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New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
111–120 of 734 posts
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#112I'm neither old nor experienced enough to back this with even anecdotal evidence, but I can't imagine this is a new development; surely most workplaces have always been hostile to viewpoints at odds with contemporary business norms. It's just the norms themselves that have changed during the shift to a globalized economy that favors knowledge work. Despite the "progressive activist" moniker applied in the article and…
> But you know what else is equally unacceptable in the eyes of most companies? Genuinely progressive stances on labor organization, public ownership, and anti-imperialism. For the same reasons. Why then even bother to work at those places? there are many other places to work, many that share those views. Sadly for some their only purpose at work is to cause division, they don’t want the work, they don’t want to be i…
> there are many other places to work, many that share those views.
We might be talking past each other. I don't think there is a private sector entity that empowers workers or opposes the military industrial complex, because these stances are inherently opposed to most firms' profit motives.
Despite the way the issue has been framed, companies aren't being stormed by left-wing radicals. The "progressive activism" decried by this article is myopically centered on representation, language policing, and—presumably in the UK—the validity of the EU. These all dovetail perfectly with the standards of the HR/marketing departments and do nothing that threatens the company's bottom line. This divisive behavior is tolerated because it actually enforces discipline.
Employees haven't been radicalized. "Bodies and spaces" is just the new "did you get that TPS report?"
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#113[deleted]
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
> My views on some social issues, particularly 'free speech', are considered a conservative now. By who? Rosa Luxembourg, for example, was a free speech fundamentalist, and she is still far left of many left wingers today. Free speech is a value that is often adopted, nuanced, and discarded by political projects from all over the spectrum - and it's naive to think that one side of the spectrum has a monopoly on its d…
In princible, the progressive left supports free speach. In practice, disagreement is met with explanations and accusations of ”shifting overton window”, ”new normal” and ”normalization”. Meaning that, Yes, you do have the right of free speach, but No, you should not be saying the wrong things.
Just because I support your right to say it doesn't mean I have to celebrate what you say, or why you said it.
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#115I consider myself a very politically informed person. I'm not a politically active person however, largely for the reasons mentioned in the article. I considered myself a liberal by the standards of the time I grew up in. My views on some social issues, particularly 'free speech', are considered a conservative now. I am one of the people the article is concerning who will not publicly voice their political opinions i…
Would you feel more comfortable in a company that openly encouraged / enforced political debate within a civil framework?
Is the problem (in your company and the world at large) that open respectful political debate has not got a common set of rules / words? If there was a phrase "I respectfully disagree - I understand that ..." was a phrase used by every TV host, Politician and Facebook poster, would prefacing your words with that make others more open to receiving it?
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Should companies cater to racists?
This is a pitch perfect example of polarization: the previous poster said "there’s too much virtue signaling at work", and now you're strongly implying that anybody who feels this way is a "racist".
The response may have to do with the phrase 'virtue signaling', which is one commonly used by fragile white boys to indicate that someone who objects to certain behavior or will no longer tolerate a certain activity is only doing so because they are seeking approval for this public demonstration and that the belief is not sincerely held. The other alternative is that the person objecting actually believes the behavior is wrong and has no place in the workplace and is willing to take a risk by objecting.
Politics has entered the workplace in the past when the former majority had to deal with women joining the workforce and suddenly certain jokes, conversation subjects, and office behavior was forced to change. It was not a smooth transition without controversy and even legal conflict. The paper in question here starts with the assumption that 'viewpoint diversity' is either valuable or worth cultivating on all subjects, this is not true. We are in the midst of another transition, it is going to get messy, and the 'virtue signalers' are almost certainly going to win.
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#117'For two-thirds of the population, talking politics sincerely, on the job, is uncomfortable. People who hold certain, commonplace views, stay silent believing that expressing those views will carry penalty not reward. ' This sounds like a recipe for disaster for any company. When I worked in the UK no part of my job description was about 'talking politics sincerely' or sharing my 'commonplace views'. I did that in th…
What do you mean by "the new segregationists" and "genderisation of everything"? Are people stomping in and replacing gender-neutral workplace restrooms with separate ones for specific genders? Is racial (or otherwise) segregation being put in place at your place of work? Are gender-neutral pronouns like "they" being replaced in company prose with "he" or "she"?
I assume that the previous poster sees “new segregationism” in the following behaviours:
* The de-nuancing of race by reverting to “white” vs “black” and sidelining all other “races”.
* The redefinition of racism to be exclusively something that “white” people do to “black” people.
* The rollback of cultural integration goals by ringfencing certain behaviours as either “black” or “white”, with any cross-pollination being branded “appropriation”.
* Elevating race as the primary lens through which all society should be viewed, thus abandoning the project of emphasising the content of our hearts and not the color of our skin.
I assume that the previous poster sees “genderisation” in the following behaviours:
* Confusing sex and gender, to the detriment of sex and with the aim of establishing the primacy of gender in all respects - legal, interpersonal and medical.
* Re-establishment of gender norms as the definition of identity, rolling back progress in challenging gender stereotypes.
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#118I consider myself a very politically informed person. I'm not a politically active person however, largely for the reasons mentioned in the article. I considered myself a liberal by the standards of the time I grew up in. My views on some social issues, particularly 'free speech', are considered a conservative now. I am one of the people the article is concerning who will not publicly voice their political opinions i…
I would say that this is a failure of philosophy in political leadership. Not that philosophy was ever paramount in politics, but it was at least expected in the highest classes.
Everything devolves into tribalism without philosophy. It looks like people are discoursing, but they are really just signalling.
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel pretty comfortable saying that all bullies feel they are right.
Nah. Plenty know that they're doing what they want at the expense of other people. But the bullies who think they're doing something good are the most dangerous, since they don't have any moral qualms about how far they take things.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
― C. S. Lewis
Re: New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But you know what else is equally unacceptable in the eyes of most companies? Genuinely progressive stances on labor organization, public ownership, and anti-imperialism. For the same reasons. Why then even bother to work at those places? there are many other places to work, many that share those views. Sadly for some their only purpose at work is to cause division, they don’t want the work, they don’t want to be i…
> there are many other places to work, many that share those views. We might be talking past each other. I don't think there is a private sector entity that empowers workers or opposes the military industrial complex, because these stances are inherently opposed to most firms' profit motives. Despite the way the issue has been framed, companies aren't being stormed by left-wing radicals. The "progressive activism" de…
How can we be talking past each other when you got exactly what I said? You just disagree with me that non profits exists, that cooperatives exists, that employee owned businesses exist, that communions and communities where profit is not a word in their lexicon exist.
But they exists. And not only that, the number of self employed people that share all or some of those values grows every year.
And if all that isn’t enough, there are countries much less imperialistic that would have no trouble letting you in.
Cold corporate jobs are not the only jobs and have never been.