Report Your Holiday Family Arguments Here

[Jimmie Higgins]

Ok, who here did a good job of "ruining" their family's holiday dinner with political talk?

There are several cops in my very large extended family as well as some veterans (some now patriotic, while others are unpatriotic because of the experience). So as much as I tried to keep things civil, political arguments did tend to pop up around me.

1. I got in an "these kids today" argument with some older members of my family. Apparently the problem with violence today is "kids are just different" even though I got them to admit that there was plenty of knifings, fights and gang violence in their 1940s neighborhoods.

2. This led to a larger argument about newspapers sensationalizing violence vs. the reality in working class districts.

3. This led to an even larger (and angrier) discussion about weather a young man who was shot by the cops in Oakland while being held face-down and in handcuffs (while being filmed on video-tape) "deserved" to get shot. "He must have done something to get treated so roughly - we just didn't see it on the video-tape" was the only argument they could muster. They flat-out called me a liar when I told them that starting salaries for Oakland cops are twice the salary for Oakland teachers (and cops get their training paid for while teachers have to pay their way through). Thank god for google helping me expose my relatives uniformed mythys by going to the OPD recruiting page.



What about other people here? What were the heated discussions at your gatherings?

[Patchd]

I didn't get to see my mum this xmas, I had to work xmas eve and boxing day, although after work on eve I did go to a staff party (it was us and the staff from two other Thai restaurants) and was chatting to two Thai workers who worked at the restaurant the party was in about Anarchism, why the King of Thailand is a shithead and why Thaksin is also a shithead, we were pretty pissed and was a pretty good convo actually, considering that most Thai people I've met here in Britain are staunch royalists.

[Jimmie Higgins]

What do people usually do on Boxing Day? I've always been curious about it.

[Raúl Duke]

My family is composed in a certain way where its rare to get into these arguments and even then I'm also very "diplomatic" and tend to find ways to avoid this (even if I'm able to sneak in some message/opinion once in a while)

[RHIZOMES]

My extended family don't even know about my politics yet. Can't be fucked arguing with sheltered managerial middle-class golden cobblestone suburbanites. They're racist as hell too.

[Nwoye]

I thought the potatoes were fine but everyone else thought they needed more salt.

the petty-bourgeois fucks.

[The Essence Of Flame Is The Essence Of Change]

Fortunately this Christmas we didn't have any as only a small part of the family got together for dinner (here in Greece we celebrate New Year's much more than christmas, santa comes then etc etc) with the exception of my grandmother who was worried that her grandson is on the streets with weird looking people (my comrades):laugh:We see in New Years...

but I just remembered one two years before when we went to my divorced and remarried grandfather's house.It was a very fun meeting with my grandfather being an orthodox marxist, a bit conservative/sexist though who had fought at the civil war, his sister being a cultural revisionist (SYRIZA member), his son an anarcho communist and a distant female cousin an anarcha feminist (I was also a marxist leninist at that time).So ye....tbh I'd prefer having a right wing family in times such as those...they didn't speak to each other for about a week :laugh:It was also very funny that as a marxist leninist I got in an arguement with my anarchist cousin calling anarchism utopian,a teenage fad etc only to become one myself one year later.He doesn't miss a chance to bash it on me now lol

[RedRise]

No real arguments on Christmas day, although I do recall a pretty vicious wrapping-paper fight with my uncle. However, today one of dad's students (he teaches PhDs) came over and I was milling around in the kitchen and then joined in the conversation. It progressed from there into an argument when dad mentioned Che Guevara and I said I was a Marxist whereupon I promptly found out he was anti-communist.:mad:
It ended up with him shouting about the book/film Animal Farm and me wearing a che beret and shouting about worker's rights and selfish capitalist bastards and both my parents standing around looking nervous.:laugh:

[Chambered Word]

No real arguments on Christmas day, although I do recall a pretty vicious wrapping-paper fight with my uncle. However, today one of dad's students (he teaches PhDs) came over and I was milling around in the kitchen and then joined in the conversation. It progressed from there into an argument when dad mentioned Che Guevara and I said I was a Marxist whereupon I promptly found out he was anti-communist.:mad:
It ended up with him shouting about the book/film Animal Farm and me wearing a che beret and shouting about worker's rights and selfish capitalist bastards and both my parents standing around looking nervous.:laugh:

Did you tell him George Orwell was a socialist? :laugh:

[rednordman]

Ouch! This is a toe-curler of a post. We have all been there though. Nothing like a good old political opinionated arguement around the dinner table to make even the best of friends-very very cold towards each other.

