How does politics figure in your social conversations these days?

These days more than ever, politics seems to be on everyone’s mind. It’s more dire and inescapable than it’s ever been.

You’re having lunch with friends, dinner with a date, family dinnertime at home, special-occasion gatherings, a drink with colleagues after hours.

Do you allow controversial or alarming political topics to enter the conversation, even if you know that all present agree with your views?

Is politics itself a banned subject, or only political disagreement?

Or do you go at it hammer and tongs no matter in whose company you are?

I have a dinner date with a friend, and I’d like to steer clear of topics that induce appetite loss and indigestion, but everything seems to lead there. How are you avoiding ruining all your social events with politics?

Tags as I wrote them: politics, social conversation, liberals, conservatives, controversy, peaceful coexistence, verbal battles, irreconcilable differences.