Comment by betwixthewires | Hacker News Reader

Comment by betwixthewires | Hacker News Reader

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I think its less of a "giving up your ethics and morals because you crossed the threshold" thing and more a "leave your coworkers the fuck alone" thing.

Do you think it is a coincidence that this nonpolitical workplace thing is catching on right now, and not, say, 30 years ago? Nobody was calling for a nonpolitical workplace when the issues at hand were sexual harassment and equal pay for equal work. If there were some hiding behind that, they certainly didn't have a critical mass of support behind them.

The problem isn't so much that people bring their ethics to work as it is that busybodies bring their moral crusades to work and demand that everybody join their cause or be labelled a bad, bad person. I, for example, have taken my ethics everywhere I have gone every day of my life. I have a rebellious spirit. I think rules in jobs like banning tattoos are stupid (even though I have none visible). I think dick in a suit dress codes are hazing and counterproductive. What I have not done however is send out an email chain to everyone in my office demanding that my CEO be fired for not doing a press conference on the plight of the furry fluidgender otherkin in Tanzania.

> Nobody was calling for a nonpolitical workplace when the issues at hand were sexual harassment and equal pay for equal work.

People were most certainly calling for nonpolitical workplaces when it was about sexual harassment and gender/race discrimination. Which people are still struggling with, by the way!

That's a really wishful-thinking reading of history. Back when women were coming into the workplace, no, a non-political workplace was not the thing called for -- a male workplace was what was called for. If you need a movie, watch North Country (based on the nonfiction book Class Action).

Then, as now, is that people show up to work in the bodies they have and they get shit for it. People get agitated because there are problems in the world they want to fix. Just 'cause they're not problems for you doesn't mean they're not problems. It's easy to pretend its all about fluidgender otherkin when it's not your problem.

It is my problem. That's arrogant of you to assume that I don't care about people and injustice.

But the fact is, we are talking about absurdity in the workplace right now. We aren't talking about equal pay for black people or women. We aren't talking about equal consideration of homosexual people for jobs. When we talk of it hypothetically that's how it is framed so as to paint everyone tired of it as an evil bigot, but when it occurs in the workplace, it's a CEO getting fired for wearing anime shirts to work, it's a petition to require Google to issue a formal statement on the Israel Palestine conflict. The people that don't want politics in every waking moment of their lives, it's not that they just don't want to see their boss get fired for throwing a black guy's resume in the trash. It's that they're sick of every person's pet crusade being blasted into their lives and having to nod in eager agreement lest they be destroyed for not being one of the Good Guys™.

No the issues are more like if you send a resume in with an African American name or photo it is way less likely to be called for an interview than the same resume with a whiter name. Same for male/female etc. Even house appraisals and “call the cops or offer to help” as subject to the same, present day, biases.

It _really_ depends on your industry. And time period. Studies from 20 years ago (which is when a lot of the studies people commonly cite for this were done) only tell us so much about conditions now.

Again, varies widely by industry.

Alright then how about this: the only politics allowed at work are racial, sex or sexuality discrimination at your workplace. Is that a good compromise? Or are you doing what a lot of people do, using these narrow issues as a wedge to do exactly what I'm talking about and people are tired of?

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