Are you honest with your family about all the badness that is coming down?

[Atman]

I find myself self-censoring, even when speaking with my wife. I tell as much as I can, but I get to the point where I fear I'm going to sound like a nut-case if I keep mentioning every new atrocity I've read about BushCo inflicting upon the world. I've done it with/to my mother, too. For instance, a few months ago my grandfather's estate finally got out of probate, and my mother was talking to me about what she would do with the money she inherited. I told her, "seriously, put at least some of it in gold. Things are going to get bad." She didn't seem to understand why, and while she knows I'm a political junkie, she seemed to almost be glazing over out of fear or perhaps thinking I was going overboard with the "the world is at a very precarious place right now" stuff. Trying to explain the Iraq oil bourse, the switch to Euros, all that. Of course, had she listened to me, she would have realized a freakin' FORTUNE by now, but hey. Anyway, I've done it with friends, too. I throttle back the political vitriol, because when all of it is thrust at you in one sitting, it begins to sound like just so much maniacal ranting. Oh, the irony. I can't talk about the ravings of the maniacs because I'm afraid of sounding like one myself. But WHEN the shit hits the fan, I don't want to have to merely say "I told you so." I'm torn between a sense of duty to protect my loved ones and a need to have them not think I'm a paranoid loon.

So...what do YOU do. How do YOU handle everything you learn on places like DU and KOS and Rawstory and Bradblog every day?

[Atman]

1. Wow, lots of votes, no comments!

So I'm kickin' to keep it from falling of the GD page.

:kick:

[Keseys Ghost]

9. They know how angry I am

They know I won't let them go down without a fight.

[Mr_Spock]

2. No holds barred

They need to know - friend or foe - I don't care if they like it or not. The truth hurts sometimes.

[napi21]

3. I don't hold back, and I know most people probably think I'm

going way overboard, but as time goes on, and most of the things I've asid in the past have proven true, my image is improving with them too.

[lonestarnot]

4. Why hold back...discussion may lead to solutions.

[Swamp Rat]

11. Ya dern tootin'!

:patriot: ;) :patriot:

[lonestarnot]

12. ewwwww a partner patriot

:salute: :hug: :patriot:

[Swamp Rat]

15. HAHA!

:patriot: post #10! :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

:patriot: :patriot:

:patriot:

[Betsy Ross]

5. If you hold back, especially with those close to you,

then how are you working to change things. Education is fundamental to creating positive changes.

[proud patriot]

6. No holding back

My my family is pretty liberal though .

I'm not butting heads

[Solo_in_MD]

7. I have mixed feelings

I dont think it will be that bad. The reslience of this nation is being underestimated. Still we are taking precautions, not unlike we did for Y2K.

That said I am on the opposite side of the country from my family for while yet (they live in CA) and if things really did go south, there is nothing I could do from here.

[stillcool]

8. there seem to be cycles...

or maybe new levels of awareness, that really rock my world, leaving me with an abstract dis-ease. I find that not only do I censor my speech, but my thoughts as well. All the norms of life have been up-ended, and any thought of the future, brings with it clenched fists, and grinding teeth...like it's something that will be endured...or not....but universal laws will prevail.

[Swamp Rat]

10. I'm a lean, mean, megaphone of truth!

:D :patriot:

:patriot: And I know how to turn bush bots into Free-thinking Americans. ;) :patriot:

:patriot: I now have lots of "ex-GOP" friends!.. of ALL ages! :D :patriot:

[lonestarnot]

17. Woohoooo good on you! But I still haven't forgiven them. I blame them

for what has happened to us and what is about to happen to us. Can't "get over it" :mad:

[Swamp Rat]

18. If find it even more cathartic to watch them swear at Bushler, tear off

their bumper stickers, trash their GOP signs, and MORE! ;) .... AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! :rofl: :patriot:

:patriot:

:patriot:

:patriot:

:patriot:

:patriot:

:patriot:

[lonestarnot]

20. I haven't had the pleasure to see a sticker actually being ripped off yet.

I must admit they are scarce these days.

