Post-election Bridge Burning - Your 19 year-old cousin is not coming to Thanksgiving.

[Not A Bunny]

"You get what you fucking deserve" is the theme of this election. I am sad over losing friends, but if their heart was really so black as to drop me completely for 2% of my personality, they deserve the results they got.

I told people during the pandemic that I was still the same person they always knew I was. That I thought about things a lot and never came to the conclusions I came to frivolously. If I came to a different conclusion they did, it was for good reason.

For the more liberal people I knew, that wasn't good enough. For the conservatives, they made sure I was okay and that I wasn't going to kill myself.

The more they believe this and the more they push you away, the easier it is to control the image of what you are.

It's projection.

About a week before the election, I had a shouting match over J6 with a coworker. He brought it up, but he vehemently didn't want to talk about it if I had a different opinion. He also firmly believes Trump is a fascist, and that it was deep state thinking to believe that nobody in Washington wants Trump there (Seriously, it's conspiracy theory thinking to understand that big money drives politicians?). He also claimed to be politically active in the real world (he thought that talking point about conservatives being offended by The Boys was a real life thing that totally exists outside the internet, so I called bullshit on that one directly).

He couldn't look me in the eye the day after the election, but I heard him mentioning it to other people.

The difference between me and him is that I have no particular interest in rubbing it in, though I suspected he thought I wanted to. I'm not the type. I'm not on either side. I'm a pragmatist, and I have a reasonably good idea about how people in general react to things. All things being reasonable fair, Trump was going to win.

Side note: Why should anyone be surprised Trump was elected? This is a country that despite all of the "diversity" of the music industry, we still elected Taylor Swift prom queen. We like familiar and entertaining, and appeals to the lowest common denominator in terms of intellect and emotion. Anyone who thought Kamala would win decisively is an ignorant elitist, and maybe they should be roundly ignored until they decide that they're not too good for the rest of us.

 

[Otterly]

For the young, leave the door open. Young people are generally dumb.
‘That’s a real shame. We love you, let’s not let politics divide us - door’s always open if you change your mind.’‘
Covid was similar. I got a lot of flak, which I found hurtful from people I was close to. I’ve had one or two ‘you were right’ responses and a few more embarrassed refusal to discuss. It is what it is. My circle of trust is a lot smaller, and I am sadder but wiser. The door is still open for almost all of them.

 

[Trump's Chosen]

I’ve had one or two ‘you were right’ responses

Jealous.

 

[Otterly]

Jealous.

Bless them, I took that gracefully, I know they found it hard to say. People who can admit they were wrong are a rare bunch

 

[Temmie]

For the young, leave the door open. Young people are generally dumb.
‘That’s a real shame. We love you, let’s not let politics divide us - door’s always open if you change your mind.’‘
Covid was similar. I got a lot of flak, which I found hurtful from people I was close to. I’ve had one or two ‘you were right’ responses and a few more embarrassed refusal to discuss. It is what it is. My circle of trust is a lot smaller, and I am sadder but wiser. The door is still open for almost all of them.

This is a rational and wise take that I wish more people, especially older folks had. Young people are generally idiots, but a lot will grow out of it so it's okay to allow them back into one's life later (save for really terrible things of course).

 

[Jarch6]

I don’t have any libtarded family members within my immediate family tree so I can’t relate (although I have to deal with some at work alongside having a few old acquaintances), but my sympathies to those that do .

 

[Fire Flight]

I'm thankful my family aren't retarded ideologues, the only bridge burning I've had in my life because of this election is only one of my online friends. She blocked me over this meme.

 

[Wild at Heart]

Thanksgiving and Christmas are done, did anyone experience more bridge burning? I had Christmas with ONLY the Right Wing members of my family and one left wing cousin. This was totally incidental, as the left wing family members were visiting other family elsewhere.

At a separate dinner before, I did have an aunt ask me what young people are worried about these days, and if our generation will ever have some form of social revolution like the 60's. I wanted so badly to tell her that we are having a social revolution right now with this Red Wave, but I was the only righty and didn't want to ruin the mood and get political. She also asked me if I ever think "it would be wrong to bring up a child in this world" to which I had a lot to say (pro natalism gang).

