If you vote for Trump we can't be friends

A good chunk of my liberal friends aren't friends anymore and not because I made that choice.

People who have known me most of my life telling me I'm suddenly racist and fascist.

They're politically drunk. It's the only explanation for their self-imposed exile from life.

a reply to: JAGStorm
When I was first introduced to voting, long before I was actually able to vote, I was told of the two rules.
1. You never discuss who you voted for. That is why you used to go into a curtained booth where your choice could not viewed by anyone.

2. It is rude and inappropriate to ask someone who they voted for.

You could talk politics, but never in polite company, which meant to me that if you talked politics tempers were sure to fly.

I think maybe we should return to the use of some of those old fashion rules.

Personally, I would not want a friend that thinks it is okay to tell anyone who they should vote for. Most of my friends are as different from me as they can get. I like it that way. I don't expect, nor do I want to be surrounded with mini mes. I would find that boring and nerve wrecking. I can barely stand myself sometimes.

a reply to: GrandSchemeOfThings

Your leftist bubble needs popping.

That's pretty much about 75% of my Facebook feed - you mean to tell me that's not the norm for everyone? I honestly thought it was.

Now granted, I live in a blue city in a blue state and work in a blue industry, so I accept the fact that probably around 75-90% of my social network are Democrats, and that's fine. What I don't get though, is that of my FB friends on the right, I can only think of 1 that regularly posts political stuff, but my friends on the left, it's nearly every one of them that posts political stuff, and it's nearly constant. The ole' "unfriend me if you voted for Trump" is a weekly thing on my feed, no biggie really. I'm used to it, I chuckle at human nature, and I move on.

I have a theory - Folks on the left tend to value groups over individuals, whereas folks on the right are the opposite, generally speaking they value the individual over the group. Social media is all about groups, and the larger your social group is, the more important you appear to be to others. So social media automatically tends to select for the folks who are most likely to place group over individual, thus emphasizing the ideology of groups, otherwise known as the political left.

Now, because social media tends to favor people who value group identity over individuals, you start to get a tribalistic view of the world developing in social media. It's social categorization gone wild. The OP's friend seems to value groups over the individual, and their group says "orange man bad", so therefore anyone who does not agree with them must be, by definition, part of the opposing group, and represents an existential threat to their social standing. People get VERY defensive when there are threats to their social standing, so they take whatever action is necessary to protect themselves. And since they value the group over the individual, you being an individual with a different viewpoint than their group, is expendable in the interest of maintaining their social status.

Basically, it boils down to tribalism. It's very, very sad, and I'm not sure that it's going to change anytime soon.

Wasn't there always a rule about not telling anyone who you are going to vote, all the while there no rule about asking a lazy co worker if he get paid more then you, even though they say there is one.

And with friends like those, then they were never really your friends.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Maya Angelou said it best, "If, someone shows you who they are, Believe them"......

a reply to: DJMSN

Of course, because some are incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions.

Certainly. But to play to that ''weakness'' is not American. Or is it? Is that what you believe, that the strong should prey upon the weak? If so then you hold an entirely different notion of what America should be about than I do.

The wish to blame everyone else for our own actions is where we are today

As true as this may be we should look at the Blamer In Chief.. He is constantly putting blame else where and almost never ever puts it on himself. Can't you see this? I can and it is clear to many who have not fallen under his spell.

For that matter this notion of placing blame else where is built into the American Christina consciousness. Yes, America was built on Christain values and a MAJOR aspect of that is to blame someone else. The devil. That blame rides heavily upon American thinking even if one has managed to do away with the notion of the devil.

Trump constantly blames the democrats and the socialists and the communists when in reality there are almost no socialists in this country or communists. To be either would be to abandon the capitalist system and even those Ds he likes to point to as socialist are really only capitalists who hold a different view of how it should be utilized.

President Trump is brutally honest when it comes to speaking his mind, which is refreshing since most candidates will say whatever they believe will get them elected, some even attempt to change their dialect to influence the group they are speaking to.

