You are among politically-minded individuals who range in flavors of leftism. Then one of the members says that they used to be a neo-Nazi. How would you react?

I was once roped into attending a few political activist group board meetings, followed by dinner with a few members. I gotta tell you, each and every weekly meeting made me feel like I was slowly drowning (although perhaps too slowly).

What about them? The same people are involved usually, and they're just as boring and single minded when they aren't working on their goals.

Hell, I participate in efforts at change on a local level myself. But I leave that shit "at the office" so to speak. And that's the difference. People that self label as political do so because their political opinions are part of their identity. If one's identity is built around a single thing like that, one is going to be boring as hell.

You ever meet someone that only talks about their job, or their kids, or whatever? They have wrapped their sense of self up in external things. Which, to an extent, is expected. We build our identity kits from various things. But when we do so around singular, or very limited, external roles and activities, the self part of self identity becomes empty.

It's the same thing with politics, or religion, or anything.

Having political beliefs and opinions is not always boring. Being political is.