Does your audience affect your political views?

[mencken]

Do you often choose to change which positions to emphasize depending on the overall attitude of your social circle? For example, when around liberal friends I either tend to tone down my opinions or present them in their entirety in a facetious demeanor. On the other hand, around conservative friends and family I tend to take a devil's advocate approach to avoid a stale discussion.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Unless drunk, I'm usually smart enough to know when to be less forthright about my socially unacceptable worldview. And I usually pass it off as sarcastic when I do open my mouth.

[Cassius]

I try, as best as possible, to reflect the opinions of whomever I happen to be talking to at the time (fortunately I rarely get put in a position where I have to discuss politics) - ie I'm very measured and moderately supportive (although not to the extent where my comments are memorable) when I'm around friends who are involved in campus liberation stuff (anti-sexism and Pride and the like), whereas when I'm with friends from my home town I'm comfortably (although again, not excessively) on the casual bigotry banterbus.

[RFayette]

Duh.  I have made more than a few anti-Trump jokes when the subject has come up with my liberal friends.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I try, as best as possible, to reflect the opinions of whomever I happen to be talking to at the time (fortunately I rarely get put in a position where I have to discuss politics) - ie I'm very measured and moderately supportive (although not to the extent where my comments are memorable) when I'm around friends who are involved in campus liberation stuff (anti-sexism and Pride and the like), whereas when I'm with friends from my home town I'm comfortably (although again, not excessively) on the casual bigotry banterbus.

Very good.

I myself ran into a spot of trouble on Friday night when a few friends stopped by and one srat chick I don't know that well started talking politics. Having already begun drinking, I was reasonably distraught that someone would wish to take me from my happy place to even talk about Donald Trump outside the sarcastic. This resulted in an "exchange of ideas" where I exposed my neo-fascistic/Stalinist sentiments to those assembled; at least one person was there who I'd rather have not know my actual viewpoints. Still a bit angry at myself for this.

Duh.  I have made more than a few anti-Trump jokes when the subject has come up with my liberal friends.

My assumption is that a Jeb Bush joke may be safely made regardless of the audience.

[Goldwater]

Probably to some degree, though usually I just avoid talking about politics around people I'm not very close to. Meanwhile, around people I know very well, I tend to play devil's advocate, to the point where I have sometimes had people think I hold oppose views than I actually do on certain issues.

[Cassius]

I try, as best as possible, to reflect the opinions of whomever I happen to be talking to at the time (fortunately I rarely get put in a position where I have to discuss politics) - ie I'm very measured and moderately supportive (although not to the extent where my comments are memorable) when I'm around friends who are involved in campus liberation stuff (anti-sexism and Pride and the like), whereas when I'm with friends from my home town I'm comfortably (although again, not excessively) on the casual bigotry banterbus.

Very good.

I myself ran into a spot of trouble on Friday night when a few friends stopped by and one srat chick I don't know that well started talking politics. Having already begun drinking, I was reasonably distraught that someone would wish to take me from my happy place to even talk about Donald Trump outside the sarcastic. This resulted in an "exchange of ideas" where I exposed my neo-fascistic/Stalinist sentiments to those assembled; at least one person was there who I'd rather have not know my actual viewpoints. Still a bit angry at myself for this.

Haha, of course, it's always problematic when you combine drinking and being around people who have strong political opinions - if I ever do say anything slightly off-colour I just pin on the alcohol or say it was humour.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Not really. I tend to be more careful about phrasing myself politely when I'm in settings where being too blunt could offend people or is considered socially unacceptable, but I've never changed the substance of my views. I think I have the duty to be honest in these matters as in all others.

[Santander]

Yes, I talk about God, social conservatism, Ronald Reagan, Western civilization and my disdain for Obama far more around liberals.

I use colorful language with my conservative friends.

[Goldwater]

Yes, I talk about God, social conservatism, Ronald Reagan, Western civilization and my disdain for Obama far more around liberals.

I use colorful language with my conservative friends.

Wait, you talk about that stuff more around liberals? IRC is you holding back?

[OSR stands with Israel]

I don't talk politics with people whose views are totally different then mine

[RINO Tom]

I very rarely discuss political views with anyone, TBH.

[LLR]

I try to be capitalist around libertarians and anti-free-market around liberals, yes.

[Santander]

Yes, I talk about God, social conservatism, Ronald Reagan, Western civilization and my disdain for Obama far more around liberals.

I use colorful language with my conservative friends.

Wait, you talk about that stuff more around liberals? IRC is you holding back?

Okay, libertarians too, minus the Reagan stuff.

[Kingpoleon]

I very rarely discuss political views with anyone, TBH.

[SATW]

Depends on the issue. My neoconservative foreign policy outlook is well-known by all of my friends - liberal or conservative.

I talk about my pro-life and economically conservative views more often around conservatives and my pro-LGBT, pro-immigration reform stances with liberals.

[SWE]

I'll blatantly copy The American Conservative's take and say lean FF

Tl;dr, It reduced poverty rates while increasing extreme poverty rates. The reform was effective but needs to be paired with more child benefits and the like.

