does this differ at all from other organizations that have a strongly biased demographic. I work in tech. and admit there is a bias, but that is one of the many reason i prefer to working in a tech field. Is the difference, that in tech, in particular the silicon valley tech sector, work work and life are so intertwined, that not only is your work-life politically bias, but by virtue of this a la carte lifestyle, everything else is too.
At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
51–60 of 418 posts
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#52If your politics, or the beliefs of those who share your politics, make your coworkers feel hurt, scared, and angry, then I see absolutely no reason to bring them to your workplace. It's basic human interaction 101. And sorry, but insisting that people grow a thicker skin won't work, because that's not how people operate. I discuss controversial topics in person with my close friends, and I don't feel any poorer for…
Let's imagine we work together.
I say your politics, whatever they are, make me feel hurt, scared, and angry.
Obviously you can't argue with this; my feelings are my feelings and are thus inarguable.
Therefore, by your basic rule, you are no longer allowed to even state any of your political beliefs, because such would make me feel hurt, scared, and angry. And it doesn't matter what your beliefs are or how you arrived at them or what reasoning is behind them. Because according to you, maintaining my feelings, no matter how fragile or hypersensitive or unreasonable they may be, is an absolute imperative and all other values must be sacrificed to achieve that goal.
Now I've got total control over the speech of anyone around me. I can shut down anyone, making any statement on any topic. I need only declare that I feel hurt, scared, or angered by that statement - and such inarguable declarations have absolute unappealable power to silence.
See the problem here? It's obvious you can't run a society this way. It just becomes a race to the bottom of people being more and more hypersensitive to gain power. At a certain point, people do need to be told to grow a thicker skin.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#53>>“Work is work, and not everything needs to be about politics,” he said. While he sees liberal colleagues who sit nearby don’t seemingly need to filter their comments, he’s decided it’s not worth engaging, adding “I don’t want to be known as that guy who wants to argue with everybody.” As someone who falls on the Liberal side of the spectrum, this bothers me more than almost anything else regarding modern day politi…
> If you mention you are a conservative or hold conservative views,
[many of which involve punitive action against the least well off / most marginalised in society]
> you are aligned with the worst of the worst and anything you say is inherently wrong.
Amazing, really, that people think less of you when you specifically say you think less of others (which is the core conservative stance.)
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#54What people call conservative to me sounds like common sense. How do you tell your indian/chinese/pakistani/... colleagues that they are very nice but that they are making their country unrecognisable and that globalisation alienates people.
What if you are tired of multiculturalism, how do you "revert back" if you live in EU or US?
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#55Honestly, I am not the least surprised. I don't know if anyone is really. Because never before has there been so much hate towards simply holding different opinions. People actively share "if you like x you can remove me as your friend" shit on facebook, companies fire people for expressing their political views and media companies "choose a side" more then ever. And don't tell me Google isn't. Just look at Youtube w…
"Never before" is a very shortsighted statement. I know we in tech like to think that mass/social media is pushing the limits of the human psyche to think and do things our ancestors' primitive brains would never comprehend. But there is no way to objectively say that we're especially worse off these days - just that we're as human as ever.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#56Can't we just keep politics out of the workplace? Who really wants to sit next to the guy who's going to spend a half an hour telling me about my company's “social justice agenda”?
I don't know. It is kind of hard. I feel that if someone supports Trump, it is my moral obligation to change their mind. I wouldn't shame or degrade them, but I would argue my point fairly strongly.
I'd say that makes my case for me. Politics has a draw, a tribalistic compulsion that draws everyone in. That's why it shouldn't exist in the workplace.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#57IMO, part of the problem is that some "conservative" viewpoints nowadays are directly attacking or undermining how your coworkers might live. And in many cases, so much so that their views go from "well, that sucks but I can still live my life" to "if your views were enacted, my way of life would be destroyed".
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#58I don't think it's even just conservatives, anyone who has an even slightly different opinion than the golden calves US libertarian society has set up is shunned. It's closer to religion at this point. I consider myself liberal, but (and?) I disagree on various topics, mostly on affirmative action. However, if you think that introducing more bias is a bad way to solve existing bias, you're a racist. It's not "I disag…
> However, if you think that introducing more bias is a bad way to solve existing bias, you're a racist.
You can always refer to the UK(a country that ended slavery before the USA and didn't need a civil war to do it) decided that affirmative action is illegal exactly because it is a racist policy.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, it's not reasonable. It's a vote, not justification to throw fists or anything in between, even.
A vote to treat people badly is _absolutely_ a good reason to be angry at someone. If you're voting to take away people's healthcare, or to discriminate against them based on who they love, or their gender, then of course they are angry!
Still no excuse for physical violence. Votes are how we make decisions in our society. You don't always win. You can argue your position all you want, but you don't get to intimidate others with violence.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#60>> Politics often don’t mix easily at work, but it’s particularly fraught in tech, where free thinking is prized yet the workforce is predominantly liberal. It used to be free thinking. They would embrace "inclusiveness" under that banner. The problem is they've gone all-in with the notion that being a Social Justice Warrior is a morally superior ideological position and anyone else is a bad person. They really have…
> The war on masculinity is very real.
It is not.