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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’

#711
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think I can do an OK job of not being an asshole, but I honestly have no idea what is or isn't going to piss people off or classify as flamebait here. I wish that there were some sort of metamoderation system. I downvote the mods whenever they post about abusing their power, but I don't know if that even has an effect, or if moderators' posts are immune from downvotes.

Wasn't this the point of flagging/vouching for comments?

Hmmm, I hadn't thought of flagging the moderators. I wonder if that might have negative repercussions. I wouldn't want them to get angry!

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

#712
post #667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damore wasn't fired because he is a conservative. He was fired because he thinks women are inferior wrt tech and was very vocal about it.

This is false. Damore did not get fired "because he thinks women are inferior" which is a simplistic, uninformed, and cartoonish version of the controversy. Damore was fired by Google for writing about scientifically supported sex differences and the social ramifications of those differences: https://youtu.be/agU-mHFcXdw

Brushing all of this off as "scientifically supported sex differences" is quite simplistic, uninformed, and cartoonish by itself.

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

#713

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damore wasn't fired because he is a conservative. He was fired because he thinks women are inferior wrt tech and was very vocal about it.

Sigh. As the sibling comment points out, what you are saying is not true . It is contradicted by the text of the memo itself. Moreover he wasn't "very vocal about it", he wrote a memo that was then deliberately leaked by his ideological opponents in order to destroy his career: successfully so. Five years ago I felt my political views were pretty mainstream for the tech industry, for the Valley (although I did not li…

I keep seeing this argument, and wonder if we read the same memo. And to mirror your view, I'm getting pretty tired of people just brushing off criticism of the memo as "Strawman! Fake news!" when it's anything but. I guess it's a successful tactic though.

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

#714
post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this new conservative victimhood mentality absolutely fascinating. I know someone who is a self described conservative who thinks he's being persecuted by society because of, of all things, having children. Not a ton of children, mind you, and not ones he can't afford, and not out of wedlock. Having children is literally the most socially acceptable thing you can do amongst almost all political ideologies. Its…

Why don't you ask him why he thinks that, instead of writing it off? I agree it seems odd to believe that anyone could be against having children. But the world is full of large groups of people who hold odd and unsubstantiated opinions. Perhaps he's met people who really do look down on him for having kids. Perhaps he's stumbled across a group of old fashioned Malthusians who think children = population growth = des…

There do exist some activists fighting against "natal" policies; for example, these guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Alliance_for_Optional...

However, such a position is very much unusual and marginal in the US or (IMHO) the Anglosphere in general. By contrast, I had encountered some rather aggressive childfree activists on the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet.

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

#715
post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you self-identify as liberal and never actually been exposed to people in an area that is predominantly conservative? Isn't that the definition of insular and close-minded?

I've never said not exposed. There's plenty of exposure available via the media. As an example, I've watched Tomi Lahren's commentary on pro athletes and political involvement. No surprises there, but suffice to say I'm glad Tomi's views on the matter are generally frowned upon here in SV. For most of history, holding progressive or even liberal viewpoints carried social consequences. Polite company was conservative…

Do you think someone who sees Michael Moore's silly opinions on twitter has been exposed enough to liberals to feel educated about them enough to properly dislike them?

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

#716

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Society should and will continue Does society not include all the people that voted for Trump?

There is also a difference between a Trump voter and a Trump “supporter”. I know plenty of Republicans who held their noses and voted for Trump but don’t agree with his populist rants. They are not going to be wearing MAGA shirts or making excuses for him.

No, if you voted for Trump you support him. You can't have it both ways.

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

#717
post #716

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a difference between a Trump voter and a Trump “supporter”. I know plenty of Republicans who held their noses and voted for Trump but don’t agree with his populist rants. They are not going to be wearing MAGA shirts or making excuses for him.

No, if you voted for Trump you support him. You can't have it both ways.

You really only have two choices. There are a lot of things that I didn’t like about the Democratic platform and especially Clinton, but I held my nose and voted for her. It just depends on what your biggest issues are.

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

#718
Intellectually honest 'conservatives' who identify as republicans who aren't actively trying to reform their party and are aligning with the current anti LEGAL immigration, anti gay, white-christian identity politics of the modern GOP shouldn't be shocked that they feel alienated in a place that is largely enlightened on all these things decades ago. Even if you put the social issues asside, the GOP sure loves their deficits and big government. That's been true since the W years. What the hell is conservatism now?

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

#719

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Society should and will continue Does society not include all the people that voted for Trump?

There is also a difference between a Trump voter and a Trump “supporter”. I know plenty of Republicans who held their noses and voted for Trump but don’t agree with his populist rants. They are not going to be wearing MAGA shirts or making excuses for him.

[deleted]

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

#720

I hate to have sympathy for the devil here, but I see their point. Hackernews is living proof. Pre-election, you could voice a contrary opinion here and have a discussion. Post-election, even the faintest wrongthink shibboleth gets silently downvoted into oblivion.

You seem to think you have some sort of constitutional right to NOT be downvoted..

Re-read original comment. Criticism wasn't downvoting, but silent downvoting. Also intended it as a general observation rather than a personal complaint.
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