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> ...a Dalit rights activist was not allowed to give a presentation on caste following emails by employees calling her "anti-Hindu." I must be the last person

> ...a Dalit rights activist was not allowed to give a presentation on caste following emails by employees calling her "anti-Hindu." I must be the last person still alive that keeps their opinions to themselves while on the job.

thriftwy 4y ago
That's likely because you belong to a social group whose opinions are considered worthless.
- godshatter 4y ago
  I don't align well with most of the most outspoken social groups, so, yeah, probably true.
ushakov 4y ago
maybe Basecamp’s no politics at work policy wasn’t that bad after all…
- frostburg 4y ago
  How does that work when apparently there are Indian managers that discriminate against lower caste Indians under them?
  - criddell 4y ago
    Does the Indian-ness of the manager matter? Nobody actually thinks discrimination is okay.
    - frostburg 4y ago
      This is basically invisible to "us" (assuming you're not Indian); I'm a comparatively well read westerner regarding this issue but I have no practical ability to spot the subtle signifiers that let people familiar with system glean who "belongs" to what caste if they care to. Also non-Indian managers are very unlikely to be interested in discriminating against specific subgroups of Indians even if they're huge bigots or something, so this is a pretty specifically inter-Indian issue.
    - seoaeu 4y ago
      Opposing things that everybody is against isn't political. The fact that this topic is being labeled as politics is proof that some people are OK with it.
- epistasis 4y ago
  That policy doesn't mean that there's no politics at work, just that there's no open discussion of the politics that are affecting employees and the company. See for example: https://www.wired.com/story/trapped-in-silicon-valleys-hidden-caste-system/ https://www.wired.com/story/trapped-in-silicon-valleys-hidde...
  - ushakov 4y ago
    i seriously doubt that no politics at work policy was to undermine discussions about employees struggles to me it seems that people got carried away by political debacle so much they forgot what they should actually be doing on their job moreover i doubt Basecamp had a caste problem to begin with
    - salawat 4y ago
      It amuses me how many people rate economic life as taking primacy over civic life. Economic activity is an outcome that happens in the presence of a stable civic situation. Economic activity does not spontaneously create polite and cooperative groups of people. If anything, civic/political matters take primacy over economics any day. Once your political landscape degenerates, your economic underpinning is generally quick to follow in the ensuing chaos. How have people not realized this yet?
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - ushakov 4y ago
        yep, that’s why we should ban political agenda at work why talk shit about politics when we can spend time together making money! we already contribute a significant portion of our income to taxes maybe we should have political debates with the very people we sponsor and not our coworkers?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - 4y ago
- madeofpalk 4y ago
  "No politics at Google" is an impossible stance.
hellohowareu 4y ago
I'm so glad no one at my current technology workplace discusses politics anywhere-- not in Slack, Email, nor Conference calls. I literally haven't heard a single political opinion at work, and I freakin love it! I previously worked at Unity Technologies (3d game engine company) and as well as a CRM Consultancy, and I was amazed by how much time people spent arguing their political agenda. It was a major contributing factor of why I left both places. I had this feeling of "Why are these people chatting about things irrelevant to our work, while I am working? They should be working too-- they're paid to work, not chat & check their slack feed for 30-60 minutes a day about politics"
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  > I'm so glad no one at my current technology workplace discusses politics anywhere-- not in Slack, Email, nor Conference calls. I literally haven't heard a single political opinion at work, and I freakin love it! Honestly, this seems boring as hell. I've often discussed politics, religion, and all sorts of things with coworkers, and we've often disagreed. And then we went about our day working together, or having a beer after work. No problems. It's just part of normal regular socializing, and I'd argue that socializing with co-workers is somewhat important for a healthy workplace. Excessively pushing politics is a different thing of course, but "absolutely no politics allowed" has just a kind of boring superficiality to it. And also leaves us with the rather tricky question on what "politics" is, exactly.
  - hellohowareu 4y ago
    Boring? That's a funny assumption. The presence of politics is required for work to be fun? Sounds like a nightmare to me. I love the lack of politics at work. It really makes it more pleasant-- almost an escape from an otherwise over-politically involved society. I can't turn on the news or open the browser (sometimes even IRC) without politics seeping in. It allows me to stay focused on work, not on what people think about/how I might be judged on my non-work related opinions. Nor that there could be favoritism based on such things. It levels the playing field. There are numerous articles discussing any non-liberal voices resulting in people being let-go/fired at various California-based technology companies.
munk-a 4y ago
Unfortunately just because people don't openly discuss their politics it doesn't mean that there isn't hiring discrimination going on.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
thoms_a 4y ago
This doesn't mean that the opinions of powerful people do not affect you, however. The Civil Rights Act and its consequences have meant that America will forever be politicized along every fault line of human identity. Whether it can withstand this burden and remain a functional civilization remains to be seen.
- seoaeu 4y ago
  Wait, you're against the civil rights act?