Yes, he is at times brutally honest. And that I like. The problem with this though is that his honesty is so minute to minute and based on his own sense of what threatens him personally. He jumps from one point to another in reaction to every single little snub that is said of him. But yes, I do not like that so many candidates will say what ever they believe will get them elected BUT to suppose that this is not at the CORE of Trump's political policies is, if we can recognize it in others, totally foolish to not see it in him.

originally posted by: GrandSchemeOfThings
Trump is an all out idiot. Have you ever heard him speak at length and in detail about anything ever?

Show me the tape.

And now his excuse for missing the climate change meeting at the G7. All done to keep his base of ignorant followers happy. Ugh climate change fake. Ugh not going.

Anybody supporting this clown at this point is anti-American. I understand why you voted for him. I really do.

what a stunning example of what the OP is about. Bravo.

If you support the president of the United States, you are anti-American. I'd ask you to read that a few times and think on it, but I just don't think the message will get through.

a reply to: JAGStorm
Used to be you borrowed so called friends money and you never see them again. Saying you voted for Trump saves you money.

a reply to: JAGStorm

She's play'n you with a hellish game. She hates you so much rather
than just let you know that. This psycho bitch is casting a lure.
Once she knows she can control you to that extent she'll really be
your "Friend". But now that you're clued in you can play right along
and be vicious. Remember the snake does not fear the mongoose.
GAME OVER

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I did not write that, a friend of mind did. She literally did.

I'm so disturbed by it on so many levels.

I may disagree with who you vote for but I understand. I understand that everything in a persons life has influenced how they vote. I don't expect the majority of very young voters to agree with very old voters much of the time. Their needs/wants and what they expect from a candidate will often be different. Their experiences though life have shaped how they often vote.

Maybe i'm silly. I like to have friends that have a different opinion, but it appears a good segment of my friends do not feel the same way.
Maybe i'm naive thinking they will change my mind, maybe me theirs. If we only surround ourselves with similar people do we ever grow? I like ATS, for the most part people can voice their opinion and people with respectfully agree to disagree. I've actually changed my opinion on a few thing from research that started on here.

I know a lot of people do not like Trump, that is ok. It really is. What is not ok is the sentiment in my OP headline. Unfortunately it is becoming all too common. We are going to see a lot more of it.

I never once heard if you vote for Hillary, we can't be friends, or if you vote for Obama, we can't be friends, or if you vote for Bush, we can't be friends. Never. I have heard the sentiment about Trump many times. If anything it is being spoon fed to the left and they are gobbling it up. Sadly it isn't even the radical left anymore. It is wrong, and it is un-American. My guess is that is going to be a major theme during the elections. If you vote for xyz you are a nazi, if you vote for xyz you belong in a hate group. Any candidate that encourages dissent between Americans is not your friend!

That's her call, I don't condone it, but can you try to understand her point of view at least?

Hillary never put children in internment camps. Never separated families outside of the confines of our own law. And so on and so on, we all know what is going on now and it does not have to be repeated.

Maybe people with opposite views CAN remain friends outside politics, but now we're getting to the point of basic morals and ethics.

If someone supported this admin in the beginning, you could say they were uninformed. Perhaps even after a few months. But now, whoever still supports this admin after all these morally reprehensible actions have been committed...

...well, you have to start thinking:

Does this person who keeps supporting child imprisonment share my moral values? This person who wants to take away choice from women think like I do? This person who wants to step over the Constitution and invalidate portions of it share my ethics?

Is there any point with pretending to be friends with this person whom I have no values in common with? In the future, will there be any chance of a conversation without me thinking what kind of a person they have shown themselves to be?

You have to understand that some two thirds of our nation look at most of what is going on currently as morally bankrupt, even if Trump supporters still don't.


________


She was crude in the way she put it, but she's just doing what most people do as they get older, we shed the toxic people out of our lives and focus on the positive and good.

originally posted by: olaru12
a reply to: JAGStorm

Well, it's not like trump doesn't bring this upon himself with his hatred of almost everyone except his base.

He's making a concerted effort to drive the nation apart with his hate.

