3 ms·

There's something that needs to be said about political beliefs that stomp on the very fiber of my being. Sure. I would work with these people and execute what

There's something that needs to be said about political beliefs that stomp on the very fiber of my being. Sure. I would work with these people and execute what I need to do. But knowing what they believe in and the extent of which they would act to remove/restrict rights that I should have ultimately will prevent me from wanting to get to know them, to interact with them beyond a strictly professional capacity. From experience, that doesn't go well - over time, it gets exhausting. Your company culture gets built up with walls between people because there's no trust. So yes, having a difference of opinion/belief/diversity is important. But at the same time, there are certain core values that need to be stood for.

at-fates-hands 14y ago
From my experience of working in both large corporations and small start up companies, it's generally frowned upon to even discuss political matters no matter what side of the isle you sit on. The very reasons you cite is the main reason this is something you simply keep to yourself, period. Likewise, most companies I've worked for don't engage in overtly political events so they don't self select out any candidates based solely on religious or political reasons.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  I think that is an aspect of the problem outlined in the article. It's easy enough to keep the discourse at work fairly light when it comes to political issues. But in a world where everyone follows each other on social media it becomes harder to separate. So you find out that the nice pleasant guy you sit next to at lunch has "liked" a ton of neo-nazi groups.
  - PeterisP 14y ago
    Why would anyone follow their coworkers? I follow people whose opinions I want, and I 'friend' my friends - a few coworkers included, but not 95% of people that I meet in the office daily.
    - jiggy2011 14y ago
      I hold roughly the same opinion and generally try to avoid social networks. But I've certainly worked in places where everyone followed everyone else and it would probably be seen as rude not to.
jiggy2011 14y ago
Does it make a difference what the position of the person who's views you disagree with holds? I can sort of understand saying "I don't want to work to make our CEO richer because he will spend the money promoting causes I hate". But what about co-workers or subordinates? Would you be disturbed because the guy who cleans the floor holds controversial views? Also bear in mind that employees will leave and be replaced with new ones who may be very different people. Once you get past a certain size of company you're never going to get people who don't disagree on some divisive issue, whether it be gay marriage, gun rights or abortion. The test of your company culture is how well it can deal with that unless you want to start asking people political questions at interview (is these even allowed?).
- ben0x539 14y ago
  > he will spend the money promoting causes I hate > you're never going to get people who don't disagree on some divisive issue I'm not sure you appreciate how deeply these issues affect the people they're about. It's not just talking points for everybody.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    Of course the issues affect people , that's why they have strong views. However one of the great triumphs of capitalism appears to be getting very different people to work together towards a common goal.
  - newnewnew 14y ago
    Roughly 25% of my generation has been killed by abortion, yet I still manage to work with many ardent pro-choice people. You have to develop thick skin. I blame the meme-space that we live in for ideas that I find abhorrent, not the individuals that believe them.
    - subsection1h 14y ago
      Roughly 25% of my generation has been killed by abortion As I understand it, the majority of pregnancies result in abortions: http://www.emcom.ca/health/abortion.shtml http://www.emcom.ca/health/abortion.shtml
Supermighty 14y ago
> will prevent me from wanting to get to know them, to interact with them beyond a strictly professional capacity. And you have thus wasted an opportunity to educate them in the error of their ways.
- skore 14y ago
  On some days, I would agree with you. On other days, I feel like the people we're talking about here never really learn. They only die out. Or become so small in their numbers that they finally feel shame about their idiotic views, so they keep their views to themselves. Because they still won't learn, they will still die with them. Never to experience the love and happiness that is to be received when you change views of yours that hurt people who would never hurt you.
14113 14y ago
I agree that I wouldn't want to work with someone who supports prop 8, however there's a world of difference between that and having a different opinion on DRM.
- pc86 14y ago
  I think it's a safe assumption that we're referring to extremely divisive issues like abortion, marriage equality, civil rights, etc. Edit: Not to say DRM isn't an important (and potentially divisive?) issue, just not nearly to the same scale.
davidu 14y ago
It's highly probably you hold a belief today that future you will be embarrassed about and that you may feel even stomps on the very fiber of your being. People change. That's the point. And that's the idea.
- mdesq 14y ago
  And every generation comes along and palms their faces at what abject idiots the previous generation so obviously was. It's a short hop from being with the large, popular group to being inside the gulags of the next mob to come along.

