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Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

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Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#221

Post by TheGRS »

SirensOfTitan wrote: post #155

I try to just do work at work, but to play contrarian: If one agrees with Aristotle in that: "Man is by nature a political animal," the cultural acceptance of no politics at work seems almost nefarious. Most of us spend more time at work than perhaps any other activity, barring sleep. One could perhaps even hypothesize that without some political discussion at work, people exclusively talk with friends who share thei…

There is also a shared understanding that you don't debate politics with family, which would also be a pretty big block of time for many. Perhaps the forum isn't the problem, its that a good deal of people feel uncomfortable with politics and choose to not engage. I guess what's pretty funny here is we all have a shared understanding that there are problems in politics and the cultural landscape, but also there's a lot of common sense that keeping your feelings bottled up isn't good for anyone.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#222

Post by adambyrtek »

jonas21 wrote: post #77
kranner wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But do most professional settings go to this extent to police their employees: > creating a team of moderators to monitor conversations on company chat boards

Most professional settings would not have permitted these company chat boards in the first place.

Are you really trying to argue that companies which for example use Slack (or a similar service) are "not professional"?

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#223

Post by wtveb »

josteink wrote: post #201
azffz wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the point, you should be able to hold that opinion, but you should not publicly state it openly at work in the first place.

So only leftist politics are allowed to be discussed openly? That sounds like a rather discriminating and polarising policy. And are we allowed to discuss that (clearly leftist) policy?

I think you should not discuss politics at work. Unfortunately I agree with you: this will lead to only feelgood (i.e. leftist) politics being talked about.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#224

Post by dmix »

A small group of people always ruin these things for everyone else.

ie, the people who can't handle politics and think the worlds constantly on fire so they think they're justified in ignoring social grace and time/place taboos. The internet news machines have generated many thousands of these people.

I feel like they are becoming more popular and giving even less of a shit that other people don't want to be forced to listen to their politics at work or in other forced proximity environments. And then there's the people who judge you for not talking or 'resisting', as if not being politically engaged is equivalent to supporting the 'other side'. Then there's the overly-excited drunken political rants at parties, that's when they really let loose! /rant

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#225

Post by mieseratte »

anoncake wrote: post #120
sergiotapia wrote: post #28

Monkey has shit the bed already though hasn't it. I never had the need to discuss politics at work. Just don't do it, why open that can of worms. Absolutely no need to do so. One time a coworker asked me and I said "I don't discuss politics at work". Be professional, people.

Of course there is a need to discuss politics. It isn't a separate thing that can be divorced from what it's about, i.e. everything. That includes work.

> It isn't a separate thing that can be divorced from what it's about, i.e. everything.

I'm having a hard time finding politics in: "Hey $COWORKER, how's that REST endpoint coming along?"

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#226

Post by Kalium »

dharmach wrote: post #210
Kalium wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tolerance isn't considered a virtue because it's easy. Tolerance is a virtue because it's difficult . It requires us to put up with people who may adhere to worldviews we find utterly alien or hold views we find abhorrent. It's easy to come up with an example and find yourself thinking "It's unreasonable to tolerate that!". Instead, consider asking yourself why people a century ago might tolerate views you think of a…

Being difficult shouldn't make something a virtue.

You're absolutely right! Being difficult does not in any way make something a virtue. However, in cultural terms we generally don't aspire to traits that are trivially achievable (example: having skin).

I would say difficulty is a neccessary, but as you so right point out, woefully insufficient condition.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#227

Post by tathougies »

wtdata wrote: post #148
arcticbull wrote: post #20

I think they just overestimated the ability of their employees to respect each other when they hold differing world views. That's kinda natural once you reach a certain size and your colleagues may as well be randos on the street. To be fair, that's a learning most businesses stumbled upon decades ago, it's the new generation of "re-invent management" companies that are speedrunning HR policy.

> I think they just overestimated the ability of their employees to respect each other when they hold differing world views. That's kinda natural once you reach a certain size and your colleagues may as well be randos on the street. I think it is not so much due to size, but due to the extreme ideological polarization of American society during the last decade. When before it was normal to hear and accept - and god f…

The book 'the big sort' by bill bishop goes into this phenomenon in further detail.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#228

Post by dvtrn »

gtirloni wrote: post #158
dvtrn wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if your place of work has a hand and a demonstrably relevant position in a lot of global political discussions?

You can have proper workshops/apps/meetings to discuss these things and gather input from all employees in a way that doesn't disturb the regular day-to-day work. The problem is that discussing politics at any time in your workplace to people that have opposite views and/or don't want to discuss politics at that time is counterproductive.

I think I can agree in the affirmative with the first sentence, not so much the second one, with the context of my original comment in mind. If your company is demonstrably involved in issues that affect global, heck or even local politics, speaking to those affairs is an imperative.

Whether or not people enter those conversations with the intent on solving problems and actually discussing in earnest is where things get weird, admittedly.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#229

Post by r0ze-at-hn »

tdb7893 wrote: post #115
SkyBelow wrote: post #64

>I think they just overestimated the ability of their employees to respect each other when they hold differing world views. I think this can be quite difficult to do just because of the political views involved. For example, how should a gay man respect a colleague who honestly thinks that homosexuality should be punished with death. In such a case, I would say that even asking the first individual to tolerate, much…

I've seen people at work defend trans hate as a "conservative value". It's fine if people have different opinions on taxes but to reject people's identity like that, especially one held by some of their colleagues, should cross a line and they shouldn't be able to hide behind "conservative values".

If you company has an anti-discrimination policy that includes gender identity (most do including places like Google) you should report them to HR for creating a hostile work environment. HR usually has an anonymous way of reporting things to investigate such as a phone number you can call.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#230

Post by f00zz »

anoncake wrote: post #120
sergiotapia wrote: post #28

Monkey has shit the bed already though hasn't it. I never had the need to discuss politics at work. Just don't do it, why open that can of worms. Absolutely no need to do so. One time a coworker asked me and I said "I don't discuss politics at work". Be professional, people.

Of course there is a need to discuss politics. It isn't a separate thing that can be divorced from what it's about, i.e. everything. That includes work.

I don't understand this view that "everything is political". How can can a discussion on e.g. C++20 coroutines be political?
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