Project lead: Hannah Reid
The goal of this document is to give young people the fact-based information they need to hold their own in political discussions with their families this holiday season. Now more than ever, it is essential we are doing everything we can to disrupt the spread of misinformation and hate in our communities and the holidays give you an opportunity to get started doing just that with the people you love the most.
This document provides basic talking points about political issues many of us care about the most, with as many linked sources as possible. We hope for this to be a living document and will update with new information when we can. This document only captures the tip of the iceberg and we would urge you to seek out additional resources beyond it.
Table of Contents
Tips before you start talking:
Meet people where they are. Listening to their perspective and understand what headspace they are coming into the conversation with
Ask Questions - try and get at the root of where they are getting information and who they trust as an authority on this topic. Is their opinion coming from a place of ignorance or have they been fed disinformation?
As you listen, don’t interrupt, but if/when they share something that is factually incorrect, but be prepared to correct them with a variety of sources, preferably some from sources they trust
Don’t tell them what to think
Share with them what helped you come to the conclusions you did. Maybe it was access to new information, maybe it was an evaluation of your morals, maybe it was a personal experience
Ask questions that lead them to start seeing the holes in their conservative logic
When possible, use personal narratives or try to get the person you’re speaking with to understand the topic on a more personal level.
Use visuals when you can as well. It’s one thing to be told something, it’s another entirely to see it with your own eyes.
Climate Justice
Yes! Climate Change is real and is happening right now
Climate change is directly linked to carbon dioxide and methane emissions and the fossil fuel industry has known this for decades and intentionally chose to not act to retain profit.
The Guardian put together this “smoking gun” report detailing how the fossil fuel industry knew about climate change as early as 1954. This builds upon an earlier article on the same topic
Georgetown also put together a report uncovering the oil industry’s early knowledge of climate change.
NASA, the United Nations and the Natural Resource Defense Council have put together factsheets with evidence showing the cause and effects of climate change
WWF also put together a factsheet busting 10 commonly held myths about climate change
The existence of climate change is the scientific consensus and is further evidenced by the increase in extreme weather events we are seeing now. The earth is getting warmer each year and we are on track to see over 3C of warming, which would lead to an increase of catastrophic weather events.
NPR and the BBC have put together a pieces on how climate change is making weather worse
Yale recently put out an article detailing how climate change made Hurricane Helene worse. The AP put out similar reporting
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts out early reports on climate change that could be found here. Leading climate scientists around the world endorse this report
The EPA has its own landing page detailing the basics of climate change
Reuters recently put out an article on how we are on track for 3C warming. We are currently at 1.36C of warming and are already seeing changes in weather patterns.
Climate Change is about more than just saving the planet. It has impacts on all aspects of our lives
Fossil Fuels are not only accelerating global warming and global climate change, but they have serious impacts on public health
Air pollution from burning fossil fuels like coal and diesel was responsible for about 1 in 5 deaths worldwide (source)
In the U.S., air pollution kills around 100,000 people every year. It’s the cause of 3% of all U.S. deaths, which is more deaths than traffic accidents and homicides combined, and air pollution costs the American economy up to $1 trillion per year (source)
NRDC put out a report on the health costs of climate change
NPR and Bloomberg along with many other media outlets have reported on how climate change will lead to millions of deaths. The World Economic Forum has put out a similar report
Climate change is also economically costly. The cost of not acting on climate change will be far greater economically speaking than acting now. This is why we need to transition our fossil fuel based economy to a green economy.
There were 28 weather and climate disasters in 2023, surpassing the previous record of 22 in 2020, tallying a price tag of at least $92.9 billion (source)
Climate change is costing the world $16 million per hour - The global cost of climate change damage is estimated to be between $1.7 trillion and $3.1 trillion per year by 2050 (Source)
Forbes recently put out a report on how climate change will cost the global economy $38 trillion every year within 25 years. The Washington post has also reported on the economic threat of climate change
Climate change will also have serious impacts on agriculture and the foods we eat. Whether it be extreme heatwaves and droughts, storms and flood, shorter growing seasons, or the spread of disease, climate change will greatly impact our food and agriculture systems. Some crops are more susceptible to changes than others and so we are already seeing the impact.
Rolling Stone recently posted an article detailing 11 foods already being impacted by the climate crisis
The World Economic Forum put out a report on crops at risk due to climate change: Soybeans, olive oil, rice, potatoes and cocoa. Urge your loved ones to consider life if these crops become unaffordable.
PBS also put out video on crops at risk
The University of Chicago also put out a report on the impacts of climate change on agriculture. Columbia University and the IPCC have put out similar reports
There are actions we can take to address climate change now
While much of the world is currently powered by fossil fuels, we do have alternatives. Knowing how harmful fossil fuels are to both the climate and public health, it’s essential that our government help facilitate a clean energy transition
Renewable energy generates over 20% of all U.S. electricity (Source)
In 2022, annual U.S. renewable energy generation surpassed coal for the first time in history. By 2025, domestic solar energy generation is expected to increase by 75%, and wind by 11%.
