ITT: Every shitty boss you ever had that would prefer you sever yourself from your thoughts, emotions, and personhood all for the sake of capitalism. The same folk who preach about the meritocracy but fall in line and flip their shit every time a trust fund baby in a suit visits.
I understand where you’re coming from, completely. It definitely feels like being silenced (again, because let’s face it, this shit is mentally throwing us right back into childhood when our needs and feelings were ignored). I understand that desperate feeling of needing to be heard. But we’re adults now, and the people at work aren’t your parents. There’s nothing obligating them to listen. Even my spouse needs time where I’m not ranting about politics. An hour a day is all he can do right now, and this is someone who cares about how I feel. But this isn’t a rejection of my feelings.
One thing I’ve personally had to realize is that the stuff about politics isn’t actually you. You have to find a way to have a degree of separation between the political and your actual core. I know it looks like they’re the same thing right now. But think about what you really want to accomplish, think about what kind of culture you want to create at work. Do you want everyone to be as upset as you are? Would that make a good working environment? If you want others to be more compassionate, I think coming from a place of compassion yourself might work better. Right now it sounds like you’re treating people in ways you probably wouldn’t want others treating you. You can still be true to yourself, your ideals, and values without being quite so forceful. For some reason beyond my immediate comprehension, demonstrating the intensity of your feelings doesn’t translate into people caring - it’s rather the opposite.
This was a really hard lesson for me and took a few weeks to fully understand and think through. I hope you have someone likeminded in your life you can talk to outside of work. If you don’t, please consider trying to find a new friend. You need someone who already understands, who you don’t need to convince, to blow off steam with. Good luck.
I liked your response. I just don’t understand why people automatically assume I’m out there every day aggressively preaching politics at work. I don’t think I ever said that but maybe cause I took a very strong stance on the matter. It’s just funny how most people assume so much about a person.
I could be wrong I might have said something that indicated I’m a raving lunatic at work. I just don’t remember where.
“Freedom of speech” is intended to protect your speech from the government. It’s not meant to imply that the government protects your speech from others. It’s their “speech” if they say ‘your opinion sucks, go away’
We they made the constitution they had no foresight about corporations. They did not know they would become their own pillar of power. If they did they would have draw a line from government power to corporate power, as it exists in real life, and protected our speech just the same.
Well sure, unless you want to pretend you’re achieving anything other than making yourself feel smarter by throwing around gotchas and completely failing to engage in any meaningful discussion. If you want to call it something else that’s ok but it seems based on your replies all you’re interested in doing is preaching to yourself to reinforce your own ideas.
Yes, I am trying to reinforce the idea that you must not go silently into fascism and your voice is the only thing that separates you from a maga.
And good luck to you, mate. Pushing back against maga is a worthwhile goal I just don’t think pissing off everyone at your workplace or people who engage with you is the best way to go.
I just have to laugh because none of you know me and your idea of me is not me, it’s someone else. I’ve met them too, and I know why feel this way, I’m just not afraid of them because their politics has already taken the country.
Look, if you agree to come over to my house to play d&d, everyone gets here, and all you talk about is your jock itch, do you think you’ll be invited back?
Like it or not, a job is when you have agreed to perform a set of tasks. In a capitalist system, that means for money. But in any other system, you’d still be wasting time that’s supposed to be spent doing the thing you agreed to do.
You could be a member of a collective or cooperative, and if you’re still babbling about something outside the task you’re there to handle, you’ll end up being reassigned or otherwise censured.
Yeah, fuck capitalism, and fuck corporate bullshit. Just don’t pretend that agreeing to do a task, and then not doing it while you natter on about an unrelated subject is acceptable on your end either. If you need personal time to handle any emotional upkeep, that’s a separate issue, but being expected to stay on task is agnostic of framework
Ok. Well I’m glad it isnt a requirement of society that I play D&D 40 hours a week. Fuck.
Wait, wait, you don’t play d&d 40 hours a week? What are you wasting your time doing?
And, in case you aren’t aware, that’s called an analogy (or whatever the right word is, I haven’t been awake long enough to do anything but sit on this toilet, so you get what you get).
It’s used to draw attention to the similarities between two things that are otherwise different. This is a common rhetorical tool to highlight a different way of thinking about a subject.
I’m fairly sure you were just bring snarky, but just in case you weren’t, or have English as a second language or whatever, that’s what I was doing, pointing out that even if you remove work from the matter, we all still have times that are and are not acceptable for off topic conversation that prevents others from doing the task.
Did the thought ever occur that you might be the problem?
That’s a lot for one man to bare but honestly, yes, I do this all the time, it’s called reflection.
Freedom of speech means you won’t be legally prosecuted for what you say. Getting fired because you won’t stop talking about politics isn’t a free speech issue - it’s just a consequence of being insufferable to the point where no one wants to be around you. What’s the common denominator among all the people you’ve ran into this issue with? You are.
Know what’s insufferable. People who just sit about while authoritarians run a muck.
“We have to do something. Talking about politics constantly is something so therefor we need to constantly talk about politics”
How many minds have you actually changed? Looking at your responses here it seems like you’re just throwing stones.
If one hits thats 10 points.
Maybe try shutting up about politics? Work isn’t really the forum for that generally although it can depend on your relationship with your colleagues. If you want to talk politics try doing it with other people you have a closer relationship with, nobody owes you a forum for political discussion.
Work, the place you go to serve the coperate overlords, isn’t political? If the corporations don’t care about politics why is it so important to protect their speech in the form of money?
This whole manner of engaging in a discussion is just really annoying and most people probably won’t find it worth their time to engage with you, let alone people who just want to do their jobs. Maybe spend some time learning about how to engage with people productively or you’ll be in for a bad time whenever you step outside your echo chamber.
Sorry concern for someone other then you and your job annoys you.
Sorry people aren’t receptive to your mental jerk off sessions at work then I guess.
Oh, I’m jerking off now. Got it. All political speech is self serving, got it. You though. You’re a man of the people.
You can discuss politics, but the way you’re writing makes it sound like you’re preaching at your coworkers. People tend not to respond very well to being told how to think, even if you’re right. Perhaps you’re wasting your energy and risking your job when you could be organizing a club after work hours instead? If you really hate your bosses though, you have two choices: quit or organize a union (which might be right up your alley from how you’re talking)
I’m just asking for a culture change. We’ve let the racist make everything so toxic that having reasonable political positions isn’t possible anymore. Now things are hot and they want us all to hold the coals while keeping quiet. Just so I don’t offend racist bob over there.
Culture is what people believe on average, even if you believe that it originated from the rich. You need people on your side if you want to make progress. Sorry to say that politics is mainly a popularity contest with policies being the second class citizen in debates (student class presidents for example, it doesn’t change they just get older and more powerful). I’m not telling you to give up, just suggesting that you change tactic. If you go around calling people racist you’re not gonna convert anyone, and if your goal is not to convert then I don’t know how you expect to make lasting change. Listen to their side, even if you don’t agree. People love to