thriftwy 4y ago

That's likely because you belong to a social group whose opinions are considered worthless.

godshatter 4y ago
I don't align well with most of the most outspoken social groups, so, yeah, probably true.

ushakov 4y ago

maybe Basecamp’s no politics at work policy wasn’t that bad after all…

frostburg 4y ago
How does that work when apparently there are Indian managers that discriminate against lower caste Indians under them?
- criddell 4y ago
  Does the Indian-ness of the manager matter? Nobody actually thinks discrimination is okay.
  - frostburg 4y ago
    This is basically invisible to "us" (assuming you're not Indian); I'm a comparatively well read westerner regarding this issue but I have no practical ability to spot the subtle signifiers that let people familiar with system glean who "belongs" to what caste if they care to. Also non-Indian managers are very unlikely to be interested in discriminating against specific subgroups of Indians even if they're huge bigots or something, so this is a pretty specifically inter-Indian issue.
  - seoaeu 4y ago
    Opposing things that everybody is against isn't political. The fact that this topic is being labeled as politics is proof that some people are OK with it.
epistasis 4y ago
That policy doesn't mean that there's no politics at work, just that there's no open discussion of the politics that are affecting employees and the company. See for example: https://www.wired.com/story/trapped-in-silicon-valleys-hidden-caste-system/ https://www.wired.com/story/trapped-in-silicon-valleys-hidde...
- ushakov 4y ago
  i seriously doubt that no politics at work policy was to undermine discussions about employees struggles to me it seems that people got carried away by political debacle so much they forgot what they should actually be doing on their job moreover i doubt Basecamp had a caste problem to begin with
  - salawat 4y ago
    It amuses me how many people rate economic life as taking primacy over civic life. Economic activity is an outcome that happens in the presence of a stable civic situation. Economic activity does not spontaneously create polite and cooperative groups of people. If anything, civic/political matters take primacy over economics any day. Once your political landscape degenerates, your economic underpinning is generally quick to follow in the ensuing chaos. How have people not realized this yet?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - ushakov 4y ago
      yep, that’s why we should ban political agenda at work why talk shit about politics when we can spend time together making money! we already contribute a significant portion of our income to taxes maybe we should have political debates with the very people we sponsor and not our coworkers?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - 4y ago
madeofpalk 4y ago
"No politics at Google" is an impossible stance.

hellohowareu 4y ago

I'm so glad no one at my current technology workplace discusses politics anywhere-- not in Slack, Email, nor Conference calls. I literally haven't heard a single political opinion at work, and I freakin love it! I previously worked at Unity Technologies (3d game engine company) and as well as a CRM Consultancy, and I was amazed by how much time people spent arguing their political agenda. It was a major contributing factor of why I left both places. I had this feeling of "Why are these people chatting about things irrelevant to our work, while I am working? They should be working too-- they're paid to work, not chat & check their slack feed for 30-60 minutes a day about politics"

Beltalowda 4y ago
> I'm so glad no one at my current technology workplace discusses politics anywhere-- not in Slack, Email, nor Conference calls. I literally haven't heard a single political opinion at work, and I freakin love it! Honestly, this seems boring as hell. I've often discussed politics, religion, and all sorts of things with coworkers, and we've often disagreed. And then we went about our day working together, or having a beer after work. No problems. It's just part of normal regular socializing, and I'd argue that socializing with co-workers is somewhat important for a healthy workplace. Excessively pushing politics is a different thing of course, but "absolutely no politics allowed" has just a kind of boring superficiality to it. And also leaves us with the rather tricky question on what "politics" is, exactly.
- hellohowareu 4y ago
  Boring? That's a funny assumption. The presence of politics is required for work to be fun? Sounds like a nightmare to me. I love the lack of politics at work. It really makes it more pleasant-- almost an escape from an otherwise over-politically involved society. I can't turn on the news or open the browser (sometimes even IRC) without politics seeping in. It allows me to stay focused on work, not on what people think about/how I might be judged on my non-work related opinions. Nor that there could be favoritism based on such things. It levels the playing field. There are numerous articles discussing any non-liberal voices resulting in people being let-go/fired at various California-based technology companies.

munk-a 4y ago

Unfortunately just because people don't openly discuss their politics it doesn't mean that there isn't hiring discrimination going on.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

thoms_a 4y ago

This doesn't mean that the opinions of powerful people do not affect you, however. The Civil Rights Act and its consequences have meant that America will forever be politicized along every fault line of human identity. Whether it can withstand this burden and remain a functional civilization remains to be seen.

seoaeu 4y ago
Wait, you're against the civil rights act?