To me it seems that some in the Rust community in particular, perhaps because they're just the most vocal, are tightly coupled to progressive, social activism.
I guess in general I just find myself wishing that political and social issues could be entirely left out of technical communities.
Why crusade using the resources of a technical community though? Surely it alienates the people who don't happen to align with the causes important to you.
There are myriad ways to perform your civic duty in your city. You could knock doors and encourage people to vote, for example. Why do it through a technical community?
I'm a white man, and I have never felt "alienated" in so-called progressive spaces.
I have, on multiple occasions. The general summary of what I have learned from doing so, is that they find it cringe to ask, and appear annoyed by the suspicion that they're getting roped into someone else's political battle.
> That's the reason why some communities like the python community do outreach for minorities in tech.
No, they do it because it aligns with the cultural values of the people in charge. (As it happens, it also aligned with GvR's values when he was in charge.)
> I'm a white man, and I have never felt "alienated" in so-called progressive spaces.
... You don't feel alienated when people in your vicinity openly use pejorative language to refer to groups that you belong to (and don't have a choice about), or decry politicians or even pundits that dare to validate your grievances as extremists? You don't feel alienated when it's proposed that your grievances are inherently invalid because of that group belonging? You don't feel alienated by being repeatedly told that said group belonging makes you inherently incapable of "empathy" for various others, even as that same "empathy" is demanded of you? You don't feel alienated by the cultural assumption that a desire for more progressive income taxation, or cleaner energy, dictates a raft of social policies? You don't feel alienated by the entire body of in-group jargon that associates your group membership with negative qualities, or the opposition to language unilaterally deemed to reflect your "privilege" regardless of actual etymology?
If you haven't experienced these things, please let me know where to find the "progressive spaces" you frequent. I don't think I've seen one since at least OWS.