at-fates-hands 14y ago

From my experience of working in both large corporations and small start up companies, it's generally frowned upon to even discuss political matters no matter what side of the isle you sit on. The very reasons you cite is the main reason this is something you simply keep to yourself, period. Likewise, most companies I've worked for don't engage in overtly political events so they don't self select out any candidates based solely on religious or political reasons.

jiggy2011 14y ago
I think that is an aspect of the problem outlined in the article. It's easy enough to keep the discourse at work fairly light when it comes to political issues. But in a world where everyone follows each other on social media it becomes harder to separate. So you find out that the nice pleasant guy you sit next to at lunch has "liked" a ton of neo-nazi groups.
- PeterisP 14y ago
  Why would anyone follow their coworkers? I follow people whose opinions I want, and I 'friend' my friends - a few coworkers included, but not 95% of people that I meet in the office daily.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    I hold roughly the same opinion and generally try to avoid social networks. But I've certainly worked in places where everyone followed everyone else and it would probably be seen as rude not to.

jiggy2011 14y ago

Does it make a difference what the position of the person who's views you disagree with holds? I can sort of understand saying "I don't want to work to make our CEO richer because he will spend the money promoting causes I hate". But what about co-workers or subordinates? Would you be disturbed because the guy who cleans the floor holds controversial views? Also bear in mind that employees will leave and be replaced with new ones who may be very different people. Once you get past a certain size of company you're never going to get people who don't disagree on some divisive issue, whether it be gay marriage, gun rights or abortion. The test of your company culture is how well it can deal with that unless you want to start asking people political questions at interview (is these even allowed?).

ben0x539 14y ago
> he will spend the money promoting causes I hate > you're never going to get people who don't disagree on some divisive issue I'm not sure you appreciate how deeply these issues affect the people they're about. It's not just talking points for everybody.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  Of course the issues affect people , that's why they have strong views. However one of the great triumphs of capitalism appears to be getting very different people to work together towards a common goal.
- newnewnew 14y ago
  Roughly 25% of my generation has been killed by abortion, yet I still manage to work with many ardent pro-choice people. You have to develop thick skin. I blame the meme-space that we live in for ideas that I find abhorrent, not the individuals that believe them.
  - subsection1h 14y ago
    Roughly 25% of my generation has been killed by abortion As I understand it, the majority of pregnancies result in abortions: http://www.emcom.ca/health/abortion.shtml http://www.emcom.ca/health/abortion.shtml

Supermighty 14y ago

> will prevent me from wanting to get to know them, to interact with them beyond a strictly professional capacity. And you have thus wasted an opportunity to educate them in the error of their ways.

skore 14y ago
On some days, I would agree with you. On other days, I feel like the people we're talking about here never really learn. They only die out. Or become so small in their numbers that they finally feel shame about their idiotic views, so they keep their views to themselves. Because they still won't learn, they will still die with them. Never to experience the love and happiness that is to be received when you change views of yours that hurt people who would never hurt you.

14113 14y ago

I agree that I wouldn't want to work with someone who supports prop 8, however there's a world of difference between that and having a different opinion on DRM.

pc86 14y ago
I think it's a safe assumption that we're referring to extremely divisive issues like abortion, marriage equality, civil rights, etc. Edit: Not to say DRM isn't an important (and potentially divisive?) issue, just not nearly to the same scale.

davidu 14y ago

It's highly probably you hold a belief today that future you will be embarrassed about and that you may feel even stomps on the very fiber of your being. People change. That's the point. And that's the idea.

mdesq 14y ago
And every generation comes along and palms their faces at what abject idiots the previous generation so obviously was. It's a short hop from being with the large, popular group to being inside the gulags of the next mob to come along.