Every once in a while I have to repeat this caveat: I value the education of discussion, including of differences, but I don’t run a debating society. There is little value in going back & forth at length with those who support war & militarism, Israeli colonialism, Hillary Clinton’s treacheries, the Kashmiri occupation.

I know the futility since I come from a reactionary family who hasn’t moved an iota to the left despite what seemed an eternity of my best arguments. My older sister has never moved from Sanders socialism & a boyfriend of 22 years could not be dissuaded from voting Democrat. People are heartfelt about their politics, even their deeply misguided ones, & I long ago gave up trying to wrangle or browbeat them to see things my way. It doesn’t work & it poisons friendships.

That doesn’t mean I hold back my views but I don’t get in people’s faces to promote them. And I don’t go to their FB walls to ‘straighten them out.’ My mantra is that one of the arts of politics is knowing when to save your breath.

So the upshot of all this is, don’t come to my wall to set me straight about India’s claims to Kashmir or on anything else. You can think me as intolerant as I think your arguments are banal. We’ll just leave it at that & proceed on what we do agree on.