What hate? I am serious. You people scare me by having changed our language to such an extend that putting down law and order, discussing safe borders and punishing criminals is now called hatred.

Do you not know what hatred actually means?
Do you not understand what law and order means?

I don't get it. Trump is the least hateful president I have ever witnessed [I'm in the UK]. He has done well for the black community, employs minorities, tries to keep a country safe for those in it that try and live a peaceful life and you call that hatred?
What is wrong with you? What alternative would you prefer?
I don't think you have ever lived under a truly hateful tyranny. Trump ain't it!

This mollycoddled generation has absolutely no idea. You know when you had it too good for too long?
When you call decent people in power hateful.

I grew up with Ceausescu, Honeker; and my parents lived under Hitler. Anyone living under these tyrants regime would never say anything as inane as 'Trump is hateful'. Go and ask them.
[No, really do!]
I am not wishing for a war or hardship, but I think it's time that these little princes and princesses who think lukewarm latte is a disaster, need a reality check.
It happens when you live in the most comfortable country in the world ever, without any real problems.
Pathetic.

a reply to: Duderino

You guys didny seem to mind internment camps when Obama was in office

So forgive us for not falling for the hypocrisy

And that sort of hypocrisy is one of the biggest problems......

Just to give the country a little hope. The founder of the walk away movement Brandon Straka was exactly the same way. Then he watched one video tape that changed his whole view .

There’s not hope for many Democrats but there is still hope for some .

originally posted by: Duderino

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I did not write that, a friend of mind did. She literally did.

I'm so disturbed by it on so many levels.

I may disagree with who you vote for but I understand. I understand that everything in a persons life has influenced how they vote. I don't expect the majority of very young voters to agree with very old voters much of the time. Their needs/wants and what they expect from a candidate will often be different. Their experiences though life have shaped how they often vote.

Maybe i'm silly. I like to have friends that have a different opinion, but it appears a good segment of my friends do not feel the same way.
Maybe i'm naive thinking they will change my mind, maybe me theirs. If we only surround ourselves with similar people do we ever grow? I like ATS, for the most part people can voice their opinion and people with respectfully agree to disagree. I've actually changed my opinion on a few thing from research that started on here.

I know a lot of people do not like Trump, that is ok. It really is. What is not ok is the sentiment in my OP headline. Unfortunately it is becoming all too common. We are going to see a lot more of it.

I never once heard if you vote for Hillary, we can't be friends, or if you vote for Obama, we can't be friends, or if you vote for Bush, we can't be friends. Never. I have heard the sentiment about Trump many times. If anything it is being spoon fed to the left and they are gobbling it up. Sadly it isn't even the radical left anymore. It is wrong, and it is un-American. My guess is that is going to be a major theme during the elections. If you vote for xyz you are a nazi, if you vote for xyz you belong in a hate group. Any candidate that encourages dissent between Americans is not your friend!

That's her call, I don't condone it, but can you try to understand her point of view at least?

Hillary never put children in internment camps. Never separated families outside of the confines of our own law. And so on and so on, we all know what is going on now and it does not have to be repeated.

Maybe people with opposite views CAN remain friends outside politics, but now we're getting to the point of basic morals and ethics.

If someone supported this admin in the beginning, you could say they were uninformed. Perhaps even after a few months. But now, whoever still supports this admin after all these morally reprehensible actions have been committed...

...well, you have to start thinking:

Does this person who keeps supporting child imprisonment share my moral values? This person who wants to take away choice from women think like I do? This person who wants to step over the Constitution and invalidate portions of it share my ethics?

Is there any point with pretending to be friends with this person whom I have no values in common with? In the future, will there be any chance of a conversation without me thinking what kind of a person they have shown themselves to be?

You have to understand that some two thirds of our nation look at most of what is going on currently as morally bankrupt, even if Trump supporters still don't.


________


She was crude in the way she put it, but she's just doing what most people do as they get older, we shed the toxic people out of our lives and focus on the positive and good.

Hillary was never president. So there is a multitude of things she never did, nor will ever get to do.

