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Never ever talk about politics. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to — the result of a recent experience.

I met an American man, elderly and at first glance kind, who told me he was a former journalist and had once worked high up in a publishing company in the USA. What we shared was a common interest in society, the world, and the fact that we were both travelers. We were staying at the same guest house and hostel, inside the old city walls of Chiang Mai. From time to time, we would hang out.

“Chiang Mai, originally the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, was founded in 1296 by King Mengrai. It was a strategically important city, known for its defensive walls and moat, and served as a cultural and religious center. After a period of Burmese rule, Chiang Mai was liberated in the late 18th century and later became part of Siam (Thailand).”

That’s what Google’s AI overview gave me when I wanted a short history of Chiang Mai to present here.

Glimpses Into Global Lives

In Chiang Mai, I also met a few Japanese women who had moved from Japan to Thailand, hoping for a better future. From what I understood in one conversation, Japan’s economic situation isn’t at its best.

So I reached out to the grandfather of a local bar owner, curious about how he thought Thailand had managed to shift from widespread poverty to a relatively better standard of living.

“By keeping the cost of living low, so everyone can afford to live,” he answered.

It was a simple sentence, but one that carried weight in my ears and I wondered if that was the reality?

I’m fully aware that what I see and experience while traveling is filtered through a kind of tourist lens — one that doesn’t necessarily reveal the true face of a country or its people. Often, we move through areas adjusted for beauty, ease, and comfort — curated spaces made for pleasure. And yet, even through that lens, meaningful glimpses still break through. They tell stories — subtle ones — about how ordinary people live, think, and survive within the systems that govern them.

The Trigger: When Lunch Turns Into a Battlefield

But let me come back to the American man.

One day, over lunch, he suddenly snapped — I mean literally — and the trigger was politics.

Earlier that day, we had been talking about how humans cope with the miserability around us. There’s so much going on in the world that sometimes, just to survive, we have to shut down. What else can we do? For me, diving too deeply into that energy brings helplessness. Still, I try to be kind to the people I meet — to shape each exchange with care. And in return, I also receive beautiful experiences with and from others. That gives me hope for humanity.

But this man seemed somewhat lost in his past — which, after all, is part of the human mind and journey. Put simply, his personal story was closely tied to his political views. I don’t say that with judgment — it’s just something I observed.

He was so filled with anger about what’s happening in the USA, especially with Trump as president. He spoke about how Trump had been convicted in so many cases but was still sitting in power. He expressed deep frustration about where the country is heading. Sometimes he’d say things like, “I can’t live in the U.S. anymore — it’s not safe for me,” but I didn’t fully understand what he meant.

Later, during lunch, he started venting again — about people’s stupidity, how everyone is caught up in the triviality of life, how nobody really cares. I could sense he was still simmering from something I had asked earlier that day. I had asked how many of the women who accused Trump of rape and sexual misconduct might actually be telling the truth. It wasn’t a statement — it was a question.

Because I know both realities exist: that women can sometimes use such accusations for personal or political gain, and that men abuse women — far too often and far too horribly. I wasn’t taking sides. I was just trying to understand. But in politics and power games, it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s being used. That uncertainty was what I was trying to express. But clearly, it struck a nerve.

So when he again started ranting about people being ignorant and passive, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I said something like, “And what are you doing, besides complaining about it?”

That was all it took.

He snapped. It was like watching Dr. Jekyll become Mr. Hyde — and the human in me reacted in turn. But I knew I had to leave — to get up from that table and walk away. I finished my lunch and left. I didn’t want to be around that kind of energy. Two people reacting from a place of upset — and really, what the world needs now is peace and harmony.

Pain, Projection, and Political Wounds

What I took from that experience were two things:

First — politics are incredibly touchy right now, all over the world. Even if you try not to talk about them, the tension is so thick that just a few words can ignite something. I didn’t mean to provoke him, but we definitely provoked each other. I hit a nerve. I don’t know what he’s been through or why he feels unsafe in his country, but I touched a wound.

And honestly, politicians are for sure creating trauma in people’s lives through their inhuman decisions. They don’t just govern — they manipulate. They play on deep, unresolved human issues like jealousy, fear, shame, and scarcity. They stir up division and feed our collective wounds. Look how easily people are set up against each other with narratives like: “They’re coming to take our jobs.” It’s anger layered on top of historical trauma — an emotional inheritance of pain, fear, and identity confusion that hasn’t been healed. And they know exactly how to use that.

Second — I believe ordinary people often weave their own unresolved pain into politics. It’s not that politics doesn’t matter — it deeply does. But many of the politically engaged people carry so much anger, hopelessness, and personal pain that they end up projecting it into the political space. That’s how we continue feeding the miserability of the world. Does that make sense? ( this is my personal view)

Karma, Chaos, and the Ways We Cope

I remember once asking a girl who stayed with me in an ashram during my Kundalini Yoga teacher training how Indians deal with all the miserability around them. The poverty, the chaos, the sight of children in need — so intense, so heartbreaking.

She replied, “Everyone has a choice. These people too. It’s part of their karma.”

It made me reflect on how we all find ways to cope with the shit we’re surrounded by. Because how could we possibly take it all in? Letting it fully in would crush us within 24 hours.

So yes — people, and triviality, and the rawness of being human. Maybe it’s never been easy. I don’t even know if it’s meant to be. But still, we try to ask: How do we make the best of our days?

And honestly, I don’t want people like that American guy ruling the world. He carries just as much untamed bitterness and anger as the leaders he criticizes.

But again… who am I to judge him, or to truly understand what he’s experiencing as an American citizen — or what it means to be Jewish today, in the face of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians? Or how it feels to be Muslim, with all the harmful narratives out there portraying them as barbaric. It’s all part of a larger system designed to divide us — one that plays on deep-seated prejudices woven together with our own unresolved personal issues.

We are all affected — by systems, by laws, by energy, by the emotional atmosphere of the world, and by the waves of madness that move through it and within us. Each of us carries a unique personal history and story, yet we’re all woven into one vast, chaotic rollercoaster of a ride.

And how each of us chooses to respond to that madness… that becomes part of our individual story — a thread in the larger tapestry of humanity.

What are your thoughts on this? I’d genuinely love to hear.

But please… let’s not go to war over honest sharing.

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