Interesting way of framing your beliefs based on your audience.

[DC Al Fine]

Whoops, must have replied to the wrong thread. Mea culpa.

[Mr. Smith]

I tend to take the devil's advocate view if the subject seriously comes up, but I never personally bring up the subject if I can help it.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I try, as best as possible, to reflect the opinions of whomever I happen to be talking to at the time (fortunately I rarely get put in a position where I have to discuss politics) - ie I'm very measured and moderately supportive (although not to the extent where my comments are memorable) when I'm around friends who are involved in campus liberation stuff (anti-sexism and Pride and the like), whereas when I'm with friends from my home town I'm comfortably (although again, not excessively) on the casual bigotry banterbus.

Very good.

I myself ran into a spot of trouble on Friday night when a few friends stopped by and one srat chick I don't know that well started talking politics. Having already begun drinking, I was reasonably distraught that someone would wish to take me from my happy place to even talk about Donald Trump outside the sarcastic. This resulted in an "exchange of ideas" where I exposed my neo-fascistic/Stalinist sentiments to those assembled; at least one person was there who I'd rather have not know my actual viewpoints. Still a bit angry at myself for this.

Haha, of course, it's always problematic when you combine drinking and being around people who have strong political opinions - if I ever do say anything slightly off-colour I just pin on the alcohol or say it was humour.

I tend to dislike people casually discussing political views as if they're entitled to an audience that agrees with them. I also don't like to employ logic to solve the "problem" because I view modern political stances as being... "inadequate" and would rather just go the point of full absurdity rather than say something that sounded vaguely sincere. In this case, it resulted in me commenting on how I longed for the day when the working man got home from the steel mill and read his state-owned newspaper or listened to his state-owned radio, and how, while presidential candidates idiotically talked about increasing our freedom, they should instead be telling us how they'd make us work more. I can't remember what the chick was arguing, but it was something vaguely liberal, at the very least. Anything "political" at an alcohol-infused social event ought to consist of semi-sarcastic slogans, shouted. This was a wreck.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

most of my friends are far-right (Milo alt-right types) or Bernie-ists, so I'd say the extremes allowed me to be centrist leaning right.

[Blue3]

It changes my approach, since I try to be sympathetic or make my views relatable, but it doesn't change my views. I may choose to emphasize some views and not talk about others depending on my audience, but not change my actual views.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I try, as best as possible, to reflect the opinions of whomever I happen to be talking to at the time (fortunately I rarely get put in a position where I have to discuss politics) - ie I'm very measured and moderately supportive (although not to the extent where my comments are memorable) when I'm around friends who are involved in campus liberation stuff (anti-sexism and Pride and the like), whereas when I'm with friends from my home town I'm comfortably (although again, not excessively) on the casual bigotry banterbus.

Very good.

I myself ran into a spot of trouble on Friday night when a few friends stopped by and one srat chick I don't know that well started talking politics. Having already begun drinking, I was reasonably distraught that someone would wish to take me from my happy place to even talk about Donald Trump outside the sarcastic. This resulted in an "exchange of ideas" where I exposed my neo-fascistic/Stalinist sentiments to those assembled; at least one person was there who I'd rather have not know my actual viewpoints. Still a bit angry at myself for this.

Haha, of course, it's always problematic when you combine drinking and being around people who have strong political opinions - if I ever do say anything slightly off-colour I just pin on the alcohol or say it was humour.

I tend to dislike people casually discussing political views as if they're entitled to an audience that agrees with them. I also don't like to employ logic to solve the "problem" because I view modern political stances as being... "inadequate" and would rather just go the point of full absurdity rather than say something that sounded vaguely sincere. In this case, it resulted in me commenting on how I longed for the day when the working man got home from the steel mill and read his state-owned newspaper or listened to his state-owned radio, and how, while presidential candidates idiotically talked about increasing our freedom, they should instead be telling us how they'd make us work more. I can't remember what the chick was arguing, but it was something vaguely liberal, at the very least. Anything "political" at an alcohol-infused social event ought to consist of semi-sarcastic slogans, shouted. This was a wreck.

This sort of attitude is what's wrong about modern political discourse. Nobody believes that a sincere, respectful but if necessary harsh exchange of ideas with others is worth having anymore. Sarcasm and provocation are so much more fun, right?

[VPH]

It doesn't change how I view things, but rather how I explain my views.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Well, I almost always call out the most reprehensible socially conservative views on the spot if it's a non-threatening individual, although I now try to avoid these buffoons at all costs.

When the topic of Stephen Harper comes up, I usually remain pretty silent. People are uninterested in observing how well Canada came out of the global financial crisis, and I don't care so much about cutting funding for the bureaucracy because I am privileged and genuinely can't really feel the sting of the negatives people talk about. I'm sure I'd change my mind if our media actually covered what our government does policy-wise in Canada, but my political attention span is directed elsewhere.

Plus, my views are nebulous enough and so easily trumped by social issues ("identity politics") that I can blend in pretty well anyway.