners and losers. I try to explain the ethanol subsidies they hate now makes them no different. In the face of completely shutting down the factory or keeping everyone employed is really a hard egg to crack.

Drug user getting his drug fix to keep the party going a bit more indeed...

[Deborah K]

We can't have a family gathering without ending up in political or religious debates. Very diverse group of people in my family. We shout and cuss, but we always kiss and hug farewell.

[Freedom 4 all]

My parents are liberals. My dad even believes 9/11 was an inside job but for some reason still supports socialism and is anti gun.

[tremendoustie]

My mom is such a staunch Obama supporter it would disgust most anyone. I thought I was making some progress on getting thru to her but to my astonishment she embraces the next bailout to take the bad assets off and get the loans going again.

Has anyone made any headway breaking thru to their family & friends? I imagine this is easier to do if your family supports republicans because anything anti-obama related is a bandwagon they can jump on...

Liberal supporters are the most stubborn group I swear. They always think they are right and they have the media on their side constantly. Anything used to contradict them is "crazy talk". And while Bush was a huge turd biscuit, they will always put the blame on him and solely on him. And I imagine four years down the line it will still be Bush's fault.

So how does one break through to these people? There has to be a way...I'm a former democrat who voted for Al Gore after all. Why does Ron Paul make so much sense to me while he doesn't to others?


For my part, diss republicans at the same time you're dissing democrats. Same thing for Rs.

The trigger goes off in their mind the instant they think you're saying Rs are better than Ds or vice versa -- they're hyper sensitive to partisanship. I've found if you spread the blame equally, they tend to listen.

For my part, my discussions tend to be fairly peacable, although I haven't brought them around yet.

[dannno]

Something else I might add...my fathers company is in the toilet at the moment... But they suddenly have lots of interest in them because they have machines that can make components for wind energy. His industry will go thru a retooling phase but they are all happy because he was worried about laying everyone off and shutting down the plant.

Having said that it is hard to argue against Obama's wind energy stimulus with them because his customers will benefit from it and everyone working there can keep their jobs.

I try to explain how there are winners and losers. I try to explain the ethanol subsidies they hate now makes them no different. In the face of completely shutting down the factory or keeping everyone employed is really a hard egg to crack.

Drug user getting his drug fix to keep the party going a bit more indeed...


I would definitely love to be in a position to make and profit off of green technology that Obama is planning to implement, but I will disagree with him for doing so every step of the way.

[sdczen]

My mom is such a staunch Obama supporter it would disgust most anyone. I thought I was making some progress on getting thru to her but to my astonishment she embraces the next bailout to take the bad assets off and get the loans going again.

Has anyone made any headway breaking thru to their family & friends? I imagine this is easier to do if your family supports republicans because anything anti-obama related is a bandwagon they can jump on...

Liberal supporters are the most stubborn group I swear. They always think they are right and they have the media on their side constantly. Anything used to contradict them is "crazy talk". And while Bush was a huge turd biscuit, they will always put the blame on him and solely on him. And I imagine four years down the line it will still be Bush's fault.

So how does one break through to these people? There has to be a way...I'm a former democrat who voted for Al Gore after all. Why does Ron Paul make so much sense to me while he doesn't to others?

Why don't you rifle through your mothers purse and take her money? In fact, why don't you do it every month. She can see spreading the wealth first hand. Make sure you spend the money on a fancy new cell phone or plasma TV. ;)

[dannno]

My mom is a Ron Paul supporter thanks to me and agrees with nearly everything he says. She's skeptical about some of the conspiracy theory stuff, but none of it really surprises if it were true either.

My dad is somewhere between O'Reilly, Hannity and Roger Hedgecock. He doesn't believe that our civil liberties are being threatened or violated, the Patriot Act will only be used on terrorists, etc.

On the other hand he has always been a big NAFTA opponent, so there's a few things we can find common ground on. He's also a bit statist when it comes to local government. He didn't think that Obama's plan of mandatory civil service was a bad idea, either.. So it can be trying to have conversations at times.

[Theocrat]

My mom is such a staunch Obama supporter it would disgust most anyone. I thought I was making some progress on getting thru to her but to my astonishment she embraces the next bailout to take the bad assets off and get the loans going again.

