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This makes me furious. Political correctness run amok. I don't feel safe expressing my opinions publicly for this very reason. I support Donald Trump - could I

This makes me furious. Political correctness run amok. I don't feel safe expressing my opinions publicly for this very reason. I support Donald Trump - could I get fired from my (tech big 4) workplace for tweeting that publicly? That's not entirely out of the realm of possibilities! What is this world coming to? If I don't fit into their mold they fire me. My heart aches - this feels like the road to totalitarianism. These self proclaimed "progressives" and "social justice warriors" are not liberal in the classic sense - they are radicals hell bent on cutting down anyone who does not fit into their world view. A classic liberal would have said "I may not agree with what you say, but I will die for your right to say it." What happened to our country?

jf 10y ago
The Facebook post in question is the tip of an iceberg.
- kafkaesq 10y ago
  This "iceberg" being?
  - ttam 10y ago
    probably this: http://valleywag.gawker.com/homeless-hater-greg-gopman-sued-for-abusing-funds-and-t-1530897282 http://valleywag.gawker.com/homeless-hater-greg-gopman-sued-...
    - kafkaesq 10y ago
      Thanks. If this hasn't been refuted somewhere, that would make Twitter's recent actions at lot more understandable.
    - flukus 10y ago
      So techcrunch missed this but found a years old, long deleted facebook post?
      - kafkaesq 10y ago
        Hey, the deleted FB post was a pretty good score for the 4 or so minutes of actual research the writer apparently devoted to this story.
MichaelGG 10y ago
That's how social pressure always works. Godwinning it, you could say the NSDAP was just a political party and thus supporting it is beyond criticism.
- flukus 10y ago
  Lately that social pressure has been pushing me away from the people that I would otherwise broadly agree with politically. I'd be more likely to vote trump (not American anyway, just a hypothetical) now than I would have been a few years ago because I'm sick of the identity wars SJW's are fighting.
  - emjoes1 10y ago
    I am glad to know I am not the only one. I cannot tolerate reading news anymore I'm so sick of this stuff. It is making me a depressed fearful hermit. Helps to know I am not alone.
    - flukus 10y ago
      There's plenty of us. I've met a few in person and there are a lot on YouTube (Chris ray gun is the best example). Hopefully it's not too late to put the genie back in the bottle.
Cookingboy 10y ago
Supporting Donald Trump isn't just a straight up political point of view, it shows that you are at least tolerant of some of the most horrible values he has exhibited during this election. They include promotion of sexism and racism and downright violent behavior toward minority and people with different religions. If I were your employer, I would definitely consider firing you because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and political violence. It's the same reason I would fire any employee who are openly in support of KKK or Nazi. Some people may argue that they disagree with Donald Trump on those things but support his policies. That's like saying it's ok for me to support Hitler because his economic recovery plan for Germany is sound, but I just disagree with the whole genocide business. EDIT: I do believe in the First Amendment. As long as they don't violate Federal laws regarding hate speech to incite violence, Mr.Trump and his supporters should be allowed to exercise their free speech without fear of government prosecution. However I am also for the right of any private party to distance and disassociate themselves from Mr.Trump and his supporters, including their employers.
- maxsilver 10y ago
  > If I were your employer, I would definitely consider firing you because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and political violence. But where does that end? You could use that against line of reasoning against literally any political topic. You could just as easily say, "I would definitely consider firing you for being pro-choice, because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of murder". or "I would consider firing you for being Christian, because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of discrimination, judgement, and torture."
  - selestify 10y ago
    Being Christian does not imply being tolerant of tolerant of discrimination, judgement, and torture. Being a Trump supporter does mean giving support to Trump and all he stands for.
drivingmenuts 10y ago
> A classic liberal would have said "I may not agree with what you say, but I will die for your right to say it." What happened to our country? The people on the other end of the spectrum started threatening to shoot them with the guns they already owned. While that has been going on for quite a while (Phil Gramm and his quote about hunting Democrats with dogs, for example), it's probably within the past decade or so that people have started taking the threats more seriously. Words matter. Your actions matter more, but words are the precursor and it's impossible to know if the person on the other end of the internet is really kidding or not.
butyouknow33 10y ago
> What happened to our country? This is some revisionist history. At best, just rose colored glasses. 1) There are still plenty of people that think the way you expect a classic liberal to think. 2) Hearing about it more doesn't mean more people think that way. 3) This country has a long history of persecuting undesirables for one reason or another. Black, hippie, commie, union member. What happened here pales in comparison to our past. You also forget that hey, guess what? These employers have the same right to associate with whomever they choose. You'd take it away from them. Making everyone work in close company with folks they aren't comfortable associating with. It just so happens in this case it was due to a Facebook post. Would you be flipping out like this if it was due to water cooler comments on the job? Yeah. Perhaps check your supercharged rhetoric at the door.
- Agustus 10y ago
  Absolutely not. You are not allowed to fire someone based on their political beliefs, especially in California. You are forced to accept people in society regardless of your personal beliefs. Also, plenty of people is a vague term, they are less than 50% of the democratic party to put Clinton and Sanders as their representatives. The soldier who also ran was what was left of the old "liberal" party. He echoed the sentiments of 1990's Bill Clinton and he was left behind with nary a backer.
  - butyouknow33 10y ago
    I wasn't exactly replying to a nuanced post. It is obvious to me you've barely researched what you said. Government and Californians are the only workers with any legal protections around political speech. But the laws are barely enforceable. Twitter can say "not a culture fit" and not have to really give any more explanation. They can say "decided to go a different way." Effectively my point stands. Companies can pick and choose who they hire. A job offer is not a contract for eternal employment. Philosophically, that is exactly how it should be. What's the point of forcing an organization to hire people they disagree with? You just flipped it from coddling one group to coddling another. And the other side will stand up and grouse. I think we really need to rethink the point of "jobs" and how people are expected to contribute in our society. Because "jobs" will be extinct. It sounds like in your second point you're talking about membership in the Democratic party. The OP was painting in broad strokes about society in general. Classical liberalism was typically a position taken regarding government's role. "Government which governs least governs best." But we're not talking about government. We're talking about a private organization and opinions of free people. There was no government oppression here. This was free agency of private citizens that created this headline. What does that even have to do with "classical liberalism"? So above all my points stand. OP was revising history to be, and his argument in general is contradictory and hypocritical.
Hannan 10y ago
>> I don't feel safe expressing my opinions publicly for this very reason. I'll admit, I'm having a hard time not bringing up the concept of SJW "safe zones" in regards to this statement. #Apophasis
- notliketherest 10y ago
  Haha there's a difference between "having my believes challenged" and "losing the source of my families income" but I appreciate your candor