The United States is a resource-rich country with enough renewable energy resources to generate more than 100 times the amount of electricity Americans use each year. The Department of Energy put out a report highlighting this and the country’s renewable energy potential broadly
Michigan has created a factsheet addressing challenges facing society including energy security and declining fossil resources, global climate change, freshwater scarcity, ecosystem degradation, and biodiversity loss.
Offshore wind in particular has seen an influx of misinformation spread online. Here is a great resource to mythbust - Specifically, zero whale deaths have been attributed to offshore wind
Will a switch to renewables mean a new unemployment crisis?
New LinkedIn data in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report shows that hiring for green roles has outpaced the overall hiring rate globally for 4 years in a row.
New LinkedIn data shows that postings for 'green' jobs are growing nearly twice as fast as the number of workers with the skills to fill them (Source) (Source)
Global green economy currently estimated at $1.3 trillion; estimated to grow to $10 trillion, or 5% of global economy in 2050
By comparison, the global oil and gas market was estimated at $5-$7 trillion in 2023 and is expected to decline in market share between now and 2050
Additional Resources
World Health Organization Climate Change factsheets
Before the Flood and an Inconvenient Truth are two documentaries that describe the climate crisis. Our Planet and Planet Earth also discuss the impacts of climate change in an approachable way
Economics
Trump and the economy
Trump has proposed huge tariffs on goods as a way to bring down inflation. However, that is not how tariffs work
A tariff is a tax placed on goods when they cross national borders. A protective tariff increases the price of imported goods relative to domestic goods, encouraging consumers to buy from local producers, who are thus “protected” from foreign competition. In the U.S., the importer — the company or entity bringing the goods into the country — pays the actual tariff to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of the Treasury. This payment occurs when the goods enter the country, though the true financial impact extends beyond the initial payer. Tariffs cause the price of goods using any imported materials to increase. Even if a good is made in the United States, it make use raw materials from other countries, like China and India, and would be impacted by the tariff
Newsweek recently published an article on how tariffs work specifically looking at Trump’s plan. Georgia State also published an article on how Trump’s tariffs could be bad for the economy
NPR has reported on the harms of Trump’s tax plan and the Center on Budget and Policy has released a report on how trump’s tax plan skews to favor the rich
If you want to understand how Trumps tax plan could effect you check out this site - Smart asset article
Housing
Housing has become unaffordable for many Americans. Rent is on the rise and home ownership feels completely outside the realm of possibilities for many, especially young people.
Lumber, cement, and steel are often imported which means construction costs will go up with Trump’s tariffs, making building more housing more expensive
Business insider article about how Trump’s housing plan could effect the housing market
Wall Street and private equity firms have also been harmful to the housing market. As reported by MSNBC and the Jacobin, this is leading to an increase in rent costs. More Perfect Union has also reported on this.
Additional Resources
New Yorker and MSNBC articles breaking down how Trump was a bad businessman
Healthcare and Bodily Autonomy
Affordable Care Act
Trump and the Republican Party have threatened to weaken or eliminate Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This would take away millions of people’s healthcare
Since its enactment under the Obama administration, the Affordable Care Act has led to an historic advancement of health equity in the United States
It did so by expanding Medicaid to people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level (the poverty level in the continental U.S. is $15,060 for a single individual in 2024)
The ACA created new health insurance exchange markets where individuals can purchase coverage and receive financial help to afford premiums and cost-sharing, in addition to separate exchange markets through which small businesses can purchase coverage; and requiring employers that do not offer affordable coverage to pay penalties, with exceptions for small employers.
The ACA prohibits health plans from denying people coverage, charging them higher premiums, as well as rescinding or imposing exclusions to coverage due to preexisting health conditions. The ACA also prohibits annual and lifetime limits on the dollar amount of coverage and restricts the amount of out-of-pocket costs individuals and families may incur each year for in-network care.
Additionally, the law requires most health plans to cover preventive health services with no out-of-pocket costs. Health insurers must also issue rebates to enrollees and businesses each year if they fail to meet Medical Loss Ratio standards. Moreover, people with private coverage can keep their young adult children on their health plan up to age 26.
Universal Healthcare, such as Medicare for All, would save the US trillions of dollars
Public Citizen has put together a factsheet detailing this and the Hill compiled 22 reports showing this same thing
Abortion
Additional Tips before you start talking
Abortion has become a deeply contentious and incendiary issue. It is more important than ever to make the person you are speaking to feel heard, understood, and respected. Even if you do not understand (or even respect) their viewpoint, it will make your conversation productive to start off on this even footing. So acknowledge their thoughts and respectfully make your point. This might look like “I completely understand being concerned about the welfare of children – I am too” or “it sounds like you really care about the woman making the right decision, and I agree, I just think that decision is best made by her and her doctors”.