[Sasha]

had an heated argument with my parrents (mostly my dad) after i expreesed my happines over this year not celebrating the racist "sinterklaas" earlier in december.
he strongly disagreed with me that this:
http://athomeandabroadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/zwartepiet.jpg
(our yearly minstrell show)
was racist and went on an rampage to defend our cultural heritage.
might have to to with the fact that my parrents raised us realy anti-racist yet he is playing the part of sinterklaas (the old white guy) every year at the school where my mom works.
so i guess i shouldnt be realy supprised he got mad when i kind of called him an colonial slave owning reactionary. :lol:

[bcbm]

my cousin got mad at me for smoking while we were driving to christmas eve church. she was really, really drunk though.

[Panda Tse Tung]

We got in an argument over the rules of Risk (which are soooooooo complicated apparently :rolleyes:). Also my brother was being lazy, so got into an argument with him. And uuuh, thats it.

[NecroCommie]

My parents somehow strayed with our topic to how russians used to hate finns and how they would have destroyed our nation if given the chance. I countered this blatant nationalism by stating that the birth of the finnish nationalism can be attributed to one russian emperor known as Peter the great, therefor proving once and for all that nation has nothing to do with who wants who destroyed.

They said something like: "you sound brainwashed" To which I replied: "What one calls brainwashing, the other calls growing up"... they were at a loss of words at that point.

[Pawn Power]

The usefullness of gift-giving and the social and familial pressures of reciprocity.

[BOZG]

What do people usually do on Boxing Day? I've always been curious about it.

Normally the same shit as Christmas Day. Eat too much food, drink too much wine, pass out on the sofa etc. In my family, dinner tends to include the entire family rather than immediate family or part of the family.

[Wanted Man]

Nothing went wrong at all. We had good dinners on both Christmas and Boxing Day with several relatives. Normally, if any discussion occurs, I can easily get relatives to argue for marxist ideas while making them think that they came up with it themselves, but that wasn't necessary at all this time.

Also, I think I support psycho's dad with regard to St. Nicholas.

EDIT: fuck Christmas anyway, New Year's is much cooler.

[GPDP]

On the way to my aunt's house for Christmas Eve dinner, one of my uncles started ranting about Mexican politics, and complained about how Mexican workers are lazy welfare queens who take advantage of the fact that the government apparently protects them from getting fired, which explains why so many people in Mexico are poor, while Americans do not have such protections and are thus more productive. I really didn't feel like getting into a huge argument, especially since his daughter also joined in his rant, so I just stayed quiet the whole way. It didn't help that I don't know a whole lot about Mexican politics and its political economic arrangements. They're petit-bourgeois, so it's only understandable why they would hold such arrogant, reactionary views.

Then on the day after, my whole family decided we should go to mass. On the way over to the Catholic church, my mom decided to lecture me and my sister on why it is important that we go to mass to thank god for all out fortunes this year, that we all accomplished and progressed a lot, and that we should ask him for something. I was kinda just nodding my head, annoyed at the fact that I was being forced to attend a religious service when I am staunchly atheist, but I didn't fight it much. Then, she decided to tell us that we should ask god to help the poor and disadvantaged, which is standard fare for Catholics, but for some mind-boggling reason, she added that we ask him to help them get the idea in their heads that they need to work hard to succeed like us, as if they are all poor because they are lazy. I raged hard at that comment, to say the least. Obviously my uncle's drivel from last night influenced her.

After that, I just kinda sat around at mass. My mom gave me a few mean looks for not performing all the little silly rituals like forming the cross with your hand, but otherwise it went alright. It was just boring as fuck, though at least they had semi-lively mariachi music instead of the usual ear-grinding organs. My cousin had it worse, however, as she is also a fellow atheist. One of my other cousins, who is much older than me, lectured her hardcore about why it's important to believe in god, and basically turned the ride to the church into an inquisition.

Never mind that we were both brought up in families who never, EVER fucking practice. We hadn't gone to church in years. How can they expect us to turn into little indoctrinated Christian Catholics when even when we were little, we rarely went to church, let alone nowadays?

Other than those incidents, things went pretty smooth. This Christmas was just a bit too religious for my liking, though.

