What we’re about
This is a group for those in the Sacramento area who like to discuss politics and philosophy. We have all had different experiences in life, but we always find that political issues are very relevant to our lives and we want to discuss these issues with others. These days, political discussions are sometimes constructive, but unfortunately they often become hostile when people with differing views are in the same room. It is important for us all to hear views other than our own from time to time, and there has to be a way to have honest, thoughtful discussions on issues important to our lives while keeping the discussion calm and polite. In this discussion group, we try to avoid being overly biased when presenting opinions and we will also work to avoid use of fallacies in making points. We expect that there will be differences of opinion, but as long as we keep a philosophical mindset these discussions should not descend into hostility. Many of us also like to discuss philosophical topics and we will have time for this as well and we will probably find that most philosophical concepts have real-world applications, including political. So this discussion group will hover between these two subjects, and we might even at times focus on other subjects as well.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- How do we bridge a political divide amid polarization and demonization?Old Soul at The Weatherstone, Sacramento, CA
Full headline should be: "How do we bridge a political divide when both sides are convinced the other is the enemy, and unity is in all our best interests?" (Meetup's 80 character limit for the headline prevented us from including the full headline in that space)
Whether you're Republican, Democrat, Independent, or aligned with overlapping interests across parties, can we still find common ground and work together? Statistical data from Pew Research Center points out that "84% of Republican identifiers say “governs in an honest and ethical way” describes the Republican Party at least somewhat well, while 85% of those who identify as Democrats say the same about the Democratic Party. Conversely, just 9% of Republicans say the Democratic Party governs in an honest and ethical way, and only 12% of Democrats say this about the GOP." https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/2-traits-of-the-parties-trump-and-the-gop/
Relevant insights for foundational understanding of current political agendas:
Republican: Netflix’s five-part documentary The Family explores a secretive Evangelical Christian network that has shaped U.S. and global politics for decades and has directly led to backing the Republican candidate and current president, Donal Trump, “God’s Chaos Candidate." https://politicalresearch.org/2019/08/14/review-netflix-family
Key Interests: https://politically-informed.com/national-republican-party-platform-2024/
Democrat: Infighting among Democrats appears to be splitting the party into multiple factions https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-six-wings-of-the-democratic-party/
Key Interests: https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/issues-2024/
Example of divided opinions on the President's First 100 days:
Democrat: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/29/politics/donald-trump-actions-100-days-dg/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc
Republican: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/broadcast-bias-networks-take-trumps-100-days-100-shocking-0-surprising