Additionally, before entering these conversations, it is also imperative that you set expectations for what you expect to gain. It is unlikely that you will turn someone from staunchly anti-abortion to a full supporter. Instead, the goal may be to leave the conversation on a level of mutual respect so that this door may be further open down the road.
Abortion Fast Facts
Abortions are not being used as birth control! Most abortions are had by people who are already a parent and who have not previously had an abortion. So people who have abortions do like children, in fact they care about theirs so much they want to preserve their quality of life!
The overwhelming majority of abortions do not occur late in the pregnancy. Abortions at/after 21 weeks (‘late term’) represent 1% of abortions in the US.
Abortions are not just being had by ‘uneducated teens’. Most abortions are had by people who have attended some college, and thus are educated. And only 8% of abortions are had by teenagers, most are had by people in their late 20s and 30s.
People have abortions for very meaningful reasons – it is not a snap decision. The top 3 reasons were that having a child would (1) interfere with “the pregnant person’s education, work or ability to care for dependents”, (2) be unaffordable at that moment, and (3) be difficult with an unstable/nonexistent co-parenting relationship
“The woman/feminine-identifying person chose to have sex, so she accepted the risks”. Consent to sex is not consent to parenthood because (A) men do not accept parenthood when they accept sex and (B) there is no precedent of ‘implied’ consent. For instance, just because you chose to go to the dentist does not mean you chose to get your tooth pulled – you need to give your consent for this as well. To which many will say…
“The baby needs your body to live, by removing it you are killing it”. There is no medical precedent that requires you to sacrifice your body to sustain someone else's! When you are an organ donor, you are never required to end your life to sustain someone else’s, so you should not be required to use your body to grow a fetus. Additionally, refer to accurate evolutions of a fetus! A clump of cells is not the same as keeping a baby alive.
“Abortion is against my religion”. It is important to note that no mainstream religious text has said anything about abortion – different snippets have been taken out of context and co-opted by the anti-abortion movement. In fact, some texts even refer to saving the mother’s life in such an instance. But, when discussing abortion from religious perspectives, people often don’t want to hear you correct them on their own religion!
So instead, look to these religious leaders that discuss abortion: Rebecca Todd Peters (Christian) and her work, Rabbi Jenny Solomon (Jewish), and more.
And last but not least… “abortion bans decrease abortions, which I find immoral”! Abortions have increased dramatically since Dobbs. If you want less abortions, make them legal and increase access to contraceptive care.
It is also imperative that we emphasize that the need for abortion is driven by unequal access to healthcare, to health insurance, to adequate pay, and to safe living conditions, all of which are stratified by race, class, and immigration status. Abortion is not felt equally, and access to proper services are not felt equally, so some stigmatizing rhetoric may come up that needs to be shut down.
Finally, in discussing these issues, move away from ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life’ rhetoric: because abortion is not a choice, it is a decision. A choice implies that the opposite option is an equally feasible one, and many times it is not: economically, circumstantially, and for the pregnant person’s body. ‘Pro-choice’ fails to capture the complexities of what abortion is: a decision made based on your class, race, gender and sexual identity, age, citizenship status, relationship to the medical field, ability status… the list goes on. Rather, a decision is what pregnant people are forced to make based on these circumstances.
And, in the topic of these conversations being ‘pro-choice’ often sounds to someone on the other side of the aisle as being ‘pro-infant death’... so let’s ditch it. Use ‘decision to have an abortion’ instead
Additional Resources
Pregnancies, Births and Abortions in the United States, 1973–2020: National and State Trends by Age
Library of research and data-driven repro-related interventions
LGBTQIA2+
Them put out an article for how to prepare for your first visit home post transition
In terms of trans and gender affirming healthcare, GLAAD, the Center for American Progress, and the Human Rights Campaign have all put out factsheets detailing essential facts about LGBTQIA healthcare.
Palestine
Additional Tips before you start talking
Share Palestinian voices when you can. Journalists have died to show us first hand what is happening in Palestine and we should honor that sacrifice. Palestinians are also the best narrators of their own experiences.
Ask them to imagine how they would feel. Put them in the shoes of the Palestinian people and urge them to think about how they would respond under similar circumstances. How would you feel if another country’s military invaded and took over your city, taking over the food, water, and energy supplies and limiting your freedom of movement?
