To break with hair stylist over politics?

[momtoboys]

Please try to be kind, because as silly as this sounds I am very upset about this situation.

I am currently in the US and I have been going to the same woman who does my hair for 25 years. Over the years we have become friends but do not really see each other socially (occasionally talk on the phone, text, cook a meal when someone sick). We seem to have made this unspoken agreement that we would not discuss politics both knowing we are on opposite ends of the spectrum in our beliefs. The US has recently had a presidential election and the person elected is a VERY polarizing character. This is the person my hairstylist supports.

I had my hair done last night and it appears that since the election results our silent pact not to discuss politics has expired. She really wanted to talk about how much better the country will be and how smart the president elect is. I asked her to stop and that I didn't think we should discuss it but she kept on and then I went at her both barrels. we played the "well, what about THIS" game for a while each trying to outwit the other to prove our point. We were able to pull ourselves out of a terrible spiral and the last 1/2 hour of the appointment was fine. I hugged her goodbye which I normally don't do and I realized that was because I think that may be the last time I see her. I don't think I can go back. I still enjoy her as a friend but her support for this megalomaniac makes me think less of her. If this is the end do I call her and tell her why or just cancel my next appointment and just move on?

Immigration contributes to a country's economy, in America it is in the trillions. The workers do the jobs the locals won't do, so removing them will devastate many industries and farmers who rely on this workforce. Removing immigrants en masse is VERY VERY expensive and this extreme policy alone will severely hurt the American economy. You appear to have a very isolationist view of the USA, ignoring that the entire country is made up of immigrants, or the children of immigrants, including most likely yourself.

Immigration contributes to a country's economy

Depends which economic band you are looking at. It has demonstrably cut the wages of the poorest Americans, who absolutely do these jobs that supposedly only immigrants do.

But I would support an expansion of current work visas that iirc are not pathways towards citizenship and have a hard limit to the number of years

Removing immigrants en masse is VERY VERY expensive and this extreme policy alone will severely hurt the American economy

We give billions to Ukraine and COVID apparently cost one trillion to the US economy. The money isn’t the problem. We lack political will from our government leaders.

You appear to have a very isolationist view of the USA

I don’t care to spill American blood or spend American money to solve problems of others (we’ve really never done that well anyway)

ignoring that the entire country is made up of immigrants, or the children of immigrants, including most likely yourself

And? Obviously America is not intended to be a United Nations writ small. We are descendants of people
that built the country from nothing.

He parents of the kid killed in the school bus crash have condemned trump and Vance

www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna170525

The Republican governor of Ohio says immigrants have greatly helped their community. The immigrants are legal and were invited

abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/gop-gov-dewine-defends-haitian-immigrants-springfield-work/story?id=113690058

As to "illegals" there is much documentation that they take jobs that would otherwise go unfilled and pay a lot in taxes. They aren't demons and less criminal than legal Americans

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-30/undocumented-immigrants-in-us-paid-nearly-100-billion-in-taxes?embedded-checkout=true

nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/undocumented-immigrant-offending-rate-lower-us-born-citizen-rate

It's just pure bigotry on the part of trump supporters, unfounded in facts.

He parents of the kid killed in the school bus crash have condemned trump and Vance

That doesn’t change the facts. A Haitian under TPS status was driving without a license and hit school bus head on. He hit it so hard that it flipped and crushed the boy.

Then his father literally said he wished a white man had killed his son …

The Republican governor of Ohio says immigrants have greatly helped their community

Republicans have loved their cheap labor, yes. I am not a traditional GOP voter so this argument doesn’t work on me. They betrayed us too.

The immigrants are legal and were invited

They were not invited. They crossed illegally and are usually not direct hires. They are temp workers because of the language gap. We have a lot of Spanish speakers in the US but hardly any French speakers.

As to "illegals" there is much documentation that they take jobs that would otherwise go unfilled and pay a lot in taxes

These jobs weren’t even advertised to
locals and the one company splashed across the international press had at most 10% Haitians. They are not filling critical roles but are paid under the market rate, that’s their USP. A town like Springfield will have labor that can fill this albeit for higher pay (the left used to understand this point …)

less criminal than legal Americans

They have already killed at least two people through their reckless driving in the last year and you want to debate this point? Nope.

It's just pure bigotry on the part of trump supporters, unfounded in facts

Springfield city voted Republican for the first time in years … I think they understand very well.

They have already killed at least two people through their reckless driving in the last year and you want to debate this point? Nope.

How many people are killed in reckless driving incidents in America each year? How many of those are by illegal immigrants? Is the % of incidents caused by illegal immegrants higher than the overall % of drivers who are illegal immigrants?

Your comment by itself is literally meaningless.

A crime by an illegal immigrant or by a person under TPS status is a crime that by definition is one that did not have to happen.

Aiden and the elderly woman (can’t remember her name atm) would be alive if Biden hadn’t extended TPS for Haitians.

Btw it wasn’t just dangerous driving, they were driving without a license too. Which shows you how much he respected the laws of the land.

Well said. Demonizing poor people because they were born outside of some arbitrary political border is absurd.

