I’m not really sure what the person in the article means. It says something about “lockdown-era students can’t hold down a heated discussion”… but why would they be having heated discussions? It also says
Miami University even organized a dinner with senior leaders in order to teach proper mealtime etiquette, such as how to engage in conversation on neutral topics.
which makes it sound like it’s older people who bring up inappropriate political topics in an inflammatory way.
That may be! But again, I have never seen anyone, of any age, bringing up politics. (EDIT: Didn’t mean to say “never”. Very rarely is more true.
In any case, if a coworker is being an argumentative ass, it’s on the listener if they choose to fight back, be the bigger person. A workplace political disagreement doesn’t rise to the level of being punched in the nose, you don’t have to fight back. :)
The issue is that conservative, bigoted people don’t view their hateful ideologies as political. They speak negatively of marginalized groups as if their opinion is banal fact instead of inflammatory hatefulness. I’m a middling Millennial and I’ve had Boomer and Gen X managers that spout misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, and racist bullshit like they’re talking about the weather. Sometimes I called them out, and other times I kept my head down and just got out of the situation, but the steadfast way they hold on to their bigoted beliefs leads them to see their opinions as non-political and any disagreement as obscene and unacceptable.
But social media tells me, over and over again, that liberal ideas are simply “right”, and are in no way political? I’m not about to “both sides” general politics, but yeah.
And where the hell have you worked that managers speak like this? I’ve had bottom-of-the-barrel shit jobs, and damned good jobs, mostly in highly conservative regions.
Hell, one place was owned and ran by conservative evangelicals. I can count twice that a superior brought up politics, and both times the topic was approached like, “Shalafi, you’re liberal. What do you think of $X?” And we had a solid discussion. Also, no one questioned my religion or lack thereof. (I admit, that was probably an outlier of a company.)
I’ve pushed back a time or two over 30+ years, but I’m having a hard time getting my head around the idea that bigotry is a common workplace experience. I’d jump that sinking ship with the quickness. Those sorts of businesses tend to torpedo themselves, especially now days.
There are tons of liberal ideas that are considered political. But there’s also a ton “liberal ideas” that should just be the standard.
For example, the very idea about not talking politics could be considered PC culture. Working together with people you disagree with is considered woke. Same with not being allowed to tell racist, sexist, homophobic jokes. These are only “liberal ideas” because conservatives made those topics political by being against them.
It was in the Bay Area in tech jobs. They would very casually be derisive about trans gender identity, calling it “attention seeking” and “a mental illness”. The racist statements mostly came in the form of offensive stereotypes and deferential treatment of those that they did not think less of for their race. To them, it was normal behavior and casual conversation. They were more likely to get heated about their sports team than they would about acknowledging the intrinsic value and human rights of other people. It makes it very hard to call out when they say horrible things in casual, laid-back tones. There was no anger or passion in these statements, it was just a matter of fact that trans people aren’t real, that women are inferior, that certain races are dirty criminals… like they were talking about how it was a cloudy or sunny day.
I’m not really sure what the person in the article means. It says something about “lockdown-era students can’t hold down a heated discussion”… but why would they be having heated discussions? It also says
which makes it sound like it’s older people who bring up inappropriate political topics in an inflammatory way.
That may be! But again, I have never seen anyone, of any age, bringing up politics. (EDIT: Didn’t mean to say “never”. Very rarely is more true.
In any case, if a coworker is being an argumentative ass, it’s on the listener if they choose to fight back, be the bigger person. A workplace political disagreement doesn’t rise to the level of being punched in the nose, you don’t have to fight back. :)
The issue is that conservative, bigoted people don’t view their hateful ideologies as political. They speak negatively of marginalized groups as if their opinion is banal fact instead of inflammatory hatefulness. I’m a middling Millennial and I’ve had Boomer and Gen X managers that spout misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, and racist bullshit like they’re talking about the weather. Sometimes I called them out, and other times I kept my head down and just got out of the situation, but the steadfast way they hold on to their bigoted beliefs leads them to see their opinions as non-political and any disagreement as obscene and unacceptable.
But social media tells me, over and over again, that liberal ideas are simply “right”, and are in no way political? I’m not about to “both sides” general politics, but yeah.
And where the hell have you worked that managers speak like this? I’ve had bottom-of-the-barrel shit jobs, and damned good jobs, mostly in highly conservative regions.
Hell, one place was owned and ran by conservative evangelicals. I can count twice that a superior brought up politics, and both times the topic was approached like, “Shalafi, you’re liberal. What do you think of $X?” And we had a solid discussion. Also, no one questioned my religion or lack thereof. (I admit, that was probably an outlier of a company.)
I’ve pushed back a time or two over 30+ years, but I’m having a hard time getting my head around the idea that bigotry is a common workplace experience. I’d jump that sinking ship with the quickness. Those sorts of businesses tend to torpedo themselves, especially now days.
There are tons of liberal ideas that are considered political. But there’s also a ton “liberal ideas” that should just be the standard.
For example, the very idea about not talking politics could be considered PC culture. Working together with people you disagree with is considered woke. Same with not being allowed to tell racist, sexist, homophobic jokes. These are only “liberal ideas” because conservatives made those topics political by being against them.
It was in the Bay Area in tech jobs. They would very casually be derisive about trans gender identity, calling it “attention seeking” and “a mental illness”. The racist statements mostly came in the form of offensive stereotypes and deferential treatment of those that they did not think less of for their race. To them, it was normal behavior and casual conversation. They were more likely to get heated about their sports team than they would about acknowledging the intrinsic value and human rights of other people. It makes it very hard to call out when they say horrible things in casual, laid-back tones. There was no anger or passion in these statements, it was just a matter of fact that trans people aren’t real, that women are inferior, that certain races are dirty criminals… like they were talking about how it was a cloudy or sunny day.