3 ms·

Politics doesn't belong in a professional environment. So employees should be avoiding the topic.

streamingvac 7y ago
My coworkers have no problem discussing Donald trump and republicans. They laugh about our president a lot. Yet when I bring up the Chinese government, silence could be heard.
- BurningFrog 7y ago
  Are they discussing politics or bonding over their contempt of Trump? Those are quite different things.
  - sullyj3 7y ago
    I despise Trump, but claiming that talking about his shortcomings is an apolitical conversation is totally disingenuous. Politics isn't this bloodless process of determining the best policies by rational debate, as much we'd like it to be. Politics, as often as not, consists entirely of making the other team look bad, to raise the relative status of your own team. That's just how humans operate.
    - BurningFrog 7y ago
      Sure. My point is that "discussing politics (A)", where people bring their best arguments to the table and have a friendly intellectual discussion is very different from "discussing politics (B)", where people bond over hating the outgroup of the other political tribe. And I did this because OP seemed to naively think that since his coworkers do (B), they would also be happy to do (A) with him. Trying to give him a clue before he hurt himself.
8f2ab37a-ed6c 7y ago
Not in 2020. That goes against the "bring your whole self to work" mindset that's recently become popular.
throwlaplace 7y ago
>Politics doesn't belong in a professional environment. hmm i wonder if your boss feels the same way (i.e. that his/her business interests are completely separate from his/her politics). the idea that you're politically neutral at work - the very locus of political contention - is laughable.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
I don't like that attitude. We should be able to discuss politics without the need for judging each other.
- DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
  I agree it would be nice, but I think there's evidence that not every employee will remain civil during such discussions.
- manigandham 7y ago
  Where does this ever happen well? There's a reason companies have made it a policy to avoid for decades.
- koheripbal 7y ago
  Ideally, yes. That isn't the reality, so it's best to leave that for outside work. Religion is the same.

My coworkers have no problem discussing Donald trump and republicans. They laugh about our president a lot. Yet when I bring up the Chinese government, silence could be heard.

BurningFrog 7y ago
Are they discussing politics or bonding over their contempt of Trump? Those are quite different things.
- sullyj3 7y ago
  I despise Trump, but claiming that talking about his shortcomings is an apolitical conversation is totally disingenuous. Politics isn't this bloodless process of determining the best policies by rational debate, as much we'd like it to be. Politics, as often as not, consists entirely of making the other team look bad, to raise the relative status of your own team. That's just how humans operate.
  - BurningFrog 7y ago
    Sure. My point is that "discussing politics (A)", where people bring their best arguments to the table and have a friendly intellectual discussion is very different from "discussing politics (B)", where people bond over hating the outgroup of the other political tribe. And I did this because OP seemed to naively think that since his coworkers do (B), they would also be happy to do (A) with him. Trying to give him a clue before he hurt himself.

8f2ab37a-ed6c 7y ago

Not in 2020. That goes against the "bring your whole self to work" mindset that's recently become popular.

throwlaplace 7y ago

>Politics doesn't belong in a professional environment. hmm i wonder if your boss feels the same way (i.e. that his/her business interests are completely separate from his/her politics). the idea that you're politically neutral at work - the very locus of political contention - is laughable.

Ididntdothis 7y ago

I don't like that attitude. We should be able to discuss politics without the need for judging each other.

DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
I agree it would be nice, but I think there's evidence that not every employee will remain civil during such discussions.
manigandham 7y ago
Where does this ever happen well? There's a reason companies have made it a policy to avoid for decades.
koheripbal 7y ago
Ideally, yes. That isn't the reality, so it's best to leave that for outside work. Religion is the same.