 

[Burning Bridge]

I have nothing to add other than every time I see this thread, I think it's talking about me.

 

[LaCreaturaDeLasAmerica]

Why are white people like this? Serious question. You never hear about other races disowning family over politics.

 

[Anonitolia]

You never hear about other races disowning family over politics.

my man already forgot the Biden Blackness debacle

they disown each other over politics just fine, it's just that their disownment over politics look different. "You ain't black enough" vs "You support X" kind of stuff. Makes me wonder if there are any nonwhite wignats out there so fiercely self-loathing that they disowned their family for not being white lol.

 

[Wild at Heart]

I have nothing to add other than every time I see this thread, I think it's talking about me.

It is talking about you, but we are just using coded language.

Why are white people like this? Serious question. You never hear about other races disowning family over politics.

That's a good question. I think the lack of racial identity among White People requires them to fill the void with other things. Politics become their personality and they feel threatened by challenges to it. I also think it's engrained as an important thing in American culture so White People feel the need to discuss it. The news constantly radicalizing you and telling you ridiculous stories to share doesn't help create a middle ground either. I think it's perpetuated by older boomers being brainwashed by Fox or MSNBC and feeling like they have to rant when drinking at dinner.

 

[RandomTwitterGuy]

I cut out one friend from my life.

He is this nerd I used to play board games and TTRPGs with in my old hometown. I live far away now, but I would still regularly invite him to my things when I was home for vacation or to visit. When Trump won, he was the only one in my feed who spammed about how great it was that Kamahla had lost and Trump won. No one interacted with him as he was a loner, and I blocked him. There's no reason to talk; it's a simple block and removal from my friends list.

I know he asked a bit about it to some mutuals, but so far, I have not said anything, and if I see him, I will ignore him.

I see no reason to be friends with people like him.

 

[BradeRunna]

No. I don't have any friends. Not much family either. Many of them don't vote and are pretty much apolitical. I got an older Gen X half-brother that's pro Trump and says he voted. But I don't know for sure. A Zoomer nephew that is pretty pro Trump, but he never registered to vote. My Boomer father voted for Trump. That's about it. Most of my family is pretty poor though. Like really poor. Politics religion and moral issues are usually the concerns of the middle and upper middle class. You have to have a really comfortable life to give a shit about that kind of stuff. It's kind of hard to do that when you are busy scurrying around like a field mouse trying to survive.

I voted for Trump though. 2016 2020 and 2024 I voted Trump.

These people are enemies. You don't fraternize with the enemy. Politics is a bloodless war. Just cut these people out of your lives. Get better friends.

 

[Wild at Heart]

I cut out one friend from my life.

He is this nerd I used to play board games and TTRPGs with in my old hometown. I live far away now, but I would still regularly invite him to my things when I was home for vacation or to visit. When Trump won, he was the only one in my feed who spammed about how great it was that Kamahla had lost and Trump won. No one interacted with him as he was a loner, and I blocked him. There's no reason to talk; it's a simple block and removal from my friends list.

I know he asked a bit about it to some mutuals, but so far, I have not said anything, and if I see him, I will ignore him.

I see no reason to be friends with people like him.

Interesting to hear the other side. I don't see how your friend voicing his opinion in "your feed", which is a shared space, deserves him being cut from your life. Can you really not tolerate someone having a differing opinion?

 

[RandomTwitterGuy]

Interesting to hear the other side. I don't see how your friend voicing his opinion in "your feed", which is a shared space, deserves him being cut from your life. Can you really not tolerate someone having a differing opinion?

He can have any opinion he wants, but I don't see a need to maintain a friendship with someone who is a Trump supporter, especially a European Trump supporter.
We can have differences of opinion, but I have red lines, and if they are crossed, then I don't see the point in maintaining a friendship.

In the end, what value is there for me to keep him? I am not suffering from a lack of friends, and he was not that close a friend, so in the end, his absence in my life is not a major problem.

 

[Mad Hunter]

Tell them you have money.