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Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

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151–160 of 294 posts

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#151

I would absolutely be denied opportunities for projects, publicity, promotion, and advancement in my field if I were known to have political views that deviated from the norm in my industry, which I will state for the record is hard left. Consequently, I express no personal non-work related opinions not only at work but in fact not even with “friendlies,” as loose lips sink ships. It is a shitty way to live, given ho…

I applaud your ability to keep politics out of work.

We created a hard rule at our company in 2016: No politics / No religion. Most humans are incapable of discussing these topics rationally, and it only serves to increase division at work.

One person could not handle the idea of not being politically active at work, and we discovered after she quit that almost everyone was happier no having her toxic commentary omnipresent.

In the best case scenario, folks like this are a big distraction - at worst they are a source for litigation, security issues, and horrible employee productivity.

People who want to be politically active at work are absolute poison to creating a healthy cooperative team environment.

You're doing the right thing, and if everyone else's constant hammering of politics at work is creating a bad environment for you, it's probably doing the same for others. You may want to anonymously suggest to the higher-ups that a similar rule should be implemented. Everyone will be happier.

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#152

I would absolutely be denied opportunities for projects, publicity, promotion, and advancement in my field if I were known to have political views that deviated from the norm in my industry, which I will state for the record is hard left. Consequently, I express no personal non-work related opinions not only at work but in fact not even with “friendlies,” as loose lips sink ships. It is a shitty way to live, given ho…

So I don’t get it, did we create a situation where you cannot discuss politics at lunch with coworkers?

Yes, discussing politics was so much easier when your coworkers weren't queers and women and negros.

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#153
post #21

I honestly think that social networks where you connect the whole world were a bad idea. Basing it on ads and thus engagement made it toxic. Political left and right both formed extreme wings that attack moderate opinions for not being extreme enough. The right is often threatening violence while the left is trying to get you fired from your job. We need to get rid of engagement algorithms and actively try to counter…

> Political left and right both formed extreme wings that attack moderate opinions for not being extreme enough Very well said. I hate all extremes of politics. I like asking questions and being critical. What I have noticed is that critical thinking is attacked viciously from both sides. Asking questions that go against your side's "hard fact" is greeted with intense hostility and vitriol. I would imagine that this…

I agree with this and, for what it's worth, I've found discussions like this are always far more cordial in person versus online - even if you already know the person online.

I genuinely blame social media for this "descent into dogmatism". Any time my belief is challenged in an online discussion, I can just retreat into my echo chamber and feel even more confident than before.

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#154
post #12

we're posting Cato Institute links now?

Let me guess, they don't align with "strong liberal" views so any controversial part of their past makes them cancel-able ("ban" as you say).

I now feel like I will hesitate to submit a Cato article in the future, and I don't even know what is wrong with them! Basically exactly what the article discusses.

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#155

Americans have always held a very wide range of political views. Just 16 years ago Bush was running on the idea of adding a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Obviously there were people at that time who thought it was evil to treat gay people like that. And others thought it was sinful to be gay. The only change now is that social media is showing each side the worst content from the other side getting t…

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Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#156
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. The US needs more mainstream political parties.

That would require a completely different political system. There have always been two mainstream parties, which in non-First Past the Post countries would be coalitions of smaller parties. These coalitions break up and shift alignments over time. This is why the Republican Party of today is not the Republican Party of 1959 or 1855, it's more like the Ship of Theseus that bears only the name of the original ship.

I think moving to a 3-2-1 voting system instead of FPTP, IRV or Proportional would resolve most of the polarization issues in a few cycles. I think it's the easiest way to force deliberation and moderation at the single district/office level without conceding local representation or complexity for the voter. The key is not having a one dimensional optimal strategies or suboptimal equilibrium that result in plurality rule or tyranny of the majority.

I'd modify it to allow a super yes/no with double the value per voter to force people to be a bit more selective.

https://electowiki.org/wiki/3-2-1_voting

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#157
post #130
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw that video. It's not actually clear cut to me who was at fault. The truck was in the right lane, the bus and SUV right behind in the left lane. Bus merged right (into truck's lane immediately in front) SUV could not occupy the space already occupied by the truck as SUV tried following bus. Truck did not yield, SUV tried to wedge in and straddled both lanes. There was subsequent contact but I'm not sure who init…

The truck is at fault by being there at all. This is not acceptable behavior. They created the situation with the intent to provoke. It’s classic bullying.

That's not how traffic laws work.

It's a campaign bus, not voters at a polling station. Drivers supporting another party are absolutely allowed to drive next to them.

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#158
post #49
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That there are reasons other than racism that partially explain the achievement gap between races.

Such as...?

Culture and everything to do with it is 90% of the answer.

Asian Americans face racism, and have absolutely zero cultural standing, nobody cares that Asian Americans don't win Oscars, they are not on TV shows, they are not represented in sports.

And yet Asian Americas are literally 2x the national income and make up vastly disproportionate numbers of high tech workers etc..

The notion that somehow how 'Asian Americans' have 'vast Racial Privilege' that enable them to gain success is plainly ridiculous, obviously.

Most of them do not come to America with stashes of wealth to give them advantage, though some do.

So how are Asian Americans so successful? Because as individuals, they focus on the things that matter to them, and that enable them to have much higher incomes - like education as one obvious example.

Those attitudes, motivations, concerns, behaviours are passed down from generation to generation and though it's unfair to characterize anyone by their culture, those things have tremendous impact.

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#159
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But... there are actually people who believe that those with a certain skin color or of a certain sexual orientation or religion actually should not have basic rights. Not everyone who gets targeted as such holds those beliefs, sure, but they absolutely do exist in America. Until fairly recently, those people’s beliefs actually drove real policies in America that had real teeth and caused real suffering for real peop…

"Basic rights" is a subjective term and they're often in conflict with each other. Pro-choice vs pro-life being the classic example. If you believe freedom of speech is a basic right, then you should also believe in protecting the right of bigots to spread diatribe.

And I do believe that right ought to be protected. Nowhere in this thread is someone advocating that the state exercise its power to throw people with despicable beliefs in prison.

This is about our society’s ability and justification to categorize beliefs into respectable or not. Some ideas are simply not deserving of respect, though of course all ideas are deserving of legal protection.

Nazis are allowed to march down 5th Avenue and the people who call those beliefs despicable are not “just as bad as the other side.”

Re: Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think millennials might be quite a case study on bad parenting, because Gen Z are literally turning out to be bad apples. Gen Z are the kids of Gen X, not millennials

Thanks for correcting. Gen X gets the least amount of flak compared to boomers, millennials and Gen Z, so that is interesting. It’s not easy raising kids for sure, but it’s almost like you have to be callous to not understand what kinda rat race the working world can be, and how hyper competitive even the shittiest of jobs are. Why are these values not being passed down? Usually, children of working immigrants see ho…

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