> it's abundantly clear that deviating even slightly from the orthodoxy within tech can be disastrous to one's ability to pay for their home and food
This does not square with reality as I've experienced it. Hell, I've worked with someone who thought von Mises had a point--and he'd argue with you about it. Loudly, in public, and in written formats. There are receipts. And yet somehow, despite the mustachio-twirling machinations of the "orthodoxy", he's still thriving in the industry. Promoted regularly, big fat stock-option grants, the works. Despite not being anything special technically, just another guy. Somehow, disagreeing but not being an odious prick about it seems to go okay, and he's certainly not the only well-paid-and-respected person I know in the industry with loony views. (He's the only one I know who I like, but that's another thing.)
But I left a catch in there. There's that "being an odious prick about it" part, isn't there? There's the "writing manifestos impugning your coworkers based on their gender" part, there's the "throwing money at political factions bent on making the lives of your coworkers worse" part. Yeah, that's going to get people mad. That might make people not want to work with you. But why should they? When you're an active threat to their well-being, of course they want to see the back of you. And it sure sounds like you're mixing that up with "deviating even slightly from the orthodoxy".
> And it sure sounds like you're mixing that up with "deviating even slightly from the orthodoxy".
You're just proving my point with your insinuation that when I explain why some people might not be comfortable sharing their political views in their workplace that I am somehow condoning whatever negative political ideology you disagree with. I have said absolutely nothing of my own politics.
You need to fix how you address other community members. The guidelines ask us to comment civilly and substantively, and what you're doing here is rhetorical bullying.
Don't you want us to have thoughtful and insightful conversations about this? Stop sabotaging it.
> Sorry, my dude, but I know where your car is parked.
You don't know anything about me. I think I'm actually a pretty alright guy, and I treat everyone with as much respect as they treat me.
It's wonderful that on a post about why some people are afraid to bring politics to work, I'm being witchhunted now because I answered, in a completely non-partisan way, why that might be.
I regret even making my post. Discourse is impossible anymore.
I think that there are two lines here that are easy to conflate.
1) That the golden rule "treat others as you would like to be treated" is sufficient to make you A Good Person, or at least not complicit in any sort of -ism.
2) That, as (assumption here) a member of the ethnic/cultural majority in tech, there's some obligation to speak up for those who may not be able to do so themselves - the social dynamics are different when a member of the 'in' group calls the group out on exclusionary behavior, as opposed to when an 'out' group-er does so.
On some level, this is a cultural divide, and at least from my perspective, we're perhaps realizing that the first line is insufficient - plenty of repugnant norms and behaviors have been implicitly approved by mainstream society despite everyone conforming to the 'golden rule'.
This does not square with reality as I've experienced it. Hell, I've worked with someone who thought von Mises had a point--and he'd argue with you about it. Loudly, in public, and in written formats. There are receipts. And yet somehow, despite the mustachio-twirling machinations of the "orthodoxy", he's still thriving in the industry. Promoted regularly, big fat stock-option grants, the works. Despite not being anything special technically, just another guy. Somehow, disagreeing but not being an odious prick about it seems to go okay, and he's certainly not the only well-paid-and-respected person I know in the industry with loony views. (He's the only one I know who I like, but that's another thing.)
But I left a catch in there. There's that "being an odious prick about it" part, isn't there? There's the "writing manifestos impugning your coworkers based on their gender" part, there's the "throwing money at political factions bent on making the lives of your coworkers worse" part. Yeah, that's going to get people mad. That might make people not want to work with you. But why should they? When you're an active threat to their well-being, of course they want to see the back of you. And it sure sounds like you're mixing that up with "deviating even slightly from the orthodoxy".