4 ms·

>I don't know about you, but I have a difficult time working with racists, regardless of the quality of their code. Why? I'm genuinely curious here. Tangential

>I don't know about you, but I have a difficult time working with racists, regardless of the quality of their code. Why? I'm genuinely curious here. Tangentially, I'm wondering about: Would you watch a movie made by a racist? Would you watch a movie starring a racist? Would you watch a movie where the Key Grip was a racist? Would you eat a sandwich prepared by a racist? Would you eat a cucumber grown by a racist? Would you read a book written by a racist? Would you read a book edited by a racist? Would you engage in civil discourse with a racist? I'm reminded of Steve Irwin. When asked if he minded taking money from unsavory people, he replied he'd take money from any source at all and use it to buy land to conserve it. I view code as the same way- that person is devoting time, a portion of their life, to freely write code for the betterment of all. That is not a free pass to treat people poorly; but if you dig hard enough in anybody's past, you'll probably find something to get upset about. I just think people shouldn't go looking for trouble.

jmcqk6 7y ago
Yes, it does get complicated. I love music, including the music of Wagner, who was an extremely shitty person on top of antisemitism. Once I learned about that, I re-examined my opinion of him, and my appreciation of his music changed, but did not disappear. Part of the problem is that the world itself is incredibly complicated, and behaving ethically gets correspondingly complicated because of it (highlighted most excellently in The Good Place). If you notice, I didn't set a hard rule. I just said, I have a difficult time working with racists. I don't believe that you can set hard rules for any of these things. which leads to another part of the problem: People want simple rules for how they should act, and things that will absolve them of being completely responsible for their actions. These things do not exist, and will never exist. Everyone is always going to disagree about where the line should be drawn. As a society, we're terrible at managing those differences. We let our egos get in the way too often. I believe I am not racist, but I still recognize that I can do things that will feel racist to others. In fact, I have done racist things in the past unintentionally. When I was called out on it, instead of letting my ego respond, I listened, and because of that, I became a better person. If your intention is to be a kind person, then I've found that there generally isn't a problem in handling these things. If your intention is to be able to do what you want without consequences, or to protect your ego, then you're going to have problems.

jmcqk6 7y ago

Yes, it does get complicated. I love music, including the music of Wagner, who was an extremely shitty person on top of antisemitism. Once I learned about that, I re-examined my opinion of him, and my appreciation of his music changed, but did not disappear. Part of the problem is that the world itself is incredibly complicated, and behaving ethically gets correspondingly complicated because of it (highlighted most excellently in The Good Place). If you notice, I didn't set a hard rule. I just said, I have a difficult time working with racists. I don't believe that you can set hard rules for any of these things. which leads to another part of the problem: People want simple rules for how they should act, and things that will absolve them of being completely responsible for their actions. These things do not exist, and will never exist. Everyone is always going to disagree about where the line should be drawn. As a society, we're terrible at managing those differences. We let our egos get in the way too often. I believe I am not racist, but I still recognize that I can do things that will feel racist to others. In fact, I have done racist things in the past unintentionally. When I was called out on it, instead of letting my ego respond, I listened, and because of that, I became a better person. If your intention is to be a kind person, then I've found that there generally isn't a problem in handling these things. If your intention is to be able to do what you want without consequences, or to protect your ego, then you're going to have problems.