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friends from countries with questionable civil/political freedoms...

edited July 2009 in General
... do you tone down your political views to them, even stuff you would normally share unreservedly with your other friends?

For example, on fb during the Iranian election protests I kind of publicly made my hope for the anger and chaos to escalate and thereby threaten the Guardian Council's position, but then 5 minutes later I realised that might tick off some of my Iranian friends so I modified my posts.

Sometimes I've also toned down my views of Chinese politics to PRC national students, partially because I don't know how they react. (Though those who have revealed their stances to me tend to be libertarian ... yay.) Would you consider it inconsiderate to make snide remarks about the PRC government in the presence of PRC nationals? (e.g. that the PRC government is illegitimate and the Republic of China government is still the legitimate heir to Sun Yat-Sen, or about Hu Yaobang, Tiananmen Square, etc.) Sometimes I'm not talking to them directly, but they're dining as a group with other students, etc.

And what about those from Honduras, Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, etc?

Comments

  • edited July 2009
    nope
  • edited July 2009
    I don't usually tone them down, mainly because young people don't usually have large support in their government no matter where you are. However, I don't really support the Israeli government, but I tend to keep quiet on that
  • edited July 2009
    careful man, those persian gangsta's gonna cut yo bitch ass.
  • edited July 2009
    I usually say what I want--and interestingly enough, people usually agree, even if it is insulting to their own culture.

    The only times I tone it down is around PARENTS of my friends. Friends and parents of friends are entirely different things.
  • edited July 2009
    Zip it. If you wanna talk about it, educate yourself and approach the topic neutrally.
  • IVTIVT
    edited July 2009
    i don't really care what people have to say about my views

    but also, i don't go around announcing them to eveyone
  • edited July 2009
    how's the threesome going?

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