[Jigarotta]

13. been yapping for years now.

and suffered many an eyeroll from people that I didn't expect that from. fortunately, the people closest to me understand. but not quite, even I don't know that 'quite'.

[paul_fromatlanta]

14. I'm honest that I think there is a world war coming.

[Lars39]

16. I've had to distill the info into manageable doses

so that they don't get overwhelmed.
I learned my lesson back a few years when I first read up on PNAC and dang-near had a nervous breakdown when I realized what the troops were in for. :(

[pitohui]

19. none of the above

everybody in our family is rock hard hatin' on reagan and bush from way back

however, that doesn't mean when my mother recently received a nice legacy that i told her to stash it in gold, look, she ain't getting any younger, i want her to enjoy herself and i think she is -- lots of travel and cruises she never got to do while younger

anyway gold is at a 25 year high, so you will just cheat your mother of some of her inheritance, buy high on panic, sell low on panic is the classic reason why virtually everyone who is not in in the industry loses money over the long term when investing in gold and other commodities (the figure they used to tell us was that 90 percent of commodities investors end up losers, it almost has to be that way because of transaction and storage fees if you think about it MATHEMATICALLY rather than with your emotions)

anyway if the world is going to fall apart and you are not going to live long enough to see it come out of the tunnel on the other side, then my advice is to live today

trying to make your mom feel sad and sort of desperate clutching at a legacy is not really the thing to do, think abt it, at some point, somebody should actually go out and enjoy the money, not just stash it in gold bricks under the bed until some generation down the line where a drug addict pops up in the family line and smokes it all

give people hope for the future, most people are not attracted to losing causes and why should they be, they need hope not fear, anyway the bushes have the fear market cornered, you can't win at that game of be afraid be v. afraid, they'll always trump you

i don't want to be a flower power type but i think you can talk honestly with your family and still be positive, esp. when something good has happened, like your mom getting a nice inheritance after god only knows what probate hassle, sure, she missed the boat on gold and euros, they're too high now, stocks are looking too high also, so maybe she should consider more conservative investments until she has had time to get used to being a woman of means, decisions abt money made in haste after reading the internet or wall street journal are almost never the right ones

[Atman]

23. I certainly wouldn't advise mom to buy gold NOW!

God, no! I gave her this advice at least 9 months ago. I'd even mentioned it to my wife over the last few months. Even if she had bought in 12 weeks ago, she could have made a pretty decent return, but prices are too damned high now to make it realistic/safe.

The happy ending is that she did spread her inheritence around so that she's been able to live nicely on interest and a small allowance, and she just recently sold her condo and realized a decent profit on that, and was able to by into a nice retirement community where she has a pool and no stairs to climb and all that stuff people in their seventies tend to need/want. She did fine. But I hear what you're saying. It's a lot of what prompted my initial post; how do you be honest about the current situation without instilling a sense of hopelessness or panic? Good post, thanks!

[Neil Lisst]

21. I think we understand that the loss of rights has gone much further

than is generally believed, and that many thousands of Americans are truly at risk because the Bush administration and its extra-governmental contractors are engaged in war against domestic dissent.

I try to communicate those concerns to any I think need to hear it.

[nonconformist]

22. Hmm... I can't decide which answer applies most to me

A combo of a couple, I guess.

I talk very openly and freely with my husband. We are on the same page.

I talk openly and freely with my parents, siblings, and everyone on my mother's side of the family. They all know what time it is. I'm the biggest overall political junkie, and they'll often ask me about something or engage me in conversation on a particular issue. Over the last couple of years, they've also come to the pretty grim conclusion that we're basically fucked.

I try not to bring up politics around extended family, including my stepfather's family, if I'm not sure where they lean. I honestly can't handle the potential debates, because I have a great deal of trouble letting go of the anger I have surrounding all of this - so it's easier for me to avoid it... especially since I only see most of them once a year or so anymore.

I hold back with my inlaws, but I do casually discuss things if they come up. They know where I lean, and they're democrats, but they're not overly informed. Mostly it's because I'm sure they would think I'm even crazier than I already am. As well, my inlaws are not very political nor do they discuss politics much - never have, according to my husband. They're more interested on a local level.