[jimkleiber]

And I imagine avoiding political issues can show up also as avoiding issues or conflicts at work or in any group of people to which we belong.

I think so much of it is us feeling emotionally overwhelmed and running away. Anxiety can be really helpful if we engage with it, have the courage to address the fear. If we just always run, especially with social conflicts, the conflicts often don't go away, we just pretend they don't exist until they boil over.