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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

#361

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…

> I don't know if anyone is really. Because never before has there been so much hate towards simply holding different opinions.

This is a very, very poorly thought out thing to say. Nothing we're experiencing right now in the US compares in terms of vitriol and danger to McCarthyism, the first red scare, the civil rights era, or abolitionism. We're not even close.

Cheer up! Things can get a whole lot worse.

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

#362
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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,…

> 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. Odd. Just an observation: conservatives in the US have a commonly used name for that - RINO - Republican in Name Only - and there is no equivalent name among liberals.

> there is no equivalent name among liberals.

DINO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_In_Name_Only

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

#363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Odd. Just an observation: conservatives in the US have a commonly used name for that - RINO - Republican in Name Only - and there is no equivalent name among liberals.

> there is no equivalent name among liberals. DINO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_In_Name_Only

Nope. In order to be equivalent it would need to be used as frequently as the corresponding term (the textual similarity of the terms is not the point).

Has anyone here ever actually been called a "DINO?" My personal sphere is populated largely with Democrats, Leftists, and Libertarians of various stripes and I've never seen this phrase written or spoken in conversation. (the only one I've seen on that page you linked to is "Blue Dog Democrats," and I'm pretty sure I've never heard that one spoken in person. I wasn't aware it was a pejorative.)

I am not at all sure that means Democrats are more accepting of dissent in the ranks, but they haven't got such a commonly used term for it.

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

#364
post #37

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.

Is that really productive though? For me, at least, I try and imagine how I would feel if the roles were switched - in that case I am pretty sure I wouldn't change my mind, because I have thought about my political views a fair bit, and it would just be annoying to have someone arguing with me when I don't feel like it.

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

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is no equivalent name among liberals. DINO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_In_Name_Only

Nope. In order to be equivalent it would need to be used as frequently as the corresponding term (the textual similarity of the terms is not the point). Has anyone here ever actually been called a "DINO?" My personal sphere is populated largely with Democrats, Leftists, and Libertarians of various stripes and I've never seen this phrase written or spoken in conversation. (the only one I've seen on that page you linke…

> Has anyone here ever actually been called a "DINO?"

Not much since center-right neoliberals became clearly and solidly the dominant faction within the party, since “DINO” was largely what more progressive Democrats labelled that faction; the label also applied to actual conservatives in the party, though they mostly completed the migration to the Republican Party shortly after the Republican congressional majority in the 1994 election (since they had stayed in the Democratic Party largely for the organizational benefits of being in the majority, despite increasing ideological tension through the long post-civil-rights partisan realignment.)

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

#366
Duh, It bills itself as that. SF is the liberal strong hold on the other side of the conservative strong hold. I think if you want moderate that or of small middle town middle America.

It seems as if because the liberal cities do financially so much better than the small town America many of those conservative Americans want to move here and feel comfortable expressing and acting on their view. The problem is I don't want to welcome those ideas, and I don't want people comfortable saying those things around me. I have a good feeling there a reason why liberal places do better, and there no such thing as a conservative mega city in America. Those ideas don't work, they don't promote growth, and I think expressing those ideas would hamper the places where these liberal companies reside

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

#367

Duh, It bills itself as that. SF is the liberal strong hold on the other side of the conservative strong hold. I think if you want moderate that or of small middle town middle America. It seems as if because the liberal cities do financially so much better than the small town America many of those conservative Americans want to move here and feel comfortable expressing and acting on their view. The problem is I don't…

>I don't want to welcome those ideas, and I don't want people comfortable saying those things around me.

Would you support legislation to prevent people from expressing views that disagree with?

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

#368
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't ask. Don't tell. It wasn't a great policy before. It's not great now. Hiding who you are to avoid ridicule doesn't solve the problem. If the majority opinion is safe to express, but your opinion isn't, then being forced to hide doesn't actually solve the problem. Even if you hide your views, you may get asked why you don't support the majority's viewpoints.

If sexual orientation were a matter of choice, DADT wouldn't have been as controversial

Arguably political orientation is not a choice if your political choices are informed solely by facts. Unless you are arguing that facts can be whatever you want.

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

#369
post #69
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I see posts in my facebook feed that say unfriend me if you believe x, I always unfriend them even if I don't believe x. If you are not tolerant of different points of view I really don't want to be your friend.

There are some viewpoints that should not be tolerated though.

Can you give me an enumerated list so I can be sure to not commit wrongthink?

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

#370
post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, but you are dead wrong. There IS a difference between the political parties. All you have to do is look at their voting records on key issue. Here's a comprehensive breakdown, for proof: https://np.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/6pc5qu/democrats...

Yes, each party has their sponsors that they need to keep happy. Hence the differences. The sponsors are... not you and I. OK, sometimes they pander to voters regarding their pet issues (transgender bathrooms, etc) Neither party ever even tried to do anything about: - term limits, limits on money in politics - getting rid of lobbyists (their own sponsors) - punishing Wall Street criminals - reforming business law to…

> Neither party ever even tried to do anything about: > - term limits

Term limits are a horrible non-solution, but Republicans did push a Constitutional Amendment for them them on Congress in 1995, securing a majority but not the supermajority required for a Constitutional Amendment.

> limits on money in politics

Bipartisan finance reform has passed several times, only for the most significant measures to be struck down by the courts.

A number of your other points are similarly ill-informed.

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