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> work is the right place to express your opinions on controversial topics. This shuts down all discussion of controversial topics. If you're not allowed to di
by inetknght 8y ago
> work is the right place to express your opinions on controversial topics.
This shuts down all discussion of controversial topics. If you're not allowed to discuss how those controversial topics can impact your work environment and customers then you're running down a very slippery slope of biasing your company against customers who similarly hold controversial viewpoints.
> Independent person would probably say that conservative ideas are Perceived to be more controversial by other side then other way around.
This is a biased opinion.
> for other side this person might be perceived as threat.
Controversial topics aren't limited to politics and feeling threatened can go both ways.
I happen to own a gun and am pro-second-amendment. I feel threatened by people who are not trained to use guns.
What about cars? I feel threatened by people who brag about racing. Or drinking. Or smoking. Or sex. But that's the easy stuff that "everyone" (well, mature people IMO) knows not to talk about at the office.
But then there's the other things. The things that relate to work.
I definitely feel threatened when a coworker talks about customers in a derogatory manner, especially when it's my boss. Employees can be customers too.
I feel threatened when someone at the office talks about how we're increasing the margins by cutting corners somewhere. I have empathy for customers and I don't want our product's quality reduced.
If I don't feel my job security would be safe if I spoke up, then my coworker talking about that will make me feel threatened.
- webkike 8y agoYou feel threatened by people talking about smoking?
- inetknght 8y agoTalking about not so much, but actively participating in yes. I grew up in a Mormon family where smoking was not only taboo but very strongly punished. Even second-hand smoke can cause medical problems. If I can't tell my coworkers that I don't appreciate them smoking -- even outside of the building -- anywhere I can smell it then that's going to cause problems for me.
- etrautmann 8y ago> I feel threatened by people who are not trained to use guns. This is a strained and bizarre argument and requires unpacking for me to understand, unless you meant it as hyperbole. I enjoy shooting safely, but I can't imagine feeling threatened by someone's lack of firearms training in an office workplace.
- jonathankoren 8y agoThe only way to feel threatened by some e without firearms training is if the untrained person is armed. Then that’s very reasonable. Same as I’m not threatened that no one at my work knows how serve fugu, but it doesn’t matter, because they’re not serving me fugu.
- etrautmann 8y ago...which proves the point. If you feel threatened by someone else's lack of training, it's only in the context where they are carrying a gun to work. I would hope that most reasonable people would agree that the majority of tech employees would feel less threatened by non-carrying coworkers than the opposite.
- masonic 8y agoThis is a strained and bizarre argument Perhaps a rephrasing would help. If you don't know how guns operate, then you are incapable of rendering it safe or even recognizing if it can be fired. (Thankfully, Lynette Fromme didn't know how to operate an autoloader, else Gerald Ford probably would have been killed.) An analogy: even if one doesn't care to drive, one should know how to shut off an ignition and know how to operate the brakes in an emergency.
- etrautmann 8y agoRight - which makes it completely irrelevant for workplace safety. If I'm a Twitter employee, I should not need to know how to "render a firearm safe" for my fellow employees to feel non-threatened. For cops or security contractors, sure
- 8y ago