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I no longer talk to people or patronize businesses...

noonereal

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We all know how divided the country is today. I was wondering if as a result of politics you have changed who you engage with socially or in business.
If you voted for Trump, do you no longer talk to friends who express non Trumpist positions? Do you even avoid or boycott businesses who have made it clear they are not of your political beliefs?
Same question for those that voted for Biden. Do you avoid businesses with Trump or confederate flags? Do you not talk to friends who wear MAGA hats?
 
My Dad is a Trump supporter, we just don't talk about politics. He's also a born again Christian, and we also don't talk about religion. A lot of weather, and grandkids.

Other than that I don't know any Trump supporters and I'm not aware of any Trump supporting businesses around here.
 
I am looking to have some work done on my property and was shopping around for a contractor. One of them responded to prices of materials going up due to "the China virus". That automatically became a no for me.

Most Trump supporting business owners don't appear to be super overt about it. Their was a tattoo place down the road that painted a giant Trump mural on the side of their building in 2016. They added a second one shortly after he won. By the end of 2017 the murals had disappeared, but they appear to have closed soon after. Not sure if it affected their business or not.

Personally, I can only think of one person I've totally cut off ties with, but that was more to do with Qanon than Trump. I can deal with Trump supporters even if I don't really respect what they stand for. The Qanon lunatics are something different though.
 
I dont really give a crap about any of that, save for this:
I respect any political opinion that is a result of real "reasoning". Different people have different perspectives, and different people see things in different ways.
What I cannot tolerate, is when a person divorces reason. For instance: I think Barack Obama is a pretty solid guy all things considered. I thought he said and did some rather dumb things that I did not agree with, but overall was pretty solid especially for those difficult times. Anyone that disagrees is fine by me, when its based on actual reason.
I have 1 particular acquaintance that had a problem with Obama...because of that pesky birth certificate that he never had.
LOL. Thats where I have to part ways with a person, I just cant look at a person the same way after stuff like that. I lose all respect for the person who has cast aside reason. To me that is a pretty serious character flaw.
I have another friend, a guy I have known most of my life since high school.
He looks at these outlandish and (to me) completely laughable conspiracies on the Internet and believes every bit of it. He truly believes that he saw a "secret video" of George Clooney and Barack Obama being fellated by children, part of a secret child sex ring that a person was able to get secret drone footage of. LMAO.
When a person tells me something like that, I just cant ever look at them the same way again. I question their mental faculties. Its just crazy stuff.
This is what I cannot tolerate, differences in political opinion based on reason dont bother me in the least.
Its the injection of utter nonsense into the equation that will cause me to no longer want to be around that individual.
Dont make decisions on which businesses to patronize based on a persons political leanings, no. I do believe that any person that still is schmoozing donnie trump after all that we've seen the past 4 years, and especially Jan 6, I think those people are not very intelligent. There is a disturbing trend to willful ignorance in the US. Its bizarre and, as I said, disturbing. Not really sure where it comes from. Misinformation is one thing, but you have to make a conscience decision to cast aside reason in order to "believe" this stuff. And that I cannot respect.
 
I only avoid places where people are still too stupid to mask up. My local Home Depot is a good example.
 
This is the whole, if you take a stand about one thing, you must take the exact same stand about everything, no matter the differing circumstances, the degree, etc...

Is it possible to pick your battles?
 
ASHES said:
Other than that I don't know any Trump supporters and I'm not aware of any Trump supporting businesses around here.
Click to expand...

Facebook has shown me all the local business owners and friends who wear Trump on their sleeve. I have changed some big purchases as a result.
 
I don't vote with my wallet based on someone's beliefs, but on their actions (and, yes, speaking in public is an action).
 
i performed my tasks virtually prior to COVID but, ironically, it's made me WAY more efficient.

it's almost like that show Mad Men (from the 1950s) where i stay on the phone BUT have a computer (and work virtually). i do miss the occasional face to face but decided at the very beginning to be more charming with employees and clients and vendors. i feel that last part is critical (more talk about families, interests, etc).
 
PeacefulWarrior said:
I respect any political opinion that is a result of real "reasoning".
Click to expand...

But isn't this the problem with Trumpism? Isn't this what has caused the "great divide?" Trumpism rejects not political philosophy but fact.
I never shunned anyone for a differing opinion on policy or conflict resolution preference. But with Trumpists it's not like that. You don't sit down and say, "hey, here is the problem what do you think?" With Trumpists you can establish what truth is. The CIA are liars, the FBI is no good, the NSA is in the tank for the DEmns, science is fiction, left is right, green is yellow, it goes on and on and on. And the only TRUTH in their world is literally an obvious pathological liar!

Point is, you can't just disagree politically with a Trumpist. It's not possible. They live in an alternate world. A world that threatens the foundations of our country I might add so you can't just look the other way.
 
PeacefulWarrior said:
Not really sure where it comes from.
Click to expand...

Wing nut talk shows, TV, radio and print.

It does not take much to brainwash a human. It's shockingly easy. If they want to believe something and you tell them what it is they want to hear over and over, they will literally start to believe you. We are all susceptible to this. It is not like they were inferior to start. They were just the target market. The failed old white man.
 
I patronize my local businesses and do not ask their political persuasion. Most of my friends are of the more liberal in their thinking, but most of my large family are conservatives. I do not talk politics with any of those in my family who are conservative and they do not talk to me about politics.
 

Nor do I. You missed my point. I am having a problem with Trumpists shoving their politics in my face.
 

I have always avoided businesses with overt racist symbols, so that wouldn’t be new. If a person is so interested in their MAGA-hood that they need to identify their business around that theme, nope I won’t shop there. I have cut off a couple of maga friends who previously were just conservatives I disagreed with. Trump either changed folks or allowed them to take off their masks. Seeing how awful 1/3rd of the country is, even friends and family, has been one of the worst parts of the last 4 years. Heartbreaking.
 

If a contractor or someone else that I pay happens to be a trump supporter but keeps their shit to themselves and does their job well, I'll probably continue with them.

The moment they broadcast their fascism is the moment I'm never doing business with them again.
 

Yup. If I don’t agree with your politics, I do not have to put up with them in my own life. If a contractor I hired started ranting about Trump, I’d fire their ass on the spot and wouldn’t break a sweat doin it. Bye, asshole.
 
The Trump era has simply validated why I can't tolerate so many people, and made them easier to identify and avoid. I do not hate them, just see no point in investing any time or effort into developing any type of relationship with them.
 
I do know I wouldn't buy a MyPillow with anyone else's money, let alone my own.
 
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