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

(www.wsj.com)
370 points sillypuddy | 5 comments | 18 Feb 18 16:50 UTC | HN request time: 0.617s | 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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guelo ◴[18 Feb 18 22:15 UTC] No.16409106[source]▶
Conservative propaganda has learned from the left how powerful victimology, feeling persecuted, is. White resentment is through the roof when I talk politics with a lot of my white friends.
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mrtesthah ◴[18 Feb 18 22:21 UTC] No.16409154[source]▶
White resentment becomes possible only when one ceases to care about facts. (Ex. http://www.mdcbowen.org/p2/rm/reports/cerd.pdf)
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1. WaxProlix ◴[18 Feb 18 23:08 UTC] No.16409431[source]▶
This is part of what makes it so pernicious - they feel persecuted, but everyone else can see that they're firmly in control of everything. So it gets pointed out that they're not actually persecuted, which makes the White Moderate feel more persecuted and ignored, pushing them further right. Frustrating, but I don't know what you can do about it.
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2. andybak ◴[18 Feb 18 23:14 UTC] No.16409468[source]▶
"They" is a very dangerous word in this concept because despite the genuine advantages of being white - there are many white people who are powerless and have had shitty lives. Inter-group vs intra-group differences. Someone from a minority might well have had an better life with more opportunities than someone from a privileged class. Comparing groups does not translate into comparing individuals (interestingly this is the same intellectual shortcut that leads to racism)
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3. WaxProlix ◴[18 Feb 18 23:28 UTC] No.16409539[source]▶
> genuine advantages of being white

The folks I'm mostly talking about don't actually believe in that, so obviously my "they" was too broad, indeed.

> Someone from a minority might well have had an better life with more opportunities than someone from a privileged class.

I don't think this has anything to do with what I'm talking about, except maybe as an intentional deflection? We're talking about white resentment as a phenomenon, not Bill the blue collar veteran who was tricked into plundering loot for Halliburton in 2004 or something.

> Comparing groups does not translate into comparing individuals (interestingly this is the same intellectual shortcut that leads to racism)

Discussing race as a phenomenon doesn't make you racist, and this talking point is often used by alt-righters to make some sort of "actually, anti-racists are the REAL racists" narrative. I don't buy it.

edit: My views are failing in the marketplace of ideas! Feel free to leave a comment if you want to engage.

4. nasredin ◴[19 Feb 18 10:49 UTC] No.16412083[source]▶
In addition to the people, the party, the Republicans is also being pushed towards the far-right.
5. ◴[19 Feb 18 13:59 UTC] No.16412870[source]▶