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I think the GP comment is referring to LGBT people who are out, willingly or not, to their coworkers. Which bathroom a trans person uses, for example, is consid

I think the GP comment is referring to LGBT people who are out, willingly or not, to their coworkers. Which bathroom a trans person uses, for example, is considered a political issue by some people. But I also think that point can be generalized, to the boring but obvious conclusion that everything involving interaction between human beings is political, since those interactions occur within the context of a malleable political system. We could theoretically pass a constitutional amendment that makes being late for standup punishable by prison, couldn't we? Is it now political to be late for standup? You end up arguing over the degree to which something is political, which leads back to what everyone is complaining about: the enforcement of this policy cannot be anything but arbitrary. Personally, I think that if the Basecamp folks want to ban a particular type of politics then they should grow a spine and say what they mean, instead of expecting everyone to read between the lines for them. If they did that then perhaps they could expect people to agree to disagree, but these guys clearly know what they want to say and the only reason they don't say it is because they know how bad it makes them look right now.

mwcampbell 5y ago
> but these guys clearly know what they want to say and the only reason they don't say it is because they know how bad it makes them look right now. And as long as we continue assuming the worst in people that we disagree with, the problem of polarization will remain. Why not give them the benefit of the doubt and assume, until we have evidence to the contrary, that they just want to encourage a sane, low-stress work environment?
- NationalPark 5y ago
  I don't think we can ignore that this is happening in the context of current events in the United States.
  - mwcampbell 5y ago
    And, being current events, they're already being discussed in plenty of places. For people who find it stressful to discuss these things, it's good to have a place where you know they won't be discussed, where you can focus fully on something that you can actually do something about.
    - NationalPark 5y ago
      I think you're misunderstanding me. What I'm saying is that the act of adopting a broad "no talking about politics or society" rule, specifically right now, is itself a very political act. They are doing exactly the thing you say they're trying to avoid.

mwcampbell 5y ago

> but these guys clearly know what they want to say and the only reason they don't say it is because they know how bad it makes them look right now. And as long as we continue assuming the worst in people that we disagree with, the problem of polarization will remain. Why not give them the benefit of the doubt and assume, until we have evidence to the contrary, that they just want to encourage a sane, low-stress work environment?

NationalPark 5y ago
I don't think we can ignore that this is happening in the context of current events in the United States.
- mwcampbell 5y ago
  And, being current events, they're already being discussed in plenty of places. For people who find it stressful to discuss these things, it's good to have a place where you know they won't be discussed, where you can focus fully on something that you can actually do something about.
  - NationalPark 5y ago
    I think you're misunderstanding me. What I'm saying is that the act of adopting a broad "no talking about politics or society" rule, specifically right now, is itself a very political act. They are doing exactly the thing you say they're trying to avoid.