It's just talk

I felt like I was in France again, sitting around a table of food for hours with friends. No need to get up, there was no where to go.
As we finished dinner and had samplings of desert, one of the friends said, " Ok, I'll only talk about politics for 1 minute here, but what do you think of.........?"

I found it odd, that she prefaced her statement with a warning of sorts. It was like saying, "Ok people, buckle up, with fear of ruining a very enjoyable evening, I'm going to broach the subject of politics. Rule #1, no hitting in the face."

When did talking politics in polite company become taboo? And, why is that? Is it because our political system is seemingly so dysfunctional that grown adults are afraid to even bring the subject up without first issuing a warning and a time frame this subject will be talked about?

I think maybe, we don't know how to discuss. A discussion involves verbalizing AND listening. Listening being the most important of the two, in my mind. When it comes to politics, we make bold statements. We talk about politics in twitter mode, " The republicans did it again #crybabys." "The democrats ruined our economy #askfoxnews.

Our country was formed by people sitting around in a bar, DISCUSSING issues. The great painters of europe gathered regularly in the day, spreading more ideas than paint. People gathering and discussing makes for change. We shouldn't act like we're walking on hot coals if we want to talk about our economy. If we can't exchange ideas, our broken system will never be fixed.