I had to block my own niece today on Facebook after she brought my adrenalin to the boiling point. My entire family, with some exceptions, is conservative & have always objected to my politics. Producing a socialist from a clan of right-wingers is one of nature’s sarcasms. My aunts & uncles are all Republicans but still beloved to me. I would never be disrespectful to them in language or attitude–nor have they ever been disrespectful to me, despite their disapproval. But when you’re a socialist people sometimes think they can take liberties & get outright insulting. That doesn’t work for me, especially coming from someone who combines insolence & ignorance with bad politics.
She was objecting to my internationalism & advocating provincialism but that’s a political ruse I’m familiar with. Her FB wall had comments like “If you can’t stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them.” That’s not provincialism; it’s aggressive support for US wars.
I didn’t block her because she is right-wing & disagrees with me but because she was disrespectful. Call me old-fashioned but I think you ought to refrain from calling your aunt stupid. It’s probably not self-serving to say that most of those I’ve blocked were rude or insulting to myself or others. You can’t have a useful discussion exchanging insults–& sharp repartee is not the same thing.