> "why can't people just leave all those politics and stuff aside. Don't we have bigger problems like that. Water gets short. We are heading to a new war and all those other really bad stuff thats happening. And here we are complaining about everyone and everything."

@m3tti we are all subject to policy at all times. If you think at any time you are doing something separate from politics, what you are really doing is something that is in agreement with the status-quo policy. Since everyone agrees, no one ever need discuss politics, and that is nice and peaceful. But just because you and everyone involved agrees with the status-quo policy does not mean everyone who could contribute will agree.

This only becomes obvious when someone new shows up, especially someone who is harmed by status quo policy (typically someone in a minority group, e.g. gay, trans, non-white), you may learn that your behavior, which up to that point everyone agreed with, is harmful toward people in that group, for example, not treating them with the same dignity and respect you treat other members of the group (for example, because of race of gender).

How you choose to respond in such a situation is extremely important. You can choose to show respect to that person's individuality, and create new policy, if only for members of your group, in an attempt avoid behaving in ways that are harmful to this new person.

Or you can choose to demand the person who disagrees with you to conform to your politics, the policy of the status quo that up to that point everyone agreed with and never discussed. You might even accuse that new person of "bringing politics into our previously non-political group." But they did not bring in politics, it was already there, it was just there was no need to discuss it. Now there is a new person in the group, and a need to discuss politics. And to ignore their political disagreement as "bringing politics up where it need not be" is pretty disrespectful, especially if all they are asking for is to be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else in the group regardless of (for example) race or gender.

@chiraag @morganmay @mcc