jf 10y ago

The Facebook post in question is the tip of an iceberg.

kafkaesq 10y ago
This "iceberg" being?
- ttam 10y ago
  probably this: http://valleywag.gawker.com/homeless-hater-greg-gopman-sued-for-abusing-funds-and-t-1530897282 http://valleywag.gawker.com/homeless-hater-greg-gopman-sued-...
  - kafkaesq 10y ago
    Thanks. If this hasn't been refuted somewhere, that would make Twitter's recent actions at lot more understandable.
  - flukus 10y ago
    So techcrunch missed this but found a years old, long deleted facebook post?
    - kafkaesq 10y ago
      Hey, the deleted FB post was a pretty good score for the 4 or so minutes of actual research the writer apparently devoted to this story.

MichaelGG 10y ago

That's how social pressure always works. Godwinning it, you could say the NSDAP was just a political party and thus supporting it is beyond criticism.

flukus 10y ago
Lately that social pressure has been pushing me away from the people that I would otherwise broadly agree with politically. I'd be more likely to vote trump (not American anyway, just a hypothetical) now than I would have been a few years ago because I'm sick of the identity wars SJW's are fighting.
- emjoes1 10y ago
  I am glad to know I am not the only one. I cannot tolerate reading news anymore I'm so sick of this stuff. It is making me a depressed fearful hermit. Helps to know I am not alone.
  - flukus 10y ago
    There's plenty of us. I've met a few in person and there are a lot on YouTube (Chris ray gun is the best example). Hopefully it's not too late to put the genie back in the bottle.

Cookingboy 10y ago

Supporting Donald Trump isn't just a straight up political point of view, it shows that you are at least tolerant of some of the most horrible values he has exhibited during this election. They include promotion of sexism and racism and downright violent behavior toward minority and people with different religions. If I were your employer, I would definitely consider firing you because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and political violence. It's the same reason I would fire any employee who are openly in support of KKK or Nazi. Some people may argue that they disagree with Donald Trump on those things but support his policies. That's like saying it's ok for me to support Hitler because his economic recovery plan for Germany is sound, but I just disagree with the whole genocide business. EDIT: I do believe in the First Amendment. As long as they don't violate Federal laws regarding hate speech to incite violence, Mr.Trump and his supporters should be allowed to exercise their free speech without fear of government prosecution. However I am also for the right of any private party to distance and disassociate themselves from Mr.Trump and his supporters, including their employers.

maxsilver 10y ago
> If I were your employer, I would definitely consider firing you because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and political violence. But where does that end? You could use that against line of reasoning against literally any political topic. You could just as easily say, "I would definitely consider firing you for being pro-choice, because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of murder". or "I would consider firing you for being Christian, because I do not believe my company should employ people who are tolerant of discrimination, judgement, and torture."
- selestify 10y ago
  Being Christian does not imply being tolerant of tolerant of discrimination, judgement, and torture. Being a Trump supporter does mean giving support to Trump and all he stands for.

drivingmenuts 10y ago

> A classic liberal would have said "I may not agree with what you say, but I will die for your right to say it." What happened to our country? The people on the other end of the spectrum started threatening to shoot them with the guns they already owned. While that has been going on for quite a while (Phil Gramm and his quote about hunting Democrats with dogs, for example), it's probably within the past decade or so that people have started taking the threats more seriously. Words matter. Your actions matter more, but words are the precursor and it's impossible to know if the person on the other end of the internet is really kidding or not.

butyouknow33 10y ago

> What happened to our country? This is some revisionist history. At best, just rose colored glasses. 1) There are still plenty of people that think the way you expect a classic liberal to think. 2) Hearing about it more doesn't mean more people think that way. 3) This country has a long history of persecuting undesirables for one reason or another. Black, hippie, commie, union member. What happened here pales in comparison to our past. You also forget that hey, guess what? These employers have the same right to associate with whomever they choose. You'd take it away from them. Making everyone work in close company with folks they aren't comfortable associating with. It just so happens in this case it was due to a Facebook post. Would you be flipping out like this if it was due to water cooler comments on the job? Yeah. Perhaps check your supercharged rhetoric at the door.

Agustus 10y ago
Absolutely not. You are not allowed to fire someone based on their political beliefs, especially in California. You are forced to accept people in society regardless of your personal beliefs. Also, plenty of people is a vague term, they are less than 50% of the democratic party to put Clinton and Sanders as their representatives. The soldier who also ran was what was left of the old "liberal" party. He echoed the sentiments of 1990's Bill Clinton and he was left behind with nary a backer.
- butyouknow33 10y ago
  I wasn't exactly replying to a nuanced post. It is obvious to me you've barely researched what you said. Government and Californians are the only workers with any legal protections around political speech. But the laws are barely enforceable. Twitter can say "not a culture fit" and not have to really give any more explanation. They can say "decided to go a different way." Effectively my point stands. Companies can pick and choose who they hire. A job offer is not a contract for eternal employment. Philosophically, that is exactly how it should be. What's the point of forcing an organization to hire people they disagree with? You just flipped it from coddling one group to coddling another. And the other side will stand up and grouse. I think we really need to rethink the point of "jobs" and how people are expected to contribute in our society. Because "jobs" will be extinct. It sounds like in your second point you're talking about membership in the Democratic party. The OP was painting in broad strokes about society in general. Classical liberalism was typically a position taken regarding government's role. "Government which governs least governs best." But we're not talking about government. We're talking about a private organization and opinions of free people. There was no government oppression here. This was free agency of private citizens that created this headline. What does that even have to do with "classical liberalism"? So above all my points stand. OP was revising history to be, and his argument in general is contradictory and hypocritical.

Hannan 10y ago

>> I don't feel safe expressing my opinions publicly for this very reason. I'll admit, I'm having a hard time not bringing up the concept of SJW "safe zones" in regards to this statement. #Apophasis

notliketherest 10y ago
Haha there's a difference between "having my believes challenged" and "losing the source of my families income" but I appreciate your candor