We’ve all heard people say that family dinner is a time for fellowship and love, not a time to bring down the spirit of camaraderie with politics. The discussion of political views is a fast way to make everyone in the room tense and can quickly turn a pleasant situation into a heated debate. Because of this, many choose not to correct their problematic elders for the sake of peace.

I believe our generation will be much more open-minded and forward-thinking than the ones that preceded us. The circumstances of our lives have allowed many of us to form our own opinions on issues that were often looked at as taboo by our parents and grandparents, giving us opinions that often greatly differ from theirs. We have all seen the “boomer” jokes circulating around social media, regarding the “baby boomer” generation making negative comments on forward-thinking concepts. It is all fun and games to joke on social media, but it should hit home a little once we realize that these are our parents and our grandparents. It is up to Gen Z and millenials to break the cycles of stubborness plaguing prior generations. We have to be the change, and we have to make our voices heard now.

Many of us have elders in the family who are set in their ways. They say whatever they want, to whomever they want, and always get a free pass just for the sake of not starting an argument. This attitude of theirs comes from a lifetime of everyone being taught the same views and never being challenged enough to think outside the box. Sometimes, the opportunity to think outside the box wasn’t even there. Maybe for you this is the uncle who supports the candidate who is clearly not looking our for everyone’s well-being, or the aunt who throws out her views on abortion or the legalization of marijuana like her thoughts are facts and not to be debated. I think the issue starts here. I know that we should respect family, the opinions of others and the spirit of the holiday season; however, I do not believe in passing down broken ideals and flawed viewpoints for the sake of being compliant.

I hope that this past holiday season, you challenged yourself to shake the table a little; that you were not afraid to cause discomfort or to have tough conversations. I believe that before us, many political views and ideals were solely chosen because our elders were only taught the views of their elders. As a generation who has more access to education and the opportunity to spread knowledge easier than ever before, it is our duty to break the generational curse of blindly following the views of our parents.\

I don’t believe that huge changes can be made overnight, but people do forget that big change starts with small steps – sometimes, as small as having a conversation at the dinner table.