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

(www.wsj.com)
370 points sillypuddy | 2 comments | 18 Feb 18 16:50 UTC | HN request time: 0.002s | source
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twblalock ◴[18 Feb 18 21:03 UTC] No.16408620[source]▶
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 liberals are in other parts of the country.

It seems to me, from personal experience, that the people who feel alienated are the ones who bring politics to work in an overbearing contrarian way, seeking to cause offense under the guise of "debate," and then pretend to be shocked when people don't want to put up with their shit. Work is for working; it's not a debating society, and especially not when the debating is done in bad faith.

Peter Thiel has been more politically vocal than most, and he is vocal about things he knows to be unpopular. He can't be surprised that people who disagree with him are also vocal. If he can't take the heat he should stay out of the kitchen.

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cowmix ◴[18 Feb 18 21:13 UTC] No.16408702[source]▶
If these people want to know what it is like to be "stifled" in the workplace, be an atheist or lefty in Texas.
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1. jfaucett ◴[18 Feb 18 21:24 UTC] No.16408784[source]▶
Really? (warning anecdotes :), When I lived in the south east (Alabama / Georgia), I didn't notice any stifling because I was an atheist. Sure, you had to deal with people's super religious fundamentalist beliefs which got expressed all the time, but my barrage of dissenting opinions didn't get any backlash, except for the "prayer for my lost soul" which did happen on occasion.
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2. zebnyc ◴[19 Feb 18 08:34 UTC] No.16411558[source]▶
To add my 2 cents, I was employed in Macon, Georgia by a small software firm around the time the Bush administrating was drumming up support to attack Iraq. I was opposed to it and let my feelings be known amongst my colleagues. My colleagues would agree with my POV, go home and then come back the next day and attack me. The cycle repeated itself a few times before I realized they were going home to Fox News everyday. Unfortunately for me, I discussed these opinions in the cafetaria. When they downsized a short while later, I was the first one to be let go. Since then I never discuss politics at work, even with folks I trust,