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Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

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Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#221

Post by webkike »

downandout wrote: post #209
twblalock wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Stay out of the kitchen" means "close your mouth around Silicon Valley liberals" or you'll experience backlash. No, it means don't expect to be able to say controversial stuff without people who disagree with you also having their say.

The problem is that among this crowd, simply saying "I voted for Trump" or "I hated Hillary so I just didn't vote" is considered "controversial" and worthy of personal and professional backlash.

Voting for an openly sexist person is extremely controversial. I don't find "I hated Hillary so I just didn't vote" controversial at all.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#223

Post by unapprovedviews »

_skel wrote: post #169

I don't get it. I grew up in Silicon Valley and I work in tech, and so do many other people I know. They run the gamut from far-left socialists to libertarians to own a bunch of guns. They have all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and religious views. Some of my most libertarian/pro-gun friends have not been shy about their political views and it hasn't hurt their tech careers at all. They are far more welcome here than l…

> libertarian/pro-gun friends have not been shy about their political views and it hasn't hurt their tech careers at all

It's interesting that you specifically choose "libertarian". While maybe technically further to the right than Republican it truly seems supporting specifically Republican candidates is wholly furiously unacceptable in the bay area -- especially at tech companies. Try wearing a pin, t-shirt, hat, etc... "openly" supporting Trump to a tech company in the city -- actually for the safety of your career and physical self better not.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#224

Post by tc313 »

cowmix wrote: post #193
_skel wrote: post #169

I don't get it. I grew up in Silicon Valley and I work in tech, and so do many other people I know. They run the gamut from far-left socialists to libertarians to own a bunch of guns. They have all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and religious views. Some of my most libertarian/pro-gun friends have not been shy about their political views and it hasn't hurt their tech careers at all. They are far more welcome here than l…

If these people want to know what it is like to be "stifled" in the workplace, be an atheist or lefty in Texas.

Do you live/work in Texas? The big cities (Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio) are overwhelmingly liberal.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#225

Post by idlewords »

jnbiche wrote: post #211
idlewords wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thiel spoke on national television at the National Republican Convention. He made the choice to bring his private political beliefs into the public sphere, and has no grounds to complain for catching heat for them.

This has been downvoted, but this is an important distinction that our legal system even recognizes. There's a qualitative difference between a "public person" (like Thiel) and a "private person" like some random co-worker who doesn't tour around doing speeches and writing opinion pieces.

Agreed. Moreover, speaking at a nationally-televised political convention is an inherently public, political act.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#226

Post by sho »

mlazos wrote: post #208
sho wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He literally said "literally one of the worst human beings on the planet". I am pretty unsympathetic to any argument that starts with "he meant to say...". I can see what he said, in black and white. I'm going to address that. He can post what "he meant to say" separately.

Clearly he isn’t talking about murder, he is talking about the seven Christian virtues, and yes Trump pretty much embodies the opposite of all them. I feel like you’re conflating “taking something at face value” with ignoring context.

> he is talking about the seven Christian virtues

I had no idea he was talking about this. How could anyone guess that. If true then he has failed to communicate so completely that I am inclined to ignore everything else.

If you have a coherent argument which embodies what "he meant to say" then let's hear it. Shifting the goalposts on past arguments, however, is not allowed.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#227

Post by downandout »

webkike wrote: post #221
downandout wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that among this crowd, simply saying "I voted for Trump" or "I hated Hillary so I just didn't vote" is considered "controversial" and worthy of personal and professional backlash.

Voting for an openly sexist person is extremely controversial. I don't find "I hated Hillary so I just didn't vote" controversial at all.

Your comment is a perfect example of the Valley's intense hatred of any remotely conservative viewpoint that the article is referring to. People have all kinds of reasons for voting for a particular candidate. It doesn't mean they endorse all of their actions or views. In this last election, I suspect that many Trump votes were made simply because they didn't like Hillary, and there were only two choices.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#228

Post by acjohnson55 »

friedman23 wrote: post #175
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> SF just happens to be a highly visible example with some unique problems Coming in from New York, San Francisco’s lack of attention to its homeless population is self inflicted. It’s also a problem that nobody in the city seems very much to care about.

> It’s also a problem that nobody in the city seems very much to care about Because all the rich people living in the North West part of the city are completely insulated from it.

That can't quite be true, given how central the Tenderloin is within NW SF.

Which reminds me of an interesting experience I had. I was living in NY, and took a trip that had me spend about 8 days each in SF and Cuba. It took me a couple days to put a name on a feeling I was experiencing in Havana. I realized that it was the dissonance of the staggering inequality plainly in the Union Square area of SF I was staying and the relative flat deprivation of Havana. The latter lacked the overtly utter destitution of the Tenderloin.

I didn't have any profound takeaways other than that it seemed like there should be some way of getting the benefits of American society, with the baseline of Cuban society, given how much more we have in resources.

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#229

Post by strangeloops85 »

_skel wrote: post #169

I don't get it. I grew up in Silicon Valley and I work in tech, and so do many other people I know. They run the gamut from far-left socialists to libertarians to own a bunch of guns. They have all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and religious views. Some of my most libertarian/pro-gun friends have not been shy about their political views and it hasn't hurt their tech careers at all. They are far more welcome here than l…

Yeah I don't get it either, especially the "feeling alienated" part. Does that include being feted and having a respectful discussion with your liberal friend and old colleague, Reid Hoffman, on the Stanford campus on Jan. 31 of this year, moderated by a very sympathetic Niall Ferguson? With laudatory words and praise from the President and Provost? https://news.stanford.edu/2018/02/01/cardinal-conversation-r...

Look, if you're going to speak at the RNC and actively support Trump, you will be on the opposite side of a super-majority of college-educated people in this country at this point. And definitely a large super-majority of people under 35, women, Asian Americans, Latinos and African Americans. So if you're surrounded by such people, and are loudly promoting such views, don't expect your interlocutors to not criticize them, or necessarily want to hear them ad nauseum.

The evidence however suggests that Mr. Thiel is certainly being given PLENTY of platforms to continue expressing his viewpoints in a respectful manner in front of influential crowds of people, including students. Who is pushing this whole narrative?

Re: Like Peter Thiel, Tech Workers Feel Alienated by Silicon Valley ‘Echo Chamber’

#230

Post by frgtpsswrdlame »

sho wrote: post #207
friedman23 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me tell you, if you shed tears because Trump won the election you are mentally unstable.

> if you shed tears because Trump won the election you are mentally unstable Upvoting you to counter your ridiculous downvotes. What the hell people. If you shed tears because Trump won then you are actually part of the problem. You are on "Team Blue" and crying because "Team Red" won. This simplistic tribalistic nonsense is not how you run a society. update for the downvoters: unless you view Team Red as intrinsical…

Huh? I mean you realize elections have real-world consequences right? It's not exactly like their team lost the superbowl. What about the dreamers, surely they're allowed to cry because of Trump's win right? What about trans people? What about those who would benefit from medical marijuana? What about those who have insurance because of 'Obamacare'? What about those with family members in 'muslim countries'? Maybe you didn't have too much at stake in recent election but many, many people do and they're perfectly justified in their tears.

>This simplistic tribalistic nonsense is not how you run a society.

Ironically it seems like you two are being just as tribalistic as the people you complain about. Maybe something to think about.

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