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No wide ranging public political discussions. These days getting into a political conversation with a stranger is very, very dangerous. You might find yourself

No wide ranging public political discussions. These days getting into a political conversation with a stranger is very, very dangerous. You might find yourself doxxed on Twitter by a hate mob before you'd even finished your coffee.

atoav 6y ago
You have been downvoted, but you are wrong. Most of the strangers who will aproach you on a political topic in public usually want you to sign something, or they are outright lunatics who try to drag you into their world. And I wish it would be different. I think I had a nice and interesting political conversation with a stranger once in the past decade. That means it is not impossible, but it is hard. A good cafe certainly can do things to create the right atmosphere for this to happen more often tho.
- goatinaboat 6y ago
  Most of the strangers who will aproach you on a political topic in public usually want you to sign something, or they are outright lunatics who try to drag you into their world. Even having a political conversation with a friend in a place you can be overheard carries a certain amount of risk.
  - asguy 6y ago
    I’ve seen similar things. If you disagree with this concept, go to a west coast US metropolis and and try to have an open private discussion about something taboo (e.g. abortion) where you’re openly against the status quo. Odds are good you’ll hear about it. For example, I used the term “wife beater” to refer to a tank top, in a private conversation, at a Berkeley bar. Within seconds I had a total stranger come up to me and tell me I shouldn’t use that term.
    - objectivetruth 6y ago
      Just to discuss "taboos" a bit more: Hypothetically, if you were having coffee with a close female friend who had recently been badly beaten by her husband, and you were trying to describe a tank top, would you say "wife beater" or would you choose a different phrase? If different, why? Also, what makes you think US West Coast cities have a monopoly on residents confronting outsiders with differing views? I'm guessing that people talking about how much they love abortion or BLM at the local coffee shop in Castleberry, Alabama or Ponderay, Idaho or Elko, South Carolina would also have "good odds" they'll "hear about it."
ritchiea 6y ago
Your belief sounds rooted in fear. Can you actually cite cases where doxxing & abuse happened over a conversation with a stranger in a cafe? And even if such cases exist I would confidently guess you’re more likely to die in a car crash than get doxxed on twitter by a hate mob. And no one is avoiding ever using cars or being a pedestrian on a street with car traffic to save their lives. Maybe knowing in 2020 one can experience rabid social media mobs, and the newness and degree of its terror is skewing our idea of how likely this kind of event actually is. But I see this view presented regularly as though every one of us lives in active risk of being a single slip of the tongue away from ruining our lives. And it’s so strange and not in line with the reality I live in.
- ThrowawayR2 6y ago
  Remember that guy who was doxxed and fired because he made what somebody thought was the (now off-limits) OK symbol? https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-over-alleged-racist-gesture-says-he-was-cracking-knuckles/2347414/ https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-ove... No, the GP's scenario is not at all implausible. To think otherwise is to be oblivious to the on-edge nature of our times.
  - ritchiea 6y ago
    You didn't respond to the substance of my comment. It's possible for someone to misunderstand you and for you to lose your job over it. It's also possible to die in a traffic accident. The former is probably more rare than the latter but the former seems to be legitimately terrorizing many people based on the frequency of internet comments I see about it.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - TeaDrunk 6y ago
    Upon googling it, the amount of outcry as a response makes it pretty obvious to me that it's considered exceptional and not normal. Does anyone have any aggregated studies about social media and firing?
vimax 6y ago
As opposed to 1600s coffee houses where having the wrong political or religious beliefs could provoke a duel or incite an actual mob. The Baroque Cycle series does a good job of describing the atmosphere of the old coffee houses.

atoav 6y ago

You have been downvoted, but you are wrong. Most of the strangers who will aproach you on a political topic in public usually want you to sign something, or they are outright lunatics who try to drag you into their world. And I wish it would be different. I think I had a nice and interesting political conversation with a stranger once in the past decade. That means it is not impossible, but it is hard. A good cafe certainly can do things to create the right atmosphere for this to happen more often tho.

goatinaboat 6y ago
Most of the strangers who will aproach you on a political topic in public usually want you to sign something, or they are outright lunatics who try to drag you into their world. Even having a political conversation with a friend in a place you can be overheard carries a certain amount of risk.
- asguy 6y ago
  I’ve seen similar things. If you disagree with this concept, go to a west coast US metropolis and and try to have an open private discussion about something taboo (e.g. abortion) where you’re openly against the status quo. Odds are good you’ll hear about it. For example, I used the term “wife beater” to refer to a tank top, in a private conversation, at a Berkeley bar. Within seconds I had a total stranger come up to me and tell me I shouldn’t use that term.
  - objectivetruth 6y ago
    Just to discuss "taboos" a bit more: Hypothetically, if you were having coffee with a close female friend who had recently been badly beaten by her husband, and you were trying to describe a tank top, would you say "wife beater" or would you choose a different phrase? If different, why? Also, what makes you think US West Coast cities have a monopoly on residents confronting outsiders with differing views? I'm guessing that people talking about how much they love abortion or BLM at the local coffee shop in Castleberry, Alabama or Ponderay, Idaho or Elko, South Carolina would also have "good odds" they'll "hear about it."

ritchiea 6y ago

Your belief sounds rooted in fear. Can you actually cite cases where doxxing & abuse happened over a conversation with a stranger in a cafe? And even if such cases exist I would confidently guess you’re more likely to die in a car crash than get doxxed on twitter by a hate mob. And no one is avoiding ever using cars or being a pedestrian on a street with car traffic to save their lives. Maybe knowing in 2020 one can experience rabid social media mobs, and the newness and degree of its terror is skewing our idea of how likely this kind of event actually is. But I see this view presented regularly as though every one of us lives in active risk of being a single slip of the tongue away from ruining our lives. And it’s so strange and not in line with the reality I live in.

ThrowawayR2 6y ago
Remember that guy who was doxxed and fired because he made what somebody thought was the (now off-limits) OK symbol? https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-over-alleged-racist-gesture-says-he-was-cracking-knuckles/2347414/ https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sdge-worker-fired-ove... No, the GP's scenario is not at all implausible. To think otherwise is to be oblivious to the on-edge nature of our times.
- ritchiea 6y ago
  You didn't respond to the substance of my comment. It's possible for someone to misunderstand you and for you to lose your job over it. It's also possible to die in a traffic accident. The former is probably more rare than the latter but the former seems to be legitimately terrorizing many people based on the frequency of internet comments I see about it.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- TeaDrunk 6y ago
  Upon googling it, the amount of outcry as a response makes it pretty obvious to me that it's considered exceptional and not normal. Does anyone have any aggregated studies about social media and firing?

vimax 6y ago

As opposed to 1600s coffee houses where having the wrong political or religious beliefs could provoke a duel or incite an actual mob. The Baroque Cycle series does a good job of describing the atmosphere of the old coffee houses.