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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

#201
post #102
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…

Pragmatically speaking, supporting Republicans who hate gay people because you don't think the government should be in the marriage business has the exact same effect as actually trying to block gay marriage: straight marriage is allowed; gay marriage isn't.

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

#202

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…

[deleted]

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

#203

Despite the many upvotes, numerous comments, and recent post time, this submission no longer appears on the front page. I don't see a "submission flagged" or "removed" indicator. Would a moderator be able to tell us what's up?

Agreed. It went from #2 on front page, to #215 in half an hour.

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

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, some of the policies of the Republican Party seem downright evil to me. Restrict the civil rights of gays and Muslims (Trump himself stated that he was going to start a Muslim ban, he asked people to make it legal but the intent was very clear and stated by Trump several times: Muslim ban). They also want to restrict information on the internet which seems pretty evil to me (modern day book banning). T…

I don't agree with those policies, but can you imagine any non-evil reason a rational person would hold those beliefs?

The only widespread reason that I have seen for restricting the rights of gay folks is one of ignorance fueled by religious dogma. This was a common view at the churches I attended during my youth. I wouldn't call this "evil", but I would call it harmful.

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

#205

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…

Funny, wonder how many moderate liberals would beg to have him back as president now. Myself included.

r u kidding ? bush was largely more evil than trump.

trump is just randomly going from one to another mostly unconsequential decision.

bush went to war, purposefully let torture be instigated (while trump say ok for torture motsly to look tough) and promoted hugh oil conglomerates.. he's also the governor who order the most inmates to be sent to death row

Learn to see the difference between talk and action.

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

#206

Wow This slid off the front page fast. It went from #1 to #33 in the time it took me to brush my teeth while I get ready for work. You can tell an article hits home when people are flagging it to death to hide it.

Now it's 215+.... Very strange

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

#207
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 sta…

Most democracies don't have winner-take-all systems like ours. I would argue as part of the "wasted vote" crowd that this viewpoint is entirely justified given the mechanics of a U.S. presidential election, and that the best any of us can do is take our idealism to a more local level.

Parliamentary systems with proportional representation and "coalition" governments exist throughout the world. The U.S. just isn't one of them and would require a big overhaul of the Constitution in order to change that.

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

#208
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a reason why voting machines have curtains. If you resent people judging you for how you vote, just don't tell them.

Except sometimes it's public information. Brendan Eich was pilloried not for telling people how he voted, but for having made a contribution to an unpopular cause several years past.

"An unpopular cause" being one that was supported by around half the electorate at the time, IIRC.

Unpopular with a powerful lobby within the liberal tech industry, yes.

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

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

They're bringing drugs,' crime and are 'rapists'. knock the crap out of them …. I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees You didn't vote for Trump over the correct level of import taxes.

But maybe you voted for him because you thought he's just purposefully saying stupid shit and none of that is serious, because you thought he won't get elected anyway, and this is a good way of expressing your disappointment with the US politics in general?

Or maybe you didn't vote for, but voted against (I hear some studies say this is the primary way people vote, btw.)?

Or maybe you had some other reason? I could invent plenty more. The point being, judging someone by the sole data point of their choice in the voting booth, without knowing reasons for it, is one of the most stupid kind of thinking imaginable. In fact, in less emotionally charged contexts, people generally don't show that kind of stupidity.

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

#210
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Pragmatically speaking, supporting Republicans who hate gay people because you don't think the government should be in the marriage business has the exact same effect as actually trying to block gay marriage: straight marriage is allowed; gay marriage isn't.

This is the exact us-vs-them mentality that we should avoid.

"Republicans [...] hate gay people" "[If you're not on my side you're on theirs]"

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