There’s a reason that you choose the friends that you have. Presumably, they have some sort of redeeming qualities about them; otherwise, they wouldn’t be your friends. So just because they don’t agree with you on some libertarian ideas is not enough to disassociate yourself from them.
As we talked about in our podcast episode with Brave the World, when you kick people out of polite society and tell them they’re not welcome to have their views and opinions on your platform or in your presence, then you drive them further away from everyone and they tend to become more and more absorbed into their own world and their comfortable echo chamber. While disassociation is a useful and necessary tool (and the freedom to associate cannot exist without the freedom to disassociate), your friends should at least be able to look to you for honest and frank discussions. They may not agree with you, but since you are their friend, then they should at least acknowledge that you have some intelligence and good will.
In other words, it is difficult to accuse a friend of having evil intentions because that would have to mean that you are friends with an evil person.
So take time to work with your friends. If they don’t have you to talk to, whom do they have? Give them a person to open up to and they’ll probably allow you to open up to them. Have some of that “real talk.” You probably won’t convince them to change their minds after the first few conversations, but giving them a consistent message over time can do wonders. Be patient and help them come to their own conclusions instead of being preachy.
I know it’s hard to be patient sometimes, but being friends with someone gives you the unique opportunity to tap into something that almost no one else in the world can. Don’t waste the opportunity. Don’t turn your back. Be a friend to your friends.
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