Political arguments at Thanksgiving can be a slippery slope. Here's how to navigate them.
The distinction between socialists and capitalists is emotion. Capitalists react with logic while socialists react with emotion. Emotion and logic are like oil and water.
If you react to negative emotions, like anger, with negative emotions, like anger, expect a disaster. If you respond to negative emotions with logic, expect disaster. The only effective response to negative emotions is positive emotions, like love and compassion. This is how you disarm your emotional cousin.
Arguments are lost when you need to be right. Release the need to be right. Most of the time you don't win anything but you risk losing something. You may risk losing connections with family members. Family-love trumps arguments.
You have two ears and one mouth so do more listening than you do talking. Try to fully understand their side before you express yourself. The more you understand their stance the easier it is to dissect it. Not only understand their arguments but most importantly understand how they came to these ideas. Probe for the influences that led them to their current theory.
If you know the source of their gnosis you can easily dismantle their arguments (assuming you're familiar with their source). Often we find that their source is fake news from fake-stream media. In that case, you only need to show them the contradictions in their beliefs.
I'll give you three examples:
Fake-stream media said Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation. They now acknowledge that it is not misinformation or disinformation.
The fake-stream media said that vaccines were safe and effective. The data contradicts this declaration. The Washington Post published the article, "Vaccinated people now make up a majority of covid deaths."
The third example is branched from the previous one. The Washington Post has since altered the title of that article which now reads, "Covid is no longer mainly a pandemic of the unvaccinated."
See the before version here and the current version here. Why would they change the title? Maybe the original was too damaging to the narrative.
Wait to be invited to express yourself. The average adult loves to promote their opinions. Opinions uninvited are ignored. When someone asks for your opinion they are much more likely to listen. This is also an indication that they actually care about your opinion. You should not engage in conversation with people who do not want your opinion.
Be the adult in the room. Your tone is paramount. Don't use the "gotcha" tone when you finally make a winning point. You actually lose the room when you do this. The mature person in the room wins the room. Besides, the "gotcha" attitude is an egoic action that is quite emotional. Be the logical one.
Don't be a know-it-all. Nobody likes a know-it-all and no one knows it all. Stick to what you know. Use the anaconda technique. Drag your opponent into unfamiliar water and let them drown from their inability to swim in the information you flood them with.
Happy battles and happy Thanksgiving!