How do you deal with this type of 'debate' between siblings?

[coffeerevelsrule]

I'm an only child so no experience of this to draw on from my own childhood, which mainly consisted of me and much older relatives.

DS1 and DS2 aged 18 and 16 are very different characters but do get on for the most part. DS1 is passionate about politics and so on and very interested in current affairs. DS2 is not and quite often says things to sort of wind us up, like 'I might vote Tory to annoy you,' or 'Who's Keir Starmer?' (He does know). He's gay, which is relevant.

Yesterday they had a discussion that got incredibly heated and left me feeling quite upset and unsure how to deal with it. Basically ds1 was saying that the white working class are as oppressed as other groups such as people of colour or people of the lgbtq community, and ds2 was saying this isn't the case and he would never feel empathy for any working class person who was homophobic - obviously not saying they all are but that if they are homophobic it would cancel out any oppression they themselves had experienced. DS1 was saying it would therefore be DS2's fault if we have a far right government in the future. Also, earlier on speaking of holidays, DS1 said he wouldn't come with us to Vietnam due to the political regime in place and when I said we'd be staying in Europe next year anyway DS2 said he wouldn't come to Krakow due to lack of gay rights and abortion laws and DS1 said Krakow would be top of his list.

Oh so Chrsitmassy....I don't know how to handle this type of thing. As I said, they do get on but now it feels like there are a million topics we need to steer away from at the moment. I don't think DS2 has these types of discussions with anyone other than us (mainly DS1 - I stay out of it increasingly) while DS1 is back from uni and ready to debate!

Nope. Graduates don’t get promoted above senior management … although I’m sure a lot think they should be.

Maybe you knew it all at 18 but I know I didn’t. Or maybe you still only know as much as you did at 18 🤣🤣

Of course you’re “senior management”…and I’m a unicorn.

I’ve found banning politics as a discussion topic at home is a very positive move

Ok 🤣
You have run out of anything of note to say and have now resorted to insults … says it all 🙄

Oh yeah I’m the one being insulting…who is stating that an entire generation’s thoughts should be ignored because they know nothing again? And the overuse of emojis is incredibly passé.

@coffeerevelsrule they could do like leonards family did at christmas in the big bang theory, write out their arguments in essay format and then present them to prove their points and their research that proves it etc ?

You seemed to come on and insult my kids @BuildbyNumbere , right from the off. I don't recognise your characterisation of them at all. They don't get their information from TikTok and they don't foist their views on others either. You come across as someone who resents people just for being young, which is really sad. I also work with teenagers and most are passionate, well-informed and funny. If you actually know any young people I'm sorry you aren't able to see the positives in them.

I'd get them to try reverse-debating.

Get ChatGPT to generate a series of opposing political debates, print them out and get DS1 to take one side to the debate and DS2 to take the opposing side. It doesn't matter if they choose a debate that is against what they believe, that's the art of good debate.

give each of them marks for any strong points they make, write them onto a blackboard and see who gets the best score. Then move on to the next subject.

it will channel their energy constructively rather then them sniping and bickering at each other to wind each other up.

You could recreate the living room into the House of Commons with each DS on each side of the House, having to stand at the despatch box, to make it realistic add teddies, dogs, cats etc on each side for added effect

Hahaha but you have created a whole thread moaning about them!
I didn’t mention TikTok 🤷🏻‍♀️

Another insult … grow up! 🙄🤣👍🏻🤦🏻‍♀️🎉😬😆

to be honest if more people did this society may be better at choosing their political parties etc

I love when people just keep digging.................Bless

Digging? How so?!? What are you talking about???

I think I would draw the line at ad hominem and leave it at that. Suggesting that someone's viewpoint is invalid because of their race, sex, age, sexuality etc. is lazy, fallacious and personally insulting.

My rule would be if they want to debate, they can, but they have to follow 'gentleman's' rules. It's good training for the world in general, makes it easier to put the topic aside when one has had enough, and gets then out of the horrible (and ultimately useless) modern tendency to play the man rather than the ball!