Has anyone made any headway breaking thru to their family & friends? I imagine this is easier to do if your family supports republicans because anything anti-obama related is a bandwagon they can jump on...

Liberal supporters are the most stubborn group I swear. They always think they are right and they have the media on their side constantly. Anything used to contradict them is "crazy talk". And while Bush was a huge turd biscuit, they will always put the blame on him and solely on him. And I imagine four years down the line it will still be Bush's fault.

So how does one break through to these people? There has to be a way...I'm a former democrat who voted for Al Gore after all. Why does Ron Paul make so much sense to me while he doesn't to others?

I come from a family of Democrats, many of which were disappointed that I didn't vote for Obama so we could have our first Black American President. They naturally assumed that if I wasn't voting for Obama then that meant I supported McCain, and by association, Bush. Once I explained to them that I supported neither, they were relieved that I wasn't supporting McCain.

I was able to explain to them my political convictions and why I was voting third party (Dr. Chuck Baldwin, baby!). They liked the way I articulated my views, but in the end, it was all about getting rid of a Republican President, to them. Since Obama was not only a Democrat but also Black, he was their obvious choice to make this happen. I was disappointed, but not surprised.

Now, I look forward to political conversations with my family so I can point out to them how much of a failure Obama's policies are, if nothing else. Since most of my family aren't that politically-savvy, I don't have to go into much detail to explain those things to them. Yet, they still have the audacity to hope for change.

[Anti Federalist]

Never argue with family members.

This x 1000.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

[Deborah K]

I come from a family of Democrats, many of which were disappointed that I didn't vote for Obama so we could have our first Black American President. They naturally assumed that if I wasn't voting for Obama then that meant I supported McCain, and by association, Bush. Once I explained to them that I supported neither, they were relieved that I wasn't supporting McCain.

I was able to explain to them my political convictions and why I was voting third party (Dr. Chuck Baldwin, baby!). They liked the way I articulated my views, but in the end, it was all about getting rid of a Republican President, to them. Since Obama was not only a Democrat but also Black, he was their obvious choice to make this happen. I was disappointed, but not surprised.

Now, I look forward to political conversations with my family so I can point out to them how much of a failure Obama's policies are, if nothing else. Since most of my family aren't that politically-savvy, I don't have to go into much detail to explain those things to them. Yet, they still have the audacity to hope for change.

Theocrat, thanks for your testimony. I just want to say that it really bothers me when black people say they voted for Obama JUST because he's black. I can understand being proud of having a black president when you're black, but I can't justify voting for anyone based solely on their race, gender, party, religion, sexual preference, etc. etc. It all falls into the collectivist hole for me.

[Kraig]

I argued a ton with my dad who was a Huckabee and then McCain supporter. The turning point was after the economic meltdown happened, he asked me "did Ron Paul really predict this would happen?". I told him that pretty much everyone who understands austrian economics knew it was going to happen. Now he has his own ration of food storage, and he's already been a gun owner for a long time. Plus it has really brought us closer together.

[tremendoustie]

Theocrat, thanks for your testimony. I just want to say that it really bothers me when black people say they voted for Obama JUST because he's black. I can understand being proud of having a black president when you're black, but I can't justify voting for anyone based solely on their race, gender, party, religion, sexual preference, etc. etc. It all falls into the collectivist hole for me.

Yeah, well, I agree, but unfortunately it happens a lot ... since you threw party in there I'm going to say it happens almost all the time.

Although, it seems like relgion and party are a little different than the others, which are not decisions (well, I suppose there is a debate about the last of course ...).

[sailor]

Some of you have very strange families. My family is cynical as hell on both sides. There is pretty much a consensus all the politicos are crooks and that is that. Nobody supports nothing. Hell, this whole part of the world is like that.

[Dreamofunity]

My mom generally tends to not pay any attention to news or politics. She's a very bright woman, but I think it all depresses her and so she feels better off just ignoring it. She voted for Obama, but I think it was a more "Anything but Bush" vote, and I think she's registered democrat and usually votes that way. She knows I like Paul, and often hears stuff I listen to (Free Talk Live and Mises Institute audio) and so I think she knows I'm fairly radical but for the most part she's cool with it. If she's flipping channels and sees Paul on or walks by while I'm watching some Paul interview on the news she'll always comment on it, so she can at least recognize the man.

