Hmm. I wish there were some dispassionate places left on the internet to discuss this kind of stuff. It seems that the only remaining options are either loathso

Hmm. I wish there were some dispassionate places left on the internet to discuss this kind of stuff. It seems that the only remaining options are either loathsome mockery (as seen on /r/kotakuinaction or this person's Twitter feed) or breathless defense. Talking to my very liberal friends about these kinds of issues in the real world, we tend to come to a far more nuanced understanding. Where is the equivalent venue online? Even previously-sensible forums like HN or Metafilter now heavily lean towards dismissiveness and mockery when discussing political topics with any shades of gray. While I'm pretty surprised that some of these screencapped discussions and memes would come up in a work environment (does Google have their own internal social network?), I think many of them are worthy of a more level-headed conversation instead of just outraged captions. (For example: why should Google allow disturbing individuals like Steve Bannon on their premises? Or: if a person was actually fired for serial harassment, shouldn't other companies be made to know? Or: why should Google not correct their own frequently erroneous featured snippets? Or even: why should people be passively OK with weirdly sexualized comments aimed at their baby?) I also think that these incidents tend to be born out of good and noble intentions: a belief that justice in the world can be more easily achieved by leveraging institutional power, not a lust for political control and uniformity of thought as some would paint it. In my opinion, as much as these images might anger (especially out of context), they ought to be read and discussed in a more charitable light. On the other hand, it's true that some of this stuff is rather insufferable, back-patty, and seeping with privilege. Get over yourself, Google. You're a glorified multinational ad corp, not the technical Mecca and savior of the free world.