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At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

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Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#81

Post by brookside »

ams6110 wrote: post #59
AndrewDucker wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Am I missing where somebody in this thread was advocating for violence?

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#82

Post by peoplewindow »

AndrewDucker wrote: post #25
staticelf wrote: post #3

Honestly, 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…

If someone is "simply holding different opinions" that people should have lesser rights, or be treated differently because of how they were born, then we shouldn't really be surprised that people are upset by that. I'm not seeing hatred towards people for arguing over correct levels of import taxes. I'm seeing it because they're backing politicians who are actively causing harm to real human beings.

I'm not seeing hatred towards people for arguing over correct levels of import taxes

Sure you are. You see someone vote for Trump and immediately assume it must be because they're an evil, ethically flawed person who inexplicably hates love, sunshine and puppies, whereas perhaps they mostly care about taxes. You even did it in this post. Your thinking is knee jerk and shallow, and it's people like you that are causing the problems in the first place.

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#83

Post by thedz »

Banthum wrote: post #52
archagon wrote: post #22

If 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 arrive…

> 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.

If someone, in your place of business, says "what you just said was hurtful and offensive", then yes, I think maybe you shouldn't say it. Or at least take pause and consider why what you said may be hurtful.

None of that prevents your ability to say what you want outside the office.

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#84

Post by koolba »

nxsynonym wrote: post #19

>>“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…

> As someone who falls on the Liberal side of the spectrum, this bothers me more than almost anything else regarding modern day politics. If you fall in line with the "right" (left) side, you are allowed to say any number of disparaging, mean, hateful, or ignorant comments without fear of consequence - as long as it's aimed at the political right-wing. If you mention you are a conservative or hold conservative views, you are aligned with the worst of the worst and anything you say is inherently wrong.

It has a name: double standard

I like to think of it like weak minded people who love to dish out insults but accuse you of being the most indecent person on the planet if you repeat their exact words back to them.

> The liberal echo chamber is just as bad, if not worse, than the conservative's version of the same thing.

I'd lean towards worse. I don't recall anyone attempting to publicly shame me for not being "conservative enough". I'd wager that most liberals have encountered some version of that.

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#85

Post by Shivetya »

chrisabrams wrote: post #2

I grew up in Texas but worked in Silicon Valley for a few years. One of the toughest adjustments was going from a small conservative town to a major liberal populace. It was astonishing the number of people who got angry _at me_ for having a different opinion then they did. At one workplace I saw two coworkers get into a fist fight because the liberal was "offended" that the conservative differed on a viewpoint. Go t…

politics is used to divide people in this country, not bring them together. sadly it won't be fixed until we can find some means to secure a third or fourth party's ability to compete but Congress does its best to prevent any money from entering politics which does not support the norm

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#86

Post by MBCook »

fhood wrote: post #37
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #10

Can'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.

While I generally agree with the sentiment, if I were a manager that seems like something I wouldn't be able to allow because t would be too disruptive for no company benefit.

That's assuming it's done during work hours. If done outside it may still be an issue if it starts to effect the working relationship.

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#87

Post by JSONwebtoken »

jenkstom wrote: post #36

You should try being liberal in a red state. I've had people try to run me off of the road for an Obama sticker before. It's not social isolation here, it's straight up aggression.

You are aware of what you're doing and the reactions it will incite. What do you think happens to parked cars with MAGA stickers in California? Well you don't have to wonder, there are more than enough "social experiments" on youtube documenting this subject matter.

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#88

Post by dwringer »

brookside wrote: post #63
subru wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's not reasonable. It's a vote, not justification to throw fists or anything in between, even.

Throwing fists is violence, not anger.

OP edited the original comment to mention an alleged fist fight after getting a slew of responses directed at the "anger" aspect.

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#89

Post by dbingham »

staticelf wrote: post #77
AndrewDucker wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone is "simply holding different opinions" that people should have lesser rights, or be treated differently because of how they were born, then we shouldn't really be surprised that people are upset by that. I'm not seeing hatred towards people for arguing over correct levels of import taxes. I'm seeing it because they're backing politicians who are actively causing harm to real human beings.

What is harm? Lowering taxes could for example cause a lot of harm too indirectly if those taxes went to something important. I don't like religion for example and would like organized religion to be illegal in my country. If I went on TV and said this I bet this would be a very unpopular opinion and people would most likely send me tons of death threats. I think this mentality is stupid and if you are upset the corr…

Well, to offer one clear example of harm, we have Nazis openly marching in the streets and arguing for racial cleansing of the US. As someone of Jewish decent, I find that pretty directly threatening.

Given where those arguments have lead before -- the holocaust -- is allowing people to advocate for those viewpoints truly harmless?

Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated

#90

Post by empath75 »

tboyd47 wrote: post #14

My question is, why do all of a person's co-workers need to know their political affiliation? You can choose what aspects of yourself you want to reveal and conceal from people at work. For example, I don't reveal my religious beliefs to people at work unless someone asks me, which rarely happens. Politics is much the same. > He showed coworkers emails he exchanged with Ivanka Trump after he mailed her photos he took…

"Don't talk about politics at work" has always been sound advice.
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