(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What to talk about, when casual conversation risks becoming a mine field? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2022-09-17 Well, tomorrow should be interesting. I’m off to attend a family event which will be bringing all kinds of people together. As this is supposed to be a social occasion, one of the first things to remember is NOT to talk about… politics. So, just for ‘fun’ I thought I’d draw up a list of things that should be off-limits as conversation starters. (Is this ‘self-cancel culture’?) It could be a perverse drinking game depending on how many ‘hits’ this list could generate. So let’s see – here’s what might be on a partial list of forbidden topics. If it seems a bit slanted, it’s because you can’t have American Psychosis without psychos. I’ve been having the experience more and more lately of seeing otherwise rational, seemingly nice people, lose their shit when something comes up that pushes their buttons. Just saying the words in bold type alone could be enough to start a fracas... Joe Biden: Is leaving the border wide open Is to blame for high gas prices Is to blame for inflation Is the worst president ever Is senile Is a pedophile Is being manipulated by Kamala Harris Is too old to be president Is selling out the country to China Is to blame for the invasion of Ukraine Botched the withdrawal from Afghanistan Climate Change: Is a hoax Has always been happening Is caused by the sun heating up Has nothing to do with anything people do Will destroy the economy if we get off fossil fuels Will have us freezing in the dark if we get off fossil fuels Could be a good thing if more CO2 increases food crop growth (Does this mean the old conversational stand-by of just talking about the weather is now too dangerous to bring up?) Covid: Is fake news Was created by the Chinese to cripple our economy Was created in Chinese labs with funding from Dr. Fauci Is a fake diagnosis so doctors/hospitals will get more money Is no worse than the flu Is being used as an excuse to infringe freedom with dangerous/useless vaccine mandates and masks that don’t work Has killed people because doctors/the government refuses to let people have real treatments that work Should have Fauci on trial for his crimes Public Schools: Are teaching Critical Race Theory to make white kids hate themselves Are confusing kids about gender Are grooming kids for pedophiles Should have armed teachers Should only have one entrance, to keep shooters out Should make sure only ‘approved’ books are in classrooms Should allow parents to decide what can be taught to their children Should bring back/keep/increase corporal punishment Are trying to teach ‘wokeness’ Need to bring back prayer Immigration/The Border/Illegals: Is out of control Is making border states crime zones Will not replace us Is letting Democrats flood the country with illegal voters to steal elections Abortion: Should be banned everywhere Should have no exceptions Should be left to the states — NOT Is never necessary to save a woman’s life Blue Cities/States Are crime-ridden hellholes Are flooded with illegals Are going broke because their high taxes are killing jobs and businesses Are too ‘woke’ to function Are full of drugs and sexual perversion Elections: Are full of fraud Were stolen in 2020 Have too many illegal voters Have rigged voting machines Can’t be trusted because Democrats cheat Should be left to state legislatures to run, not the Federal government Should keep the electoral college so red states won’t be disenfranchised Need strict voter ID Should not be carried out by mail-in voting or drop off ballot boxes January 6: Was a false flag operation Was just peaceful tourists Was AntiFa Was the last chance to save America Should warn people that the Deep State/Democrats/George Soros/etc. can't get away with this forever Trump: Don’t even get started Obviously this is just a partial list – and there’s so much crazy out there just waiting to be triggered, who knows what might set things off? Wish me luck… And feel free to share any experiences you may have had with conversations blowing up on you. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/17/2123587/-What-to-talk-about-when-casual-conversation-risks-becoming-a-mine-field Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/