The Basics
IMEU has put out several infographics about this topic
Israel was established in 1948 on land where Palestinians had lived for centuries by massacring entire palestinian families. This was called the Nakba
Ever since, Israel has oppressed Palestinians and denied them freedom in order to take over more of their land
This is similar to how the United States was formed. Their treatment of Indigenous and Black Americans is mirrored in how Israel has treated the Palestinians
Israel is bombing homes, hospitals, and schools in Gaza, where half the population is children
Israel is blocking food, medicine, electricity, and water to Gaza. It’s deliberately starving children and families
The people of Gaza have been under a complete land, sea, and air blockade since 2007. While most people were completely restricted from leaving before October 7, all people are now barred from leaving. They have no where to go and are trapped in an area 1/3rd the size of Los Angeles
Where we are now
Pro-Israel PACs are influencing our domestic politics more than any other lobbying group. .
We see this with how progressive across the country have been primaried and removed from office due to AIPAC funding. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush were two notable members of congress pushed out by AIPAC, but AIPAC spent over $100 million dollars in our elections this year
AIPIAC, a lobbying group focused on the interests of a foreign government, donates to republicans and democrats to ensure their needs are met, ignoring the needs of people residing within the United States. This is why we have billions of dollars a year being sent to support Israel despite struggling to find funding domestically for healthcare, schools, infrastructure, and more. Similarly, CUFI (Christian’s United for Israel) has spent millions influencing elected officials as well.
The world has recognized the harm Israel is doing and beginning to take steps to hold the country accountable
The United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and even the Pope have all called attention to how Israel’s actions constitute genocide.
The ICC recently issued an arrest warrant for President Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity. This arrest warrant is similar to those issued against Putin for his actions in Ukraine.
Other western governments are beginning to reprimand Israel for their ongoing militancy, whether it be through withholding weapons or complying with the ICC arrest warrant.
The Guardian has reported on several countries beginning to restrict arms to Israel
124 countries must arrest Benjamin Netanyahu or Defense Minister Toav Gallant should they enter the country.
The US is doing the opposite, discrediting the ICC despite applauding them for taking the same action against Putin just last year.
This past year we have seen an increase of repression of free speech, not just in our media but in our legislature.
We see this with laws defining antisemitism as any anti-israel or antizionist speech, despite the fact that conflating zionism and the action of israel is dangerous to jewish people and is an act of antisemitism in and of itself
We also see this with anti-BDS laws spreading across the states and new legislation being proposed to allow nonprofits to have their status stripped if they are determined to be terrorist threats
We have also seen a widespread repression of student peace activists. The Nation put out reporting explaining that these protests are not a threat to students but the crackdown on them has been. Teen Vogue journalist Lex McMenamin has also reported at length on the student encampments and the police repression they faced.
Additional resources
IMEU infographic with tips on how to talk to loved ones
Farha and Tantura are two movies that show the realities of the Nakba
Immigration
Immigrants are in many ways the backbone of this country. They often work essential jobs, like food production and construction, that keep this country running.
Immigrant farmworkers make up an estimated 73% of agriculture workers in the United States.
The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that, in total, U.S. agriculture needs 1.5 to 2 million hired workers each year. Farmers have been struggling to fill these positions; in 2019, 56% of California farmers reported being unable to find all the workers they needed over the last five years.
This is partly because, even when wages and benefits are increased, there are still not enough U.S. citizens applying. The current agricultural workforce is also aging, requiring younger workers to replace them. Immigrants have filled these shortfalls in the workforce for decades, but in recent years, fewer immigrants are coming to the U.S. to work in agriculture, a result of current U.S. immigration policy and rising incomes in Mexico
Immigrants of all legal status pay taxes - a 2022 study showed that undocumented immigrants paid almost 100 billion in taxes
This is despite the fact that they often do not qualify for federal assistance programs (Source)
Despite claims in the media, immigrants commit crimes at much lower rates than US born offenders. Both the United States government and nonprofit organizations have reported on this
Additionally, data shows that violent crime occurs less in border adjacent cities than anywhere else
Many immigrants are coming to the US to escape violence that the US helped cause. This is particularly true in Central and South America where the US has destabilized nearly every government within the last 100 years.
Additional resources
Immigration fast facts from FWRD
Center for Public Integrity report on why the US needs more immigrants
EPI report showing immigration is good for the economy
Report on the economic effects of mass deportation
Crime
Older generations often tout crime as an issue plaguing America, and more specifically, major cities. Not everything seen in the news is true, and reports of crime are oftentimes used to villainize Black and Brown city dwellers. (source)
Contrary to popular belief, violent crime is down in America, and has been declining since the pandemic
There is a plethora of evidence to demonstrate that most crime is driven by poverty (source) (source)
White-on-white crime happens at four times the rate of Black-on-white crime. The vast majority of crime occurs where the perpetrator and victim are the same race
Crime is nearly proportional to population density, indicating that cities are no more dangerous than rural areas.
For example, cities account for 97% of the California population and 98% of crime