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There are a few bigger stories at play here (amongst many) that I see this article as an instance of: 1. Cultural 'meme' & trend that has dramatically spread t
by FFRefresh 5y ago
There are a few bigger stories at play here (amongst many) that I see this article as an instance of:
1. Cultural 'meme' & trend that has dramatically spread throughout mostly american, urban, educated, elite/elite-adjacent spaces over the last 7-9 years that lionizes and rewards those who can claim they are a 'victim'. This meme favors certain immutable characteristics as inherently providing victimhood status. If you were born with an immutable characteristic that's held in favor by the meme, you have many advantages available to you. Nobody is supposed to acknowledge those benefits according to this meme. So you can both be objectively very privileged and also considered a mostly helpless victim of an oppressor class.
2. Internet has allowed anyone to be heard, no matter the level in the hierarchy of a company. And if you know how to use the right words according to this victimhood meme (regardless of objective victim status), you have a good chance of being rewarded both socially and professionally. This is a pathway that some take if they don't believe they'll be able to succeed by other means.
3. Increasing trend toward 'safetyism', where the concept of harm is becoming looser and more abstract. You don't need to even be objectively or provably harmed anymore to claim you were harmed and thus victimized.
Given all of the above, it's not surprising that big tech companies who operate in these elite spaces will experience 'unrest' amongst their employees. Cultural winds have created pathways for people to both legitimately and illegitimately air grievances to attempt to be rewarded socially/professionally.
(And lest anyone interpret the above as suggesting nobody is ever objectively or truly victimized, I am most definitely not saying that.)
- fortran77 5y ago> his meme favors certain immutable characteristics as inherently providing victimhood status. And that's why Antonio García Martínez was considered fair game. He's not considered Hispanic (though anti-Communist Cubans rarely are) because he's also Jewish. And I'm sure that was a big motivator behind the mob that wanted to eliminate him from Apple.
- keyb0ardninja 5y agoJonathan Haidt has been talking about exactly this issue for many years now. Here's is one of many of his videos on YouTube dealing exactly with this topic: https://youtu.be/jQcDw1r1lGw https://youtu.be/jQcDw1r1lGw