"Politics shouldn't interfere with friendship. Just because we disagree, doesn't mean we can't be friends."

I've heard this before. You've heard it before. We've all heard it before.

Here's a thread on my (as always, obviously correct) thoughts on this...

1/?

First of all....
I agree with the statement as stated.

But I do not agree with the statement as typically intended.

As intended, it is usually:
"You shouldn't get mad at me just because I voted for [X]. We can still be friends."

But.
No.

2/?

The easiest way to explain why this is wrong is to use myself as an example.
SO-
I have to confess to some political opinions which are not popular among my social group. So, please.... if I say anything about what I think which you find objectionable... wait til the end.
3/?

I am, broadly speaking, a pro-market, anti-government, libertarian.
(I can address the particulars of that in a DIFFERENT THREAD).
There are some major points where I dissent from libertarian "orthodoxy", but it's my primary political orientation.

(The next twet is worse...)
4/

For the last several decades, certainly my entire voting life, the GOP and the Libertarian Party have - in their rhetoric - more closely matched my economic and political philosophy than the Democrats, the Greens, or anyone else.

BUT!
(Plz keep reading)
5/

I have not once voted for either a GOP or Libtrn for Pres or Congress.

WHY?

Because I believe that my economic and political opinions should not interfere with my friendships, or my relationships to other people.

6/

Because:
While I believe it is POSSIBLE to enunciate a pro-market libertarianism that does NOT throw women, LGBTQ+ folx, people of color, people with disabilities, and basically everyone who isn't cishet white male under the bus... none of them ever have.

7/

(Now... i know some of you think that this is a reason to reject pro-market/libertarian political/economic philosophy wholesale. That is a REASONABLE conclusion to draw and I don't want to argue about it IN THIS THREAD. I'm trying to make an entirely different point.)
7.5/

Here is my point:

My political opinions are - at best - a *hypothesis* about how a small set of policies and ideals would positively impact society.

But the damage and danger posed by the GOP and most (party) Libertarians is real. It's not a hypothesis.

8/

(I'm also ignoring the fact that the GOP is a bunch of fucking liars and that anything pro-market or libertarian sounding coming out of their mouths is total bullshit. For now I'm pretending they have meant all that seriously. And STILL I wouldn't vote for them.)
8.5/

When people say "don't let politics interfere with friendship" they are saying "i do what i want and you shouldn't tell me to stop."

When I say it (i don't say it, but if I did) I mean:

I will not vote for my own *abstract opinions* over the lived experience of my friends.

9/

In an imagined, fairytale land where libertarians and communists could argue philosophy without the risk that one side was going to seize power and start wars, open concentration camps, and murder black people I might vote for the libertarians.

We don't live in that world
10/

So even if it means that fiscal and economic policy are not always going to be what I want, or that the regulatory environment is stricter than I think it should be,

I will continue to vote based on who I think will minimize harm and maximize good for vulnerable people.
11/

I will not let my own politics get in the way of friendship.

12/12

@threadreaderapp unroll