New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity

> Progressivism is the new Christianity, taking over the pagan landscape

Perhaps your comment is a bit of a rant with highs and lows, but this is a rather powerful analogy.

Growing up in Spain, a country with a very strong Catholic tradition, I hated the Church and its invasive prescriptions. Still to this day I count my lucky stars not having spent my younger years during the Franco dictatorship, where being Spanish was inseparable from being Catholic by law, or worse yet, during the Inquisition where by law you could end up in burnt alive in a public square.

Now, however, it's mostly Progressives who assume this role of telling people what to do. This includes companies of dubious moral standing (Google, Uber, and others) who are constantly reminding us of what's Good, mostly for marketing reasons.

I can't stand it now, as I couldn't back in the day with conservative Catholics. Can't everyone just fuck off and stop preaching their shitty gospel?

I have a few (really lovely) conservative friends who have expressed to me that they feel they can't express their political opinions outside of close friends and family because of the social risks involved with doing so. While I hold some "controversial" political opinions they're mostly related to fiscal policy rather than social policy so I've never personally felt like I couldn't express myself if I wanted to -- although I prefer not discussing politics in work environments.

However, last year I decided to start promoting conservative views I don't necessarily agree with that my friends hold to see what the consequences of this would be. I think people would be surprised at how open most people are to be honest. I've expressed conservative views on immigration, trans-rights and Trump as if they were my own and had very little push back outside of Twitter. I can contrast this with the fact that I've seen some people over the last few years express left-wing positions at work and have had at least equal push back. I especially remember one guy who expressed how he felt we should remove statues of historical figures who did things we wouldn't approve of today and got a very strong negative reaction in my office.

I wonder if the real problem here is that people who are conservatively minded are just naturally less comfortable with social conflict. I know my progressive friends are in all regards much more opinionated and seem far more comfortable with conflict, where as my conservative friends tend to be the types of people who avoid conflict.

Perhaps it's an age thing too. Older people who are generally more conservative and perhaps also less interested in getting into a heated debates on Twitter or in the office about some slightly controversial political position they hold. This difference in willingness to enter into social conflict may explain why conservatives feel they are in a minority despite making up about 50% of the population.

All I can say to those who feel oppressed is that as a bullied kid something I learnt from a young age is that it's hard to look myself in the mirror if I start trying to adapt my behaviour to please others. I much rather be myself and hated than try to conform at the expense of my identity. Be proud of who you are and never feel afraid to express yourself. If you're hated for that, so be it. It's better to be yourself than a coward.

> One is Conservative voters, who have been vilified by the hard left since the 1970s, not least because of a sense of betrayal with the erosion of parts of the historic Labour voter base as people from working-class backgrounds moved to white-collar professions and abandoned trade unionism, and this has been particularly apparent in the arts. There is a "Shy Tory" phenomenon that has continued to confound pollsters.

not to be a nit picking noo noo, but both wings of each party mock and vilify the other party. (just have a look at the various twitter streams for your local labour/green/tory/libdem party.) its what they've always done.

The labour party hasn't been about trade unionism since at least 1995.

The problem you are asserting as effectively a freedom of speech issue isn't that, its tribalism. The brexit debate is a good example of this. The country is split 50/50 (+-10%) between remain/brexit. It is therefore impossible to present an average view.

This is because its such a polarising issue. Made worse by the fact that we can see so much froth in real time about each tiny plot point. We are used to now seeing the most extreme arguments about each trivial thing (the BBC won't show you THIS. or the MSM are so biased towards x) we are simply not used to coming to a consensus anymore.

We have lost (or never had) the ability to listen to the "other" side and find common ground. In all debates we seem to be shouting loudly at the "other" side, so that we can get a reaction from our own.

I think that might be a signal that you have already gone too far into the convo too!

Before I discuss anything complex with another person (politics, religion, etc.), I check to see if they're an idiot. Do they think for themselves or parrot a standard position? Can they explain how they came to a conclusion? When they say "I think . . . ", did they? It doesn't matter they subject; either they think or they don't.

If a person doesn't think (many don't), you're not arguing with them, but with a set of recordings.