But those nazi camps you speak of? Yea, Obama built them, and used them. I'd offer you a chance to not look like a tool and point to a few threads you did about this back during his presidency, but I know you can't do that. hell, the news didn't bother telling you to be angry at him, so you had no idea it was even an issue.

FYI, this is why there aren't many of you left here. Saying stupid things makes you look....well......you know.

a reply to: Duderino

You've stopped being subtle...I like it!



Peace

it's not just in the US. people everywhere are doing the same. i just recently got a request from a friend to stop c commenting on their posts. not because they have an issue with it. in fact we go back and forth all the time no problem. an d in fact invited me to just make my comments via messenger, so we can still debate. but because her family is demanding that she unfriend me, because they are being negatively affected, and emotionally harmed and thus if she does not stop me, they will have no choice but to cut her off of their lives.

and this type of thing is not so unusual. people and it seems to be especially true on the left side of the political spectrum, have been cutting people off because of their views and political preferences for years now. one person i know even posted this before the last Ontario Provincial elections (the one that pretty much decimated the Liberal party in the Provence).

To all my asshole fb friends. I know you like yourself and people like you, but please dont vote for Doug Ford. Remember he doesnt care about you like you dont care about other people. I'm not saying vote for someone else. Just continue to whine and then not spend the time to vote. Line ups are annoyingly long. Thanks!

after the Liberals lost, they cut off almost everyone they thought might possibly have voted for Ford against the Liberal party after a rant about how hateful and despicable such people were. and how because of them the Province was going to go to hell. and it was all their fault. also that Nazis like them should be killed for their intolerance of the voting out the liberals.(can not wait to see their reaction in the next federal election if like in Ontario the Liberal party gets tossed out on its rear, especially if like in Ontario they get decimated and even loose official party status).

i have lost so many good friends the last several years based solely on politics not just on things like facebook, but in person as well, including family. just because left leaning people like liberals in Canada or democrats in the US can no longer tolerate, anyone who has a different opinion or views than theirs. it's even gotten to the point of destroying families. many people i know (including some of my own), have even started lecturing everyone at family gatherings about their liberal ideals (just as their favorite politicians have told them to do). and if anyone dares contradict them, or even tries to reason with them, they throw temper tantrums and if you are lucky walk out. if you are not lucky you might find your holiday meal destroyed in the tantrum. this hatred, intolerance and division from the left really needs to be stopped. stopped before it gets even worse and causes entire countries to be torn apart and possibly enter civil war.

originally posted by: Sookiechacha
a reply to: JAGStorm

Any candidate that encourages dissent between Americans is not your friend!

Trump is not your friend, then.

He wants a united front, it's YOU lot that are drawing lines.

jesus #ing christ, you're an idiot most of the time, but this time.. all of it.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Sadly it happens on both sides.

My dad is a staunch conservative, and a little over two years ago I started dating my ex. She was in school to be a teacher, and with the territory, a liberal. She knew I'm an independent, more likely to disagree with the left than the right, but we were both mature about it and we got along great. Before my dad even met her, he started getting extremely snark when he prodded and I hinted that she wasn't on his side of the aisle. The fact he hadn't met her, and he was behaving in such a way about me finding my own happiness really got to me... I said something along the lines of "it's cute that you think you have a say in this matter, or that your opinion carries any weight", he let his hair down after that, and we haven't spoken since.

The thing I've learned about him, and people like him who allow ideology to get in between personal relationships.... They have a lot of deeply seeded issues that go way past the political landscape. If someone feels attacked by the very idea that someone else thinks differently, than they need to do some serious introspection to heal their soul and delicate ego.

Personally, I cherish the wide array of friends I have that land all around various spectrum. Variety is the spice of life.

All that said, I think debating which side is more divisive is inherently part of the problem. Maybe one side is more to blame, but assigning that title reaffirms the divide at the cost of scoring some "points". I know most people don't do that here, and you were just pointing out something that exists, I don't think you were dunking on them with it... That was just to speak aloud to everyone as food for thought.