I talk with her some about the monetary issues, I helped her out with her IRAs and what not a year or more back, although I didn't really know what to do with it either. I've heard her bring up the issue of printing money and stuff to one of her friends who is fairly liberal, which was kind of cool since I know she got that from me.

I don't talk to my dad or sister much, especially not about politics, but they're both remotely obamabots, anything but Bush, and don't know much about the issues - my sister mainly, my dad is somewhat informed. They couldn't understand why I would do a write in and not make sure Obama beat McCain. And after my dad lost his buisness (a long while ago, he was in the CD buisness before downloading became popular) he got a job at the government, so anytime I talk bad about bureaucracy or federal programs it's kind of like dissing his job - which I'm okay with, but I don't think he likes it.


Overall, I try not to bring up politics much, I know my family won't understand it from my perspective and it's not even worth trying to covert them. They're not that interested in politics, but know I am and encourage me in my endeavor so it's all good.

[trey4sports]

My mom is such a staunch Obama supporter it would disgust most anyone. I thought I was making some progress on getting thru to her but to my astonishment she embraces the next bailout to take the bad assets off and get the loans going again.

Has anyone made any headway breaking thru to their family & friends? I imagine this is easier to do if your family supports republicans because anything anti-obama related is a bandwagon they can jump on...

Liberal supporters are the most stubborn group I swear. They always think they are right and they have the media on their side constantly. Anything used to contradict them is "crazy talk". And while Bush was a huge turd biscuit, they will always put the blame on him and solely on him. And I imagine four years down the line it will still be Bush's fault.

So how does one break through to these people? There has to be a way...I'm a former democrat who voted for Al Gore after all. Why does Ron Paul make so much sense to me while he doesn't to others?

i dont truly convert them, instead of getting mad about it i become extremely sarcastic and make them feel quite stupid and inferior. no it makes no head way but i feel alot better than getting pissed off and storming out

[torchbearer]

During the presidential election my entire family(extended also) argued with me.
Now that all tell me I was right about everything.
Should make me feel good, but it actually pisses me off.

[pcosmar]

I don't argue with them. I'm afraid of the Lautenberg Act. :(

[nate895]

Not much, I occasionally argue with my uncle and grandpa. Uncle is borderline, to the point of voting for Ron Paul, but just not there yet. My grandpa and I argued over the Florida Primary (and he is from Florida) last year, then my mom got in a shouting match with him.

[Mandrik]

I have a hard time talking to family about most political topics, but I always seem to at least make people think when I talk foreign policy. Say the word empire and they really start to wonder. I have a lot of very smart cousins/uncles/aunts/etc. that have flat out told me they never really thought about the whole "Why are we still in Japan or Germany?" thing. I keep it civil and don't make it a R. vs D. debate. Foreign policy is our biggest problem, and it's also the easiest topic to discuss with most rational people.

[youngbuck]

I have a hard time talking to family about most political topics, but I always seem to at least make people think when I talk foreign policy. Say the word empire and they really start to wonder. I have a lot of very smart cousins/uncles/aunts/etc. that have flat out told me they never really thought about the whole "Why are we still in Japan or Germany?" thing. I keep it civil and don't make it a R. vs D. debate. Foreign policy is our biggest problem, and it's also the easiest topic to discuss with most rational people.

Domestic Policy should be the same as Foreign Policy. The policy should be of non-interventionism, plain and simple.

[Austin]

My mom is incredibly interested in the Federal Reserve, so I'm going to buy her The Creature from Jekyl Island

[andrewh817]

I find it helpful when debating politics to talk about the IDEAS before mentioning NAMES or POLITICAL PARTIES. That way people don't prejudge you and not listen to what you have to say. My family is basically all christian conservative, I got my little brother and sister interested in politics. My sister is only 12 years old but she is very smart for her age and has even acknowledged how ridiculous all the Obama hype is.

[Jace]

...

[Pauls' Revere]

They hardly associate with me now that Missouri labelled me a terrorist...
That whole your with us or your with them arguement leftover by Bush.

[akihabro]

I got a family member who told me is a democratic socialist (who I really want to give a mouthfull) one doesn't talk about it much and one doesn't know too much. I have found Obama supporters are just uneducated and take his words and agenda at face value.

[nayjevin]

I argue with myself. Sometimes my family joins me.