In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, there were several impassioned posts on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) from hobby accounts.
Most of the posts were about refusing to stay silent in the wake of what would have been a national catastrophe. Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, I think most people would agree we don’t want to live in a country where politicians get assassinated.
The posts also included a variation of, “Go ahead and unfollow me, I don’t care.”
The reasons people gave for unfollowing those accounts included:
I come here to escape reality, not do politics
I don’t follow you to hear about your opinions on politics
I can’t support someone who supports that person
There were several accounts I follow strictly for cards who stepped outside their usual posts to talk politics after the assassination attempt. I didn’t necessarily agree with a lot of it.
But I didn’t unfollow any of them. I have good buyer/seller relationships with many of the accounts, and I absolutely buy cards from people with different opinions than mine.
I am not admonishing those who pressed the unfollow button. Many people have been personally impacted by the policies enacted by our politicians - on both sides of the aisle.
And I am not above unfollowing or muting someone. People whose posts are sexist or racist, whose messages lack any civility, or whose messages call for violence or the harassment of a person or people are quickly unfollowed and hopefully never heard from again.
But in the wake of a politically motivated shooting, I saw how it could impact the ties we’ve built collecting cards. The community is stronger when we are united in this ecosystem. It’s a stronger place when trust is built not by agreeing on everything but by supporting each other in this crazy and oftentimes confusing hobby.
I understood the anger and, in some ways, the helplessness people felt. I also understood the passion - it’s passion that drives our hobby.
Some of the most generous people in this space, to me, have been the ones who I know wouldn’t agree with me on things like politics or organized religion, and I love that.
It’s about the cards because it’s about the people respecting one another’s differences and celebrating our commonalities.
How far do you let politics affect your decisions in The Hobby? Do you avoid buying from certain people because you know their politics or religion differ from yours? And if you do, would you ever reconsider your stance?
In this heated election year, I hope that we can stay stronger and more united as a community, even as the battle lines seem to drive us further apart.
As a 99% buyer, I've avoided many dealers, including some at the 2024 National, because of their politics. If your face-to-face manner's to posture without any self awareness about something you saw on TV, why would I help you succeed? We need new collectors of all kinds to come on board without putting up with jerks. Better to remove one jerk than all the buyers who can hear them.