Work and political talk: Do they mix?

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  Posted by Mush Mon Oct 6, 2008 11:34am PDT

  I think everyone should know their audience, whether speaking about politics, beliefs in PETA, opinions about Unions, etc. I have been a republican for 17 years...more of the liberal type of Republican (Pro-Choice, Free Healthcare, less taxes, Eye for an Eye, Don’t want to be France, blah, blah blah)...I have never had a Political conversation with someone who was a Democrat, where the end result of the conversation had that person screaming out loud about how they agreed with me and were switching to the Right Side and I finally showed them the light! AND Democrats should not expect this to happen to them either. When it comes to a work environment...I find that the same rules apply. Some people are just too angry to have an intelligent conversation about politics AND I find that most people make-up have the facts they think they believe in. These are people that you HAVE to see everyday. You cant just ignore their phone call when you don’t agree with their judgment on politics and it's too difficult to find a new job every time you have a fight over the 7 Houses that was left to Cindy McCain from her father...I think we should all leave it at home unless you have that one person in your office that you can "High-Five" when something good happens on your team. My company is very 50/50...we have political conversations once in a blue moon. I think we are all just too busy to bring our opinions to work and let it come between our friendships here.

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  Posted by kim Tue Oct 7, 2008 9:35am PDT

  i agree with you, the work place is somewhere you have to be everyday and politics is all run on emotions so if emotions on politics start flying around the office it might make it alittle uncomfortable.

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  Posted by none Tue Oct 7, 2008 12:13pm PDT

  speaking of politics check this out

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZVw3no2A4

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  Posted by opiniononly Tue Oct 7, 2008 12:49pm PDT

  I prefer not to voice opinions about personal beliefs at work unless I am talking with colleagues with whom I already have established a level of mutual disclosure and I have a strong sense of their own beliefs. There is a big difference between talking about social issues in a mature, non-judgmental conversation where differing opinions are respected vs. being sucked into something where it becomes more important for one person to be right at the expense of exchanging our own thoughts.

  Within my personal circle of friends, we have agreements to disagree - and in one instance we have agreed not to talk about the upcoming election. At work there can be an 'information is power' mentality that can backfire when you get into conversations that are grounded in personal values and beliefs. It's often best to just keep your mouth shut or, if pushed, to stay as middle ground as possible...unless your job involves influencing public opinion on the topic being discussed.

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  Posted by OhioWorkingMom Wed Oct 8, 2008 6:06am PDT

  I respect my friends too much to cause problems at work. We are all passionate about the economy right now.

  Regardless of who you are voting for please check this out...

  Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis? V2

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6fuFrdCJY

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  Posted by Travis Wed Oct 8, 2008 9:17am PDT

  I only comment on issues at work in a non political way, like how the economy is faltering and what that might mean, if in fact, this discussion is occurring already. I live in one of the most liberal states (if not the most liberal) and most of my co-workers are democrats, barring a few, but my beliefs are radically leftist (The Democrats are a right wing party to me, but if you look at parties in Western Europe, the democrats are right wing compared to all of them anyway). So I usually just keep quiet to keep the peace, even if my co-workers agree in principal with some of the same things I do.

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  Posted by David K Wed Oct 8, 2008 9:43am PDT

  Not if your Obama!

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  Posted by DR Wed Oct 8, 2008 1:40pm PDT

  I think it just depends on the situation. I work as a university professor, and nearly everyone in my department is politically liberal--that's because we muddle through policy documents and we realize that the Republicans never have and never will work to improve American society in a fair way. They support the status quo and social reproduction. And they NEVER do anything to improve education, civil rights, women's rights, etc. So I am lucky because I am pretty much free to state my beliefs. But in a different environment, I would be wary of getting political on the job.

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  Posted by Anna Thu Oct 9, 2008 12:50am PDT

  i feel that religion and politics should stay out of the workplace. if you're hanging out with coworkers after work on your own time, then fine. but not at work. i know from experience that things get WAY too heated at work and can affect productivity. just a few days ago the conservative extreme christian got mad at me, the liberal buddhist, because i went to see "religulous" over the weekend. we usually joke around about things, but she completely ignored me all day. she gets that way about politics all the time too. it's so inappropriate and i feel almost guilty for thinking differently than she does. the boss isn't any better, so i can't report her. he's liberal and often picks fights with her just to see her get upset. i hate it.

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  Posted by captain Thu Oct 9, 2008 3:34pm PDT

  As a rule, there are two topics I do not discuss at work: religion and politics. No good can come from it.

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