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Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

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Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#481

Post by kelukelugames »

dang wrote: post #56
jstewartmobile wrote: post #2

I hate to have sympathy for the devil here, but I see their point. Hackernews is living proof. Pre-election, you could voice a contrary opinion here and have a discussion. Post-election, even the faintest wrongthink shibboleth gets silently downvoted into oblivion.

Only a small minority of HN users are in Silicon Valley, so your argument wouldn't apply here even if it were true. When I see complaints like this I always look at the history. Usually the account in question has a pattern of posting flamebait and/or snark. In that case you needn't reach for political bias or 'wrongthink' to explain why the community downvotes such comments. They get downvoted simply because they br…

Are there user statistics? Would love to see them.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#482

Post by WaxProlix »

manfredo wrote: post #452
WaxProlix wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you draw the line anywhere? Like, planning murder is illegal right? Openly advocating the destruction of life and property are illegal - why would calling them a political belief change that? Certainly some actions aren't viable political beliefs, no?

Sure, if somebody is conspiring to commit a crime that isn't protected by the principles of political tolerance (or the law for that matter). However, the fact that people even think to place tolerance of conservative views on the same level as planning homicide is ridiculous. Advocating that country raise the minimum salary for H1Bs, wearing a Trump hat (when your co-workers are wearing Hilary gear), advocating for…

I don't think they're directly comparable, necessarily. But people are talking in this thread as though finding a 'political view' disgusting and not worthy of public discussion is somehow inherently wrong, and I don't think that's the case. Giving airtime or lending legitimacy to holocaust deniers, ethnostate-supporting white nationalists, anti-science FUD types, etc. is detrimental to society as a whole as well as specifically dangerous to specific groups of people. So, for me the line is a little further over than it is for you.

The whole issue is made more complex by Trump's endorsement of (and by, I guess) the modern Nazi movement in America. When you embrace partisan politics and associate yourself with that kind of group, even otherwise 'good' things will be viewed with skepticism.

(For the record, I am one of those people who is uncomfortable voicing my political opinions at work; I'd never do it in the workplace, and have received harassment - mild, but very targeted - because of comments I've made here on HN and elsewhere on the internet. So I know what it's like to keep quiet for fear of cultural reprisal :)

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#483

Post by IntronExon »

PeterisP wrote: post #444
s73v3r_ wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the topic of underrepresented groups comes up regarding women and minorities, the reason given a lot is that “they’re not interested” or something along those lines. Why would that not be the same reason here?

It could be a reason, but it's a different issue - for women and ethnic minorities it's clear how many of them there are. However, for conservatives it's an open question of whether they really are underrepresented or they seem underrepresented because they're hiding their viewpoint. Perhaps a more useful parallel would be sexual orientation a couple decades ago, where there used to be all kinds of policies like "don…

Conservatives control the executive and legislative branches of government, and are therefore extremely well represented nationally. Meanwhile you’re comparing this to closeted gay people decades ago.

Maybe it’s not politics that gets you into trouble, it just seems that some people will never be dominant enough for their tastes.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#484

Post by dreit1 »

tessierashpool wrote: post #471
_skel wrote: post #169

I don't get it. I grew up in Silicon Valley and I work in tech, and so do many other people I know. They run the gamut from far-left socialists to libertarians to own a bunch of guns. They have all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and religious views. Some of my most libertarian/pro-gun friends have not been shy about their political views and it hasn't hurt their tech careers at all. They are far more welcome here than l…

the conservative claim to being "silenced" is a reflection of privilege. for instance, the icon here is Peter Thiel, a billionaire who complains about being victimized because people tell him he's in the wrong. you will and should face ostracism and other consequences for saying, believing, and doing things that people find abhorrent or evil. free speech means you're free to believe those things, and everybody else i…

This is the exact type of commentary the article is talking. This conservative strawman you’ve built is far from average. In this absurd, inflammatory commentary replace the conservative boogeyman with a Muslim boogeyman or a gay boogeyman and realize you’re using the exact same type of rhetoric as the people you despise

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#485

Post by dragonwriter »

adventured wrote: post #200
walshemj wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but there are no far left parties in the USA to vote for.

The Green Party is a far left US party. To go much further left, you have to enter Venezuela style Socialism. The GP openly advocates for changing essentially everything about the US political and economic system and shifting every area much further to the left ideologically (by much further, I mean it far surpasses what even "liberals" in Congress advocate for).

The Green Party is not a far left party, though it's the biggest American Party that is unambiguously left (since the Democratic Party has a sizable, and still dominant though that is becoming less secure, center-right faction), so it's where slightly-pragmatic far left figures end up.

There are far left parties, but they do even worse than the Green's two state lower house seats and no more significant seats anywhere in the country, electing exactly no one to any even modestly significant office.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#486

Post by tessierashpool »

vr46 wrote: post #278
sebleon wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If he can't take the heat he should stay out of the kitchen Exactly, that's why he moved away.

Lol. Also, isn’t he leaving to find his own echo chamber?

He wanted a safe space.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#487

Post by Chris_Jay »

tessierashpool wrote: post #463
BadassFractal wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, as another founder. And same, I would consider myself pretty liberal. Pro choice, anti military-industrial complex, anti prison complex, pro legalization, sex positive, pro gay marriage, pro universal healthcare, against church and state coupling, non-climate change denier, pro science, yada yada, you name it. Admittedly, I don't even like the term "conservative", like Naval would say, pinning labels onto yours…

dude, if it's implausible for you to imagine expressing your beliefs without being labelled a bigot, that's a red flag about your beliefs.

Your attitude justifies Goldbloom's law.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#488

Post by ameister14 »

nabla9 wrote: post #293
downandout wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, this is a perfect example of the absurd overreaction that Valley liberals have to the idea that someone might have some conservative views. You sound like you voted for Hillary...do you endorse every single thing she has ever done and said? Did that "I'm with her" shirt you probably bought apply to the Clinton Foundation scandal and the use of an unsecured private email server for classified emails? Probably n…

> Clinton Foundation scandal and the use of an unsecured private email server for classified emails? Probably not. This is false equivalence. People like Clinton might appear corrupt for republicans and Dick Cheney might be horrible for democrats, but Trump is in completely different plane. >workplace social scene (if not their job altogether) based on one data point that by itself means next to nothing is wrong. Wha…

>What you think is the threshold where political opinion can become personal? When your family is deported?

Hilariously enough, Clinton and Obama deported far and away more people.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#489

Post by filesystem »

cowmix wrote: post #193
_skel wrote: post #169

I don't get it. I grew up in Silicon Valley and I work in tech, and so do many other people I know. They run the gamut from far-left socialists to libertarians to own a bunch of guns. They have all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and religious views. Some of my most libertarian/pro-gun friends have not been shy about their political views and it hasn't hurt their tech careers at all. They are far more welcome here than l…

If these people want to know what it is like to be "stifled" in the workplace, be an atheist or lefty in Texas.

I'm interested in hearing more about this. Is it common for religion to be discussed in the workplace in Texas?

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#490

Post by dang »

tessierashpool wrote: post #465
dang wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please keep standard political talking points off HN. If you repeat something stock, it will get stock responses. That makes it off-topic on a site dedicated to curiosity. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

how is the entire topic of this discussion not a standard political talking point?

For one thing, many people are talking about their personal experiences, from many angles.

Comments like "blood on the hands of $movement", by contrast, are battle fodder. Irrespective of your politics, that's the sort of thing that provokes worse from others and leads to all-out war, which we're trying to avoid on this site. So if you'd please not post like that here, we'd appreciate it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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