3 ms·

> It might surprise you to learn that a non-negligible number of the people who write software for a living are socialists. not really - most of the programmer

> It might surprise you to learn that a non-negligible number of the people who write software for a living are socialists. not really - most of the programmers i've ever worked with have been of fairly liberal/left-wing view.

tombert 3y ago
Sort of? Most of the engineers I know are generally fairly left-wing from a social perspective (pro LGBT+, pro-choice, etc) but also tend to skew a bit more towards the "Ayn Rand" libertarian economically (though generally less dogmatic).
- zabzonk 3y ago
  > tend to skew a bit more towards the "Ayn Rand" libertarian economically perhaps much less so in the UK (where i am) as we tend to value public services (such as the NHS) and realise they have to be paid for.
  - tombert 3y ago
    That's fair; amongst my general friend-group it tends to be pretty left-leaning (very left-leaning by American standards, probably just left of center globally), but having worked with a bunch of engineers in New York and California, just the general vibe I've gotten has been the libertarian style I mentioned above.
jltsiren 3y ago
As a European, this is something I still find weird in American political terminology. From my perspective, socialism died with the Soviet Union. The left-wing ideologies that have been dominant since the 90s are closer to classical liberalism than socialism, because they fundamentally accept private property and free markets.
- sime2009 3y ago
  As a European myself, I share that weird feeling when watching Americans discuss these topics. To me it looks like the discussion in the US has been poisoned such that there are only two options: Stalinism vs the-poor-can-starve-in-the-streets Capitalism. It's a framing from the cold war which the right in the US has kept alive. It exists to hide the possibility of a middle path, a popular middle path which Europe took after the war.

tombert 3y ago

Sort of? Most of the engineers I know are generally fairly left-wing from a social perspective (pro LGBT+, pro-choice, etc) but also tend to skew a bit more towards the "Ayn Rand" libertarian economically (though generally less dogmatic).

zabzonk 3y ago
> tend to skew a bit more towards the "Ayn Rand" libertarian economically perhaps much less so in the UK (where i am) as we tend to value public services (such as the NHS) and realise they have to be paid for.
- tombert 3y ago
  That's fair; amongst my general friend-group it tends to be pretty left-leaning (very left-leaning by American standards, probably just left of center globally), but having worked with a bunch of engineers in New York and California, just the general vibe I've gotten has been the libertarian style I mentioned above.

jltsiren 3y ago

As a European, this is something I still find weird in American political terminology. From my perspective, socialism died with the Soviet Union. The left-wing ideologies that have been dominant since the 90s are closer to classical liberalism than socialism, because they fundamentally accept private property and free markets.

sime2009 3y ago
As a European myself, I share that weird feeling when watching Americans discuss these topics. To me it looks like the discussion in the US has been poisoned such that there are only two options: Stalinism vs the-poor-can-starve-in-the-streets Capitalism. It's a framing from the cold war which the right in the US has kept alive. It exists to hide the possibility of a middle path, a popular middle path which Europe took after the war.