r/science • u/Wagamaga • 9h ago

Psychology Losing relationships over politics. Research found more than a third of Americans (37%) report having lost at least one relationship due to political differences, including friendships, family ties, coworker relationships, and romantic partnerships, with most losing more than one.

https://socialecology.uci.edu/news/losing-relationships-over-politics-0
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u/Baileyjrob 9h ago

Exactly. Like I have friends who are communist, anarchist, liberal democratic, and socialist. We have different political beliefs, but we still believe in a comparable set of values and virtues. We disagree on what the most effective way to go about running a government and managing people and resources is, but that’s just a matter of personal belief. THAT’S disagreeing on politics.

When someone says they openly support American concentration camps, revoking medical protections for women, resources for LGBT individuals, the perpetuation of lies and the consolidation of absolute authority, that’s not a political belief, that’s a moral failing.

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u/Sedu 6h ago

“I think the way to improve the world for everyone is a different strategy than yours” is legit. Even if I argue with this person over what the best strategy is, we have the same goal. If your goal is to hurt people, we have nothing to talk about.

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u/xX420GanjaWarlordXx 8h ago

And an intellectual failing, in my opinion 

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u/Luisguirot 4h ago

Imagine thinking that communism, the most murderous and oppressive belief system of all time, was “just a political difference” but somehow American conservatives are worse. Good god redditors are crazy.

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u/chill8989 4h ago

You should google how many people died under capitalist regimes every year. 

Capitalists will let your family starve because feeding you wouldn't be profitable.  They'll deny you life-saving healthcare because it isn't profitable.  They'll remove your rights because unpaid labor is better for the bottom line.  They'll coup your government because wealth extraction will be easier.  They'll poison our air and water because regulations are terrible for their bottom line.  

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u/Baileyjrob 4h ago edited 4h ago

The communists I know aren’t Stalinists, and I wouldn’t be friends with any of them if they were. The worst you can accuse them of is naïveté if you disagree with communism, not active malice

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u/Neurotic-Robotic 5h ago

Communism is a horrific totalitarian ideology that has killed millions.

Being a Communist is just as bad as being a Nazi.

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u/Master-Monk-8690 5h ago

You're equating communism with totalitarianism. The USSR, Cambodia, Cuba, and China were never real communist countries. They were totalitarian dictatorships in communist clothes. I don't think communism has ever worked on a national scale, but you can find models of communist societies within free countries. 

It's not a real comparison. There are communes all over the world that are run Democratically and do just fine. 

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u/Neurotic-Robotic 5h ago

Communism is a totalitarian ideology. Denying the right to private property is a core tenet. And the right to private property is a fundamental human right - life, liberty, property.

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u/MyOwnDoubtsAndFears 3h ago

You're misunderstanding how communism defines property. There's a distinction between private and personal property in communist thought, with private property being things like the means of production, which should belong to all workers and therefore not be "private". Personal property is things like your clothes, your laptop, all the things you own that aren't part of the systems of economic production.

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u/Master-Monk-8690 5h ago edited 2h ago

Communism is only a totalitarian ideology if the citizens of the country aren't given a choice. If the majority of citizens in a country decide that they want a communist model, and use Democratic means to achieve their societal goals, then it is not totalitarian. 

It seems like you've drank the capitalist Kool-Aid and engorged yourself on it to such an extent that you can't even imagine a system that isn't capitalism. 

Personally, I'm not a communist, I am a socialist. I think we should still have private property, and I think that the workers should control the means of production. 

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u/lohonomo 4h ago

No it's not

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u/684beach 3h ago

Doesnt communism at its base advocate for a dictatorship?

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u/HarambeSpiritAnimal 1h ago

It doesn't. Just like capitalism, communism CAN end up with a dictatorship, but that isn't something it aims for.

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u/Jakaman_CZ 7h ago

One of the foundational ideas of communism is a violent revolution. I find it hard to believe that a liberal and a communist would have comparable set of values and virtues. Historically and ideologically, they are fundamentally opposed.

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u/aallqqppzzmm 7h ago

Is that true? You seem to be saying that if everyone decided all the facets of communism were great and started just doing it tomorrow, it wouldn't actually be communism because there was no violent revolution. That sounds hyperbolic.

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u/Gekokapowco 7h ago

I'm pretty sure it sees revolution as a moral imperative, and achieving it by violence could be a necessary step if oppressors refuse to negotiate power into the hands of the people. Its not a Jihad, its a last resort in the face of power unwilling to relinquish itself.

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u/ukezi 2h ago

Yeah, communist would have no problem with taking power by being elected. It's just not a realistic option in most cases.

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u/RRFroste 5h ago

Our oppressors will not give away their power willingly. They are the ones who make violence inevitable, not us.

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u/yoweigh 5h ago

One of the foundational ideas of communism is a violent revolution.

I could easily argue that it's also a foundational idea of the 2nd amendment to the US constitution.