At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
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Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#2I grew up in Texas but worked in Silicon Valley for a few years. One of the toughest adjustments was going from a small conservative town to a major liberal populace. It was astonishing the number of people who got angry _at me_ for having a different opinion then they did.
At one workplace I saw two coworkers get into a fist fight because the liberal was "offended" that the conservative differed on a viewpoint.
Go to Texas and I'm sure you can find the opposite if you are looking for it. It's just a shame that we're letting society create the lens that we want to see, and we push things out that don't fit into our comfy bubble blanket.
Edit: To clarify what people got angry at me most: I told them I voted for Bush. It was simply that statement, nothing more.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#3Honestly, I am not the least surprised. I don't know if anyone is really. Because never before has there been so much hate towards simply holding different opinions.
People actively share "if you like x you can remove me as your friend" shit on facebook, companies fire people for expressing their political views and media companies "choose a side" more then ever. And don't tell me Google isn't. Just look at Youtube with their new anti-free speech rules that they enforce in restricted mode and the new demonitazation for content. Look at their search engine. If you swap to DuckDuckGo you will instantly see the bubble you were in and the many results that are not shown.
This is not really unique to USA or a single company like Google, it's happening within EU and other companies as well. This is coming from me, who probably would in the US be called a communist by conservatives :)
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#4I think this is all circles of America right now. I'm a typical social leaning west coast tech dude and I cannot be pragmatic in my conversations and points about the state of affairs because I'm immediately a supporter of this that or the next thing. Constructive public discourse is dead?
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#5It's almost like voting for the end of the nation as we knew it has consequences.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#6I grew up in Texas but worked in Silicon Valley for a few years. One of the toughest adjustments was going from a small conservative town to a major liberal populace. It was astonishing the number of people who got angry _at me_ for having a different opinion then they did. At one workplace I saw two coworkers get into a fist fight because the liberal was "offended" that the conservative differed on a viewpoint. Go t…
That anger could be reasonable or not, depending on your opinions.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#7I don't think it's even just conservatives, anyone who has an even slightly different opinion than the golden calves US libertarian society has set up is shunned. It's closer to religion at this point.
I consider myself liberal, but (and?) I disagree on various topics, mostly on affirmative action. However, if you think that introducing more bias is a bad way to solve existing bias, you're a racist.
It's not "I disagree with you", it's "your opinion is different from what I adhere to so I won't even consider it" on very specific topics, and my opinions aren't even that far from the rest of the ideology. I can certainly see how it'd make people with wildly different opinions feel isolated.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#8Aren't these the same sort that will moan ceaselessly about the ludicrousness of "safe spaces" and "snowflakes"?
I don't particularly care. You're free to speak your mind. You're not free to force people around you agree. Either get over it, or move on. I hear welding is an in-demand industry and I bet they'll find more receptivity to their viewpoints there.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#9If they are isolated maybe this is not so bad taking into account how they see immigration, isn't it?
Jokes apart, sometimes is very hard to left aside those differences that might be hiding an interesting person. I am in the same situation with a coworker which is very conservative, sometimes is hard to get along with it.
Re: At liberal tech companies, those who disagree on politics say they’re isolated
#10Can't we just keep politics out of the workplace? Who really wants to sit next to the guy who's going to spend a half an hour telling me about my company's “social justice agenda”?