"But Fried and his co-founder, David Heinemeier Hansson, had been taken aback by an employee post which argued that mocking customer names laid the foundation for racially-motivated violence, and closed the thread." Children understand that calling people names isn't the same as violence. At some point can we all admit that the most narcissistic, dramatic people are overly-indulged by this garbage? I'm at a startup n…
I have a slightly different take as to what all this is and I havent seen it expressed almost anywhere. Since the proliferation of the internet the world has gotten exponentially more competitive. Information and access have been reduced to almost uniformity if you understand the tools. No while prizes have gotten larger, there are simply way more people competing for the top spot than before. These culture wars are simply just a new weapon for those without power to seize it. Its not much different that coming from wealth, being charismatic or the host of other weapons being wielded in a competitive game. Human kind has always been collective, but the largest motivation is survival of the self. You should look at this change a clever weaponization for a class that wants more power and not some intrinsic right or wrong.
What is likely to happen is we will always see it moving forward, but eventually (outside of extreme circumstances like violence), these things become less powerful as the novelty of the charge wears off.