[Ravachol]

On the way to my aunt's house for Christmas Eve dinner, one of my uncles started ranting about Mexican politics, and complained about how Mexican workers are lazy welfare queens who take advantage of the fact that the government apparently protects them from getting fired

It protects them from getting fired? JESUS NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT! :rolleyes: Also lol @ workers being 'welfare queens'.

[the last donut of the night]

What do people usually do on Boxing Day? I've always been curious about it.

I used to live in Canada. It's basically like Black Friday; all they do is shop, really.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I used to live in Canada. It's basically like Black Friday; all they do is shop, really.I thought there was some sort of kids thing in the morning on Boxing-day.

Deep down, I always hoped that boxing day was a day when everyone goes out with boxing gloves on and if you see someone not wearing boxing gloves, you get to punch them in the stomach or on the arm.

[Sugar Hill Kevis]

What do people usually do on Boxing Day? I've always been curious about it.

Pub

[Patchd]

We got in an argument over the rules of Risk (which are soooooooo complicated apparently :rolleyes:). Also my brother was being lazy, so got into an argument with him. And uuuh, thats it.
If you think Risk is complicated, never, ever, try Lord of the Rings Risk :unsure:

^ And yeah boxing day, pub or work, apart from when I was working in a pub, then it was pub and work, and free booze, which was awesome.

[Nwoye]

Pub
that's all english people ever do: get drunk on lukewarm beer and eat shitty food

[leninpuncher]

I got really drunk and threw up everywhere. I usually find myself yelling about exploitation and capitalism when I'm that drunk, so maybe, I don't know.

I visited my Thatcherite grandmother afterwards, and was drawn into an argument about whether or not it's acceptable for people to have threesome relationships. She walked away first, so I claimed a win. There was also something about the troops, the queen, the miners, representative democracy and Stephen fucking Gately I dont know why.

We didn't get onto Thatcher or religion, and I forgot to pack my CCCP shirt, so it ended a little short.

[leninpuncher]

that's all english people ever do: get drunk on lukewarm beer and eat shitty food
sometimes we watch television

[Patchd]

that's all english people ever do: get drunk on lukewarm beer and eat shitty food
What beer is not: Gassy, cold and tastes like piss. :tt2:

[Nwoye]

What beer is not: Gassy, cold and tastes like piss. :tt2:
room temperature beer is an abomination plain and simple.

[Tyrlop]

What beer is not: Gassy, cold and tastes like piss. :tt2:
peer is like that true.

[Sam_b]

Gassy, cold and tastes like piss.

http://www.beerstore.com.au/beerstore/uploads/beerImages/Tennents_Lager_large.jpg

[Wanted Man]

room temperature beer is an abomination plain and simple.

http://www.faenation.com/images/wychwood.jpg

[Tyrlop]

thank god i dont drink beer at all, it taste like piss.

[RedStarOverChina]

Didn't have big arguments (only minor scuffles over the merits of "intellectual property"),

but the family that hosted our Christmas party really can't cook, it was miserable. I can still feel the beef down my throat.

[Hiero]

I don't really argue, I just listen to other people's stupid opinion.

I was talking about my friend who was in the Air Force, when he is coming back home etc (not from the war but other side of Australia). And this old ex cop (flat foot cop, colonial mentality) was there, I can't remember exactly who said what first, but he mentioned that when he picks up (taxi driver) these young guys from the air port who have been to war they are changed men and they are good kids etc "War/Army makes men".

This was after or before I mention how drunk the non-ranked non-officer Air Force and Army get on ANZAC (a natonal holiday) day and bash each other up, and the general drug, drinking and violence culture in the armed forces.

It was just ridicilious to hear the repition of "the army makes men" shit from someone who really doesn't know how out of control these guys really are.

Then people started talking about the war and how Iraqi's and Muslims don't really appreciate life like "we" do.

[IrishWorker]

I am doing godfather for my brother’s first child he went with his pregnant girlfriend to the docs over crimbo for a check up the doc wanted to do an internal examination but the brother’s girlfriend refused because the doc was a Nigerian.
You can imagine the row I caused.

[IrishWorker]

I am doing godfather for my brother’s first child he went with his pregnant girlfriend to the docs over crimbo for a check up the doc wanted to do an internal examination but the brother’s girlfriend refused because the doc was a Nigerian.
You can imagine the row I caused.

P.S. shouting at a pregnant hormonal racist is not a good idea.