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Comment by matt4077 | Hacker News Reader

I know people here are in love with this concept, considering this is the second or third time this rather tabloid(ish) and off-topic article has made it to the front page.

So, some words of warning to those considering the Netherlands a paradise for their first amendment rights that are being trampled in the US:

"Being direct" does indeed allow to cut through the rhetorical gymnastics Brits and Americans have to go through to offer criticism. You can say "This result is wrong" or "I can never show this draft to the client", instead of "There is potential in your writing" or "You are extremely creative in your use of mathematical notation".

It does not mean you can denigrate others just because you don't like their type. That Google guy would have been fired in the Netherlands just as fast as he did in the US.

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OMG not this guy again! Many people don't agree with the assessment that he was being denigrating so unless you are looking for a debate on that topic, you might want to use another comparison.

I think that's improbable. You have to keep in mind that the US zeitgeist and even the Scandinavian zeitgeist are radically different, and diverging rapidly. For instance there was a 7 part television series published on regular television in Norway called Hjernevask, which translates to Brainwash. [1] (English subs are provided). It was primarily about the absurdities within gender studies and associated social 'sciences.'

If that was published in America, you'd have 'progressive' lynch mobs lining up with torches and pitchforks. Seriously, watch that video and imagine the reaction if that series aired on e.g. NBC in the US. In Scandinavia it instead simply led to an increased discussion of the issues mentioned. One of the major institutes studied, the Nordic Gender Institute', was also defunded shortly after the series ran. The government maintains that it was simply a coincidence. [2]

Speaking critically of systems which are ostensibly about progressive values, and "denigrating others just because you don't like their type" are not the same thing.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E577jhf25t4

[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Gender_Institute#Impact...

"You are extremely creative in your use of mathematical notation"

In the US, this amounts to calling someone a liar and fraud. "Creative accounting" is also known as cooking the books. I have difficulty imagining it being taken as a delicate way to say something. I think it would be viewed as an ugly thing to say.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_accounting

Did you even read his memo? Because I did, and while I don't agree with all of his conclusions, I didn't see anything there that constituted denigration.

Which Google guy?

I am guessing James Damore.

> That Google guy would have been fired in the Netherlands just as fast as he did in the US.

He wouldn't be fired in any country with an actual labor law.

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