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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

#121

Post by tchaffee »

classybull wrote: post #8

Aren't these the same sort that will moan ceaselessly about the ludicrousness of "safe spaces" and "snowflakes"? I don't particularly care. You're free to speak your mind. You're not free to force people around you agree. Either get over it, or move on. I hear welding is an in-demand industry and I bet they'll find more receptivity to their viewpoints there.

> I hear welding is an in-demand industry and I bet they'll find more receptivity to their viewpoints there.

Nice job making sweeping generalizations about an entire industry. If this type of bigotry were based on skin color, we'd call it racism.

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

#122

Post by moretai »

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…

It feels like people don't want to hear your thoughts. They want their thoughts to be validated.

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

#123

Post by Jtsummers »

stult wrote: post #42
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…

Having moved from the liberal coasts to Texas, I can tell you that you're right about the opposite experience happening too, and you definitely don't have to go looking for it.

I was assaulted by a ROTC cadet once, around 2005 or 2006 in a conservative town at a conservative college for saying that the Iraq War was a mistake (in several ways, I'm not sure which one was specifically being discussed that day). I wasn't even speaking to the guy, just discussing news with some friends and he happened to be nearby.

I found it amusing that a man who was going to take an oath to defend the Constitution thought it was reasonable to call me un-American and try to beat me into silence. He left when I laughed at him instead of fighting back.

I had friends un-friend me on Facebook after my sister married a woman and I posted pictures and congratulations to them. I had colleagues who stopped talking to me after the same. They talk to me now (2 years later), but only professionally, formally. No more informal or loose friendship happening between us apparently.

This shit definitely happens on both sides.

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

#124

Post by staticelf »

4c2383f5c88e911 wrote: post #95
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…

Being called a communist by US conservatives isn't really something worthy of notice, as anything that goes against them is called as such. That said, with the polarization of political debate, people rabidly defend viewpoints they don't even understand or never thought about rationally. It means you cannot have interesting arguments because you don't share any axioms with the other party, and you have different opin…

Sure but how many people really share those extreme views? Most of the hate goes to pretty vanilla opinions like "we should lower the amount of immigrants", "education should be free and payed by taxdollars" or similar stuff.

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

#125

Post by vgh »

Shivetya wrote: post #85
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

Neither of the two major presidential candidates last election came anywhere near halfway matching my stances on issues. Yet there was a third party (I guess sort of a fourth) whom I agreed with on quite a few things, as did many others. But those votes got drowned out by the "wasted vote" crowd.

I'm curious if any nation has experimented with a hybrid of direct and representative democracies: people choose their stances on actual issues, and the candidate most matching the spirit of society is elected.

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

#126

Post by mfringel »

jfk13 wrote: post #103
zimpenfish wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.)

What a narrow-minded parody -- no, perhaps "deliberate misrepresentation" would be more correct -- of what "conservative" means.

Your elected representatives own your brand. To some extent, it doesn't matter what you believe, for purposes of the label you adopt.

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

#128

Post by plandis »

peoplewindow wrote: post #82
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.

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 causin…

How is it knee-jerk and shallow? If you voted for Trump you either directly support Trump's social policies or you don't think they were abhorrent enough to not vote for him.

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

#129

Post by Frondo »

vgh wrote: post #102
Frondo wrote: post #49

My heart goes out to those lonely people. I think, though, the reality is that politics (and concomitant voting choices) has consequences on the lives of others, and this pattern of some social isolation is in turn a consequence of that. It isn't Star Wars vs Star Trek, it's whether Jim the SRE can marry his long-term boyfriend Mike, or whatever. It's not just politics. It never is. Votes make a difference in people'…

I think this is still a false dichotomy. Some of us just don't want the government subsidizing marriage at all. Why should any dual-income pair get tax benefits? I say this as a married person. The thought I'm guessing at the time was to encourage new families to build up society, but not even all straight, married couples are doing that. Why not just take the government out of the equation and let anyone declare any…

Personally, I agree! I'd get the government out of marriage entirely, except to recognize whatever union you wanted.

Because again there are real-world consequences, like being considered a family member if your loved one's in a hospital, or getting access to death benefits if your loved one dies in the line of duty, or whatever.

But that's not what one of the two mainstream parties is saying: they're saying, "traditional marriage, and the rest of you can go sit on a fence."

This stuff gets personal for so many people so quickly because, in effect, one political party is telling a lot of folks that their humanity is lesser or less deserving of access to government than the rest of us.

How do you not take that personally (and make social choices based on), if you're in that group that's being told they should have less access to government?

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

#130

Post by holtalanm »

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.

I was going to say. Living as a Red in a Blue state isn't much different than living as a Blue in a Red state.

And I'm sitting here without any official party to call my own because I think both are idiotic with their identity politics. Which can be worse half the time because the Republicans think I'm a liberal, and the Democrats think I'm a conservative.

(this coming from someone living in a red state).

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