Gun-crazy MAGA and right winger US citizens have been responsible for thousands of deaths that "didn't need to happen." Far more than migrants cause, by orders of magnitude. So should they be rounded up, too, and stripped of human rights?

www.adl.org/resources/report/murder-and-extremism-united-states-2023

A new study published in Journal of the American Medical
Association’s Surgery found that firearm deaths are more likely in
small rural towns than in major urban cities, adding to research
that contradicts common belief that Democratic blue areas have
higher incidences of gun-related deaths than do Republican red
districts.

www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116676/documents/HHRG-118-JU08-20231213-SD004.pdf

Speaking of driving deaths statistics:

www.thelongofirm.com/posts/reckless-driving-most-common-violation-after-fatal-crashes

For those interested in facts:

www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2024/10/5/fact-check-are-haitian-immigrants-in-springfield-in-the-us-illegally

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/06/10/a-majority-of-americans-say-immigrants-mostly-fill-jobs-u-s-citizens-do-not-want/

www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/despite-trumps-claims-data-shows-migrants-arent-taking-jobs-from-black-or-hispanic-people

www.epi.org/blog/immigrants-are-not-hurting-u-s-born-workers-six-facts-to-set-the-record-straight/

A recent "surge" of immigrants to the U.S. is expected to add $8.9 trillionn_ (or 3.2%) to the nation's GDP over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan scorekeeper for Congress.

Well said. Demonizing poor people because they were born outside of some arbitrary political border is absurd

I am not demonizing. I am saying that they have made Springfield worse and nobody should suffer what they have. My hometown is quite close tbh and I do not want to see it destroyed in such a careless way.

Gun-crazy MAGA and right winger US citizens have been responsible for thousands of deaths that "didn't need to happen

Right-wing Americans do not cause a lot of gun crime. Please look at FBI crime statistics and educate yourself.

So should they be rounded up, too, and stripped of human rights?

Deportation is normal when you overstay your visa. You do not have the right to enter any country you want and stay against the wishes of the locals. Such people will be deported.

We have enough violence to deal with from our native born people. Don’t ask us to deal with violent men from outside our borders as well.

He's also a sexual predator who associates with other predators. Yanbu, getting your hair done should be a calming experience, not a time to listen to some unhinged woman go on and on about how happy she is that she helped to elect a corrupt and incompetent moron who is going to ruin your country.

Thank you to all who responded to my question. I am still struggling with the issue but have a few weeks to decide. If I cancel I want to give her enough time to fill my slot.

This is true. But a haircut is meant to be pleasurable and clients are free to go where they please. I’m not paying good money to have someone pour their political beliefs in my ear when I just wanted my hair done!

Haiti the country destroyed by natural and economic disasters, where food insecurity is a reality? If you lived in Haiti with your children would you be content to stay or would you too escape by any means possible? Wealthier countries have a moral obligation to offer humanitarian aid and shelter, and if we do not what does that say about us?

Haitian-style poverty is probably the human norm, most humans throughout history lived like this. There’s little you can do to change it, as no amount of humanitarian aid has shown to improve much of anything, probably prolongs the dysfunction in a way.

I mean, your solution seems to be that you should move the entire population of Haiti to developed countries?

lol if you are going to suggest that then you may as well do another colonialism in all honesty. Because all you’re doing is making their dysfunction someone else’s problem.

Nowadays I like having friends with a variety of political views....keeps things interesting. We never discuss our views though if they are opposite.

No, I am saying that it is understandable Haitians are seeking refuge in other countries and that those who arrive should be treated with compassion especially those who have fled with their families. Especially in a country whose foundation is built on immigration. Dog in a manger attitude much?

Would you have felt the same way about Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, Jews fleeing Nazi occupation? No kindertransport? On the basis not your country not your problem?

I fail to see how natural disasters and the resultant economic disruption are someone else’s ‘dysfunction’. That is incredibly cold.

‘Dog in the manger’? Is my country nothing more than an economic zone to you? It has a legitimate culture that is very different from Europe despite being comprised of primarily Europeans. We are different from you, and you absolutely don’t seem to understand or respect that.

Haiti’s problems are not external but extend from the people themselves. The Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola and they do not suffer nearly as much dysfunction as Haiti. It’s almost like North and South Korea in that sense.

Asylum was only meant for those
like the Jewish people, being targeted by an external force and specifically killed because of their religion.

It is not for people to flee crime and poverty. If that was the case, mass numbers of Central Americans would go to North America, mass numbers of SSA and MENA would go to Europe and many Southeast Asians would go to East Asia.

That is not sustainable nor even desirable.

I find it hard to give credence that a country your size and with its history has a single unifying culture tbh. That is a preposterous argument.

I would be finding another hairdresser.

I have friends at the opposite side of the political spectrum from me and I just don't engage if the subject comes up (very rarely it does). I would not accept having to endure their views whilst paying a lot for them to have the opportunity to foist them on me.

You could say the exact same thing about China tbh. We have just as much right to our country as they have to theirs.

Not really your country though, is it? If you're not a native American you're an immigrant or dependent of immigrants, so you're basically just saying we got to emigrate here but you can't. It's just racism, call it what it is.

Not really, China has a very homogeneous population, America very much does NOT.

Native Americans did not build America.

You know nothing about China. Omg.

It is only 90% Han Chinese. They have 50+ ethnic groups, some of whom cannot even speak Mandarin (or even Cantonese). They have several … errr … restive groups that don’t even want to be part of China proper.

It is a breathtakingly diverse country and here you are, saying that they are ‘homogenous’.

But at least you think they have a right to their own country. So that’s a start.

China, the nation state not built from a history of immigration? Doesn’t seem a like for like comparison tbh.