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Tim Ferris summed it up well: Silicon Valley also has an insidious infection that is spreading -- a peculiar form of McCarthyism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Tim Ferris summed it up well: Silicon Valley also has an insidious infection that is spreading -- a peculiar form of McCarthyism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism) masquerading as liberal open-mindedness. I'm as socially liberal as you get, and I find it nauseating how many topics or dissenting opinions are simply out-of-bounds in Silicon Valley. These days, people with real jobs (unlike me) are risking their careers to even challenge collective delusions in SF. Isn't this supposed to be where people change the world by challenging the consensus reality? By seeing the hidden realities behind the facades? That's the whole reason I traveled west and started over in the Bay Area. Now, more and more, I feel like it's a Russian nesting doll of facades -- Washington DC with fewer neck ties, where people openly lie to one another out of fear of losing their jobs or being publicly crucified. It's weird, unsettling, and, frankly, really dangerous. There's way too much power here for politeness to be sustainable. If no one feels they can say "Hey, I know it makes everyone uncomfortable, but I think there's a leak in the fuel rods in this nuclear submarine..." we're headed for big trouble

frenchie4111 9y ago
What is the source of this? I am interested in what topics/opinions he believes are out-of-bounds.
- RestlessMind 9y ago
  Here are a few examples of the topics I don't want to discuss at work, because my workplace is full of zealots who would accuse me of bigotry and I don't want to get entangled in HR discussions: - illegal immigration - importance of "pipeline" on workplace diversity - effectiveness of company policies to foster diversity A side effect is that open conversations are now almost silenced in a company which once prided on open culture. People now speak out only in smaller cliques of their friends, and this is having a massively negative impact on company culture.
  - jbob2000 9y ago
    Illegal immigration is a distracting election talking point. It affects us much less than it is purported to. And I’ve thought that news articles about company diversity are hit jobs to move a stock price. In any case, these topics have high emotional stakes, but are completely subjective. Unlike talking about your favorite movies, which is also a subjective topic, but with much less emotional investment. I have to ask; why do you want to talk to your coworkers about this stuff? What are you going to get out of it? Are you trying to feel justified about an opinion you hold? I just have no idea why anyone would want to talk about this with people they have to get along with everyday.
    - ganoushoreilly 9y ago
      Because communications and listening to differences of opinions is how we adapt and formulate our own.
ganoushoreilly 9y ago
I moved to the bay from D.C. and while the exterior packaging was different, the commonality of positioning amongst the two cities was actually quite similar. In fact, I found more tolerance to alternative viewpoints in D.C. than I ever did in SV. This notion that SV is an easy going place of acceptance is a bit of a facade. You're accepted, if you accept their viewpoints on topics. If you don't, you either keep your mouth shut, or leave.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- formerdcthrwy 9y ago
  Damn, SV must be hell then. I fled DC this spring because the political group-think was so oppressive. If you didn't walk around and make a point of being depressed about Trump winning, you were an asshole. The suggestion that Trump is anything but an orange-haired Hitler would make you enemies, even if paired with solid criticism of Trump and his bunch. A lack of fanatical opposition to Trump made me enemies at work, not exaggerating. All Hands Slack chats were filled with anti-Trump news, jokes, and thoughts on a daily basis. It would be no understatement to say that this dominated the office culture. Our CEO (at a tech startup, not a Democrat-aligned non-profit) sent out a pouting email the morning after the election. Every morning I was bombarded with strident political opinions from my deskmates, and you can bet that had I complained to HR, I'd be seen as the problem. I am so, so happy to be out of that place. I am in another city now that is renowned for its liberal politics, and there's none of the stuff I just mentioned. DC is a whole 'nother beast these days.
- SllX 9y ago
  Speaking as someone that grew up in San Francisco, I wouldn't call it particularly tolerant anymore. At one time when the current political climate wasn't the default, maybe yeah. So what I would say is the default cultural assumptions have changed from what they used to be and are now diametrically opposed to much of the country in such a way that if you are on the outside looking in, it appears "tolerant" because it is a better place for some groups of people that would be ostracized elsewhere. Meanwhile if you are from the inside looking out, you probably don't see that what you call tolerance and liberalism is in fact just a different kind of intolerance and conservatism because it is not human nature that is different in the Bay, just the goal posts. Or to put it another way, what seems liberal and/or progressive to others is simply "normal", the "default", sometimes even "traditional" or "conservative" here. Especially in San Francisco, Alameda County and some of the more populous counties (quarter of the pop in LA County alone yo!), if not quite all of the State. The scale is just different. Spend 25 years living here and visiting certain parts of the country really will make you feel like you're in a foreign country because you (hypothetically) and I (actually) grew up in a bubble.

frenchie4111 9y ago

What is the source of this? I am interested in what topics/opinions he believes are out-of-bounds.

RestlessMind 9y ago
Here are a few examples of the topics I don't want to discuss at work, because my workplace is full of zealots who would accuse me of bigotry and I don't want to get entangled in HR discussions: - illegal immigration - importance of "pipeline" on workplace diversity - effectiveness of company policies to foster diversity A side effect is that open conversations are now almost silenced in a company which once prided on open culture. People now speak out only in smaller cliques of their friends, and this is having a massively negative impact on company culture.
- jbob2000 9y ago
  Illegal immigration is a distracting election talking point. It affects us much less than it is purported to. And I’ve thought that news articles about company diversity are hit jobs to move a stock price. In any case, these topics have high emotional stakes, but are completely subjective. Unlike talking about your favorite movies, which is also a subjective topic, but with much less emotional investment. I have to ask; why do you want to talk to your coworkers about this stuff? What are you going to get out of it? Are you trying to feel justified about an opinion you hold? I just have no idea why anyone would want to talk about this with people they have to get along with everyday.
  - ganoushoreilly 9y ago
    Because communications and listening to differences of opinions is how we adapt and formulate our own.

ganoushoreilly 9y ago

I moved to the bay from D.C. and while the exterior packaging was different, the commonality of positioning amongst the two cities was actually quite similar. In fact, I found more tolerance to alternative viewpoints in D.C. than I ever did in SV. This notion that SV is an easy going place of acceptance is a bit of a facade. You're accepted, if you accept their viewpoints on topics. If you don't, you either keep your mouth shut, or leave.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
formerdcthrwy 9y ago
Damn, SV must be hell then. I fled DC this spring because the political group-think was so oppressive. If you didn't walk around and make a point of being depressed about Trump winning, you were an asshole. The suggestion that Trump is anything but an orange-haired Hitler would make you enemies, even if paired with solid criticism of Trump and his bunch. A lack of fanatical opposition to Trump made me enemies at work, not exaggerating. All Hands Slack chats were filled with anti-Trump news, jokes, and thoughts on a daily basis. It would be no understatement to say that this dominated the office culture. Our CEO (at a tech startup, not a Democrat-aligned non-profit) sent out a pouting email the morning after the election. Every morning I was bombarded with strident political opinions from my deskmates, and you can bet that had I complained to HR, I'd be seen as the problem. I am so, so happy to be out of that place. I am in another city now that is renowned for its liberal politics, and there's none of the stuff I just mentioned. DC is a whole 'nother beast these days.
SllX 9y ago
Speaking as someone that grew up in San Francisco, I wouldn't call it particularly tolerant anymore. At one time when the current political climate wasn't the default, maybe yeah. So what I would say is the default cultural assumptions have changed from what they used to be and are now diametrically opposed to much of the country in such a way that if you are on the outside looking in, it appears "tolerant" because it is a better place for some groups of people that would be ostracized elsewhere. Meanwhile if you are from the inside looking out, you probably don't see that what you call tolerance and liberalism is in fact just a different kind of intolerance and conservatism because it is not human nature that is different in the Bay, just the goal posts. Or to put it another way, what seems liberal and/or progressive to others is simply "normal", the "default", sometimes even "traditional" or "conservative" here. Especially in San Francisco, Alameda County and some of the more populous counties (quarter of the pop in LA County alone yo!), if not quite all of the State. The scale is just different. Spend 25 years living here and visiting certain parts of the country really will make you feel like you're in a foreign country because you (hypothetically) and I (actually) grew up in a bubble.