Not gonna lie, I am deathly afraid to put anything political on my car or a sign in my yard. I have been yelled at one too many times for things far less dedicated to one side or the other. :-(
e.g. Do you know your neighbors? Do you feel like your opinions are in the majority or minority? Have others in your area been harassed because of their opinions? Are you tolerant of opinions that are different from your own? Do you have friends whose ideas are different from your own (at least in some areas)?
I would say I do not know more of my neighbors then I do know. I know that the neighbor to one side of me flies a Pride flag (but their house is far off the road & the front is covered by high bushes & trees, so it is not really visible from the road) & we have spoken and have the same views but as far as the rest I feel I am outnumbered by a lot. The few interactions I have had with those who do not agree with me, things like "your an idiot to believe the media" (because they get the truth from DT's mouth) or "you don't love your county" (only Patriots love the Country, which we all know what that means now) are said to me and I just disengage with them. It's like banging my head against a brick wall and I prefer not to do that. But it's the neighbors that drive up & down my road flying Trump Won flags & F Joe Biden flags (at the same time) from their pick up trucks, that I find very intimidating & for those reasons am afraid to put anything on my car or on my property which will identify what my personal views are. Most of my friends do agree with me but the few I do have that don't & we have agreed to disagree & do not talk about it. I would certainly be open to talking to a reasonable, even tempered individual who disagrees with me but it seems when you add DT into that mix it always seems to derail into me being yelled at and I refuse to be verbally abused. I have even said "can you please stop yelling" but to no avail. Sadly. :-(
We're discovering that starting a conversation with points of agreement often leads to the most valuable and productive conversations. Maybe political bumper stickers and flags aren't the best ways to share our opinions sometimes. It's hard to know. Have you read this post? https://jointheunion.substack.com/p/preserving-democracy-one-conversation
I just read it and if something like that were available in my area I would certainly be interested in attending it. But as far as I am aware it is not. Thank you for sharing this with me. But going forward I will try to keep in mind that it's better to talk about the things we may agree on. Thank you for all the great work you do! :-)
Hi Amy, if you let us know about where you live, we can let you know if we have anything planned in your area. If you're not comfortable letting us know here, you can email our Communications lead (Kathy) at kathy@jointheunion.us
Not gonna lie, I am deathly afraid to put anything political on my car or a sign in my yard. I have been yelled at one too many times for things far less dedicated to one side or the other. :-(
Amy, can you share more about your situation?
e.g. Do you know your neighbors? Do you feel like your opinions are in the majority or minority? Have others in your area been harassed because of their opinions? Are you tolerant of opinions that are different from your own? Do you have friends whose ideas are different from your own (at least in some areas)?
I would say I do not know more of my neighbors then I do know. I know that the neighbor to one side of me flies a Pride flag (but their house is far off the road & the front is covered by high bushes & trees, so it is not really visible from the road) & we have spoken and have the same views but as far as the rest I feel I am outnumbered by a lot. The few interactions I have had with those who do not agree with me, things like "your an idiot to believe the media" (because they get the truth from DT's mouth) or "you don't love your county" (only Patriots love the Country, which we all know what that means now) are said to me and I just disengage with them. It's like banging my head against a brick wall and I prefer not to do that. But it's the neighbors that drive up & down my road flying Trump Won flags & F Joe Biden flags (at the same time) from their pick up trucks, that I find very intimidating & for those reasons am afraid to put anything on my car or on my property which will identify what my personal views are. Most of my friends do agree with me but the few I do have that don't & we have agreed to disagree & do not talk about it. I would certainly be open to talking to a reasonable, even tempered individual who disagrees with me but it seems when you add DT into that mix it always seems to derail into me being yelled at and I refuse to be verbally abused. I have even said "can you please stop yelling" but to no avail. Sadly. :-(
We're discovering that starting a conversation with points of agreement often leads to the most valuable and productive conversations. Maybe political bumper stickers and flags aren't the best ways to share our opinions sometimes. It's hard to know. Have you read this post? https://jointheunion.substack.com/p/preserving-democracy-one-conversation
I just read it and if something like that were available in my area I would certainly be interested in attending it. But as far as I am aware it is not. Thank you for sharing this with me. But going forward I will try to keep in mind that it's better to talk about the things we may agree on. Thank you for all the great work you do! :-)
Hi Amy, if you let us know about where you live, we can let you know if we have anything planned in your area. If you're not comfortable letting us know here, you can email our Communications lead (Kathy) at kathy@jointheunion.us
Thank you for your interest!