5 ms·

> not talk about politics in the work place. I honestly wish this was the law.

Yetanfou 9y ago
This could only be the law if and when politics did not influence decisions in the workplace. As that is not - and can not be - the case it does not make sense to ban talk about politics, no matter how futile such talk often is.
- ztjio 9y ago
  A far simpler problem exists: you can't actually define what is or is not politics.
  - fleitz 9y ago
    Especially with the Marxist / feminist view that everything is politics. I was discussing space exploration (you’d think this would be a pretty safe topic) at work and suddenly it turned into how space exploration was ruining everything because then people thought they could escape global warming instead of doing something about it. The conversation ended when I asked the guy how many kids he had he said none cuz global warming, I said that was too bad cuz I was teaching my kids to 4x4 and their superior 4x4ing genes would out breed his inferior genes that convinced him not to have kids and that my kids were going to 4x4 on mars once we had finished ruining this planet. Guy basically had an aneurism right there on the spot, one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever witnessed at work. I figured it was too much of a troll to actually work but he went fully ballistic
monktastic1 9y ago
> I honestly wish this was the law. Like, honestly honestly, or jokingly honestly? What if I say "I wish I were allowed to speak about politics at work" at work? That's political. Do I get a fine? How about "am I allowed to talk about this?" If it's a gray area and we start debating it, which one of us gets shipped to the gulag? Who gets to decide what's politics? Isn't even that question political?
- seattle_spring 9y ago
  I don't know. Whatever would prevent my co-workers from talking about politics for the entirety of lunch, every single day.
  - bipson 9y ago
    And here comes the view of someone that is interested in politics and is reminded daily of how politics makes everyone's lives worse than necessary: I wish my coworkers (and my fellow citizens for that matter) would be interested in politics just a little more, so they would realize what is happening around them, and know what they are talking about whenever they touch politics and legislature. My opinion is gradually becoming a minority view all over Europe, with people fleeing to either extreme. The thing is: We were once "politically uneducated" here in Europe. It made the "third Reich" as a mass phenomenon possible, because a lot of people joined this movement blindly and with enthusiasm and did not realize where this train was heading until it was way too late (and they were completely delusional). When the allies took over they tried to make sure we would be and stay politically educated, so this would never happen again (spoiler: it did not work). How ironic that America is spearheading the movement to normalize extreme views.
    - seattle_spring 9y ago
      Do you think that circlejerking about the latest headlines every single day constitutes as being "politically educated?" Watching a bunch of people get mad every single day does nothing to further my, or anyone else's, political education.
    - ihattendorf 9y ago
      I think everyone should be interested in politics, but that doesn't mean I want to talk politics every day for an hour during my lunch with coworkers. There's more happening in the world than politics. I think that's what the parent is getting at. That also doesn't mean I think there should be a law against it.
  - monktastic1 9y ago
13years 9y ago
This might sound good, but the result of such is tyranny and loss of free speech. Politics easily being a fuzzy term which can be adapted to fit a very wide range of ideas gives those few in power who set the rules the ability to silence whatever they wish. It would better if there were more initiatives to improve intellectual discourse so people could like actually talk to one another. The less we talk, the further apart we will grow
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  Keyword: Talk. I'm not so sure that online communities are the best place for political discussion. Direct person-to-person communication allows for much more subtle, nuanced conversation and doesn't seem to turn into dumpster-fires nearly as often as online.
  - ghthor 9y ago
    Its also much less likely for someone to copy and leak the conversation in it in person.

This could only be the law if and when politics did not influence decisions in the workplace. As that is not - and can not be - the case it does not make sense to ban talk about politics, no matter how futile such talk often is.

ztjio 9y ago
A far simpler problem exists: you can't actually define what is or is not politics.
- fleitz 9y ago
  Especially with the Marxist / feminist view that everything is politics. I was discussing space exploration (you’d think this would be a pretty safe topic) at work and suddenly it turned into how space exploration was ruining everything because then people thought they could escape global warming instead of doing something about it. The conversation ended when I asked the guy how many kids he had he said none cuz global warming, I said that was too bad cuz I was teaching my kids to 4x4 and their superior 4x4ing genes would out breed his inferior genes that convinced him not to have kids and that my kids were going to 4x4 on mars once we had finished ruining this planet. Guy basically had an aneurism right there on the spot, one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever witnessed at work. I figured it was too much of a troll to actually work but he went fully ballistic

monktastic1 9y ago

> I honestly wish this was the law. Like, honestly honestly, or jokingly honestly? What if I say "I wish I were allowed to speak about politics at work" at work? That's political. Do I get a fine? How about "am I allowed to talk about this?" If it's a gray area and we start debating it, which one of us gets shipped to the gulag? Who gets to decide what's politics? Isn't even that question political?

seattle_spring 9y ago
I don't know. Whatever would prevent my co-workers from talking about politics for the entirety of lunch, every single day.
- bipson 9y ago
  And here comes the view of someone that is interested in politics and is reminded daily of how politics makes everyone's lives worse than necessary: I wish my coworkers (and my fellow citizens for that matter) would be interested in politics just a little more, so they would realize what is happening around them, and know what they are talking about whenever they touch politics and legislature. My opinion is gradually becoming a minority view all over Europe, with people fleeing to either extreme. The thing is: We were once "politically uneducated" here in Europe. It made the "third Reich" as a mass phenomenon possible, because a lot of people joined this movement blindly and with enthusiasm and did not realize where this train was heading until it was way too late (and they were completely delusional). When the allies took over they tried to make sure we would be and stay politically educated, so this would never happen again (spoiler: it did not work). How ironic that America is spearheading the movement to normalize extreme views.
  - seattle_spring 9y ago
    Do you think that circlejerking about the latest headlines every single day constitutes as being "politically educated?" Watching a bunch of people get mad every single day does nothing to further my, or anyone else's, political education.
  - ihattendorf 9y ago
    I think everyone should be interested in politics, but that doesn't mean I want to talk politics every day for an hour during my lunch with coworkers. There's more happening in the world than politics. I think that's what the parent is getting at. That also doesn't mean I think there should be a law against it.
- monktastic1 9y ago

13years 9y ago

This might sound good, but the result of such is tyranny and loss of free speech. Politics easily being a fuzzy term which can be adapted to fit a very wide range of ideas gives those few in power who set the rules the ability to silence whatever they wish. It would better if there were more initiatives to improve intellectual discourse so people could like actually talk to one another. The less we talk, the further apart we will grow

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
Keyword: Talk. I'm not so sure that online communities are the best place for political discussion. Direct person-to-person communication allows for much more subtle, nuanced conversation and doesn't seem to turn into dumpster-fires nearly as often as online.
- ghthor 9y ago
  Its also much less likely for someone to copy and leak the conversation in it in person.