Next to Christmas, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it celebrates one of my favorite hobbies: eating. For those of us in college though, Thanksgiving also tends to come with a lot of questions.One question in particular is what this article is about, and that question is, "So what are you studying?" I always reply that I study Poli. Sci. and English. The follow up of course is a question about what I want to do with that after graduation, which can lead to some interesting conversations with relatives. So, in honor of the holiday, I'm writing a small how to guide for talking politics with your family if the subject should come up.
First, and most important, always try to steer the conversation away from politics. If questions come up about what you plan to do after school focus on the ones that seem most attainable. If you want to be the president or to lead a revolution, maybe adjust your answer to a more palatable, "I want to work in politics." This may seem a bit like betraying your convictions, but it's definitely better than a screaming match with your cousins. And never try to provoke political talk at the table, everyone has their own view that they will fight for, and no amount of dinner conversation can change that.
Secondly, the follow up question to what do you want to do after school usually contains some vague question about your own political stance Because of the recent election, however, the questions might be more direct, something like, "What did you think of the election?" The election this year was incredibly polarizing and people have vastly different stances on the results. Both sides, the people who are happy with the election and unhappy with it will defend the reasons they feel that way until they're blue in face. Still, it's usually a bad idea to say you didn't like either candidate and wish to tear down American capitalism either. It's always best to keep your talk pretty neutral when approaching this subject, say which side your on and why, and leave it at that.
Lastly, and this goes for most conversations, remember who it is you're talking to. If you have some out there ideas on politics they might not go over great with your grandfather who was alive for World War II, but they might be better accepted by your uncle who you're pretty sure was at Woodstock. In most cases however, if the situation occurs, it's best to just call yourself a democrat or a republican and leave it that, without criticizing the other party. In the rare and awful event that someone brings up politics at Thanksgiving, remember these things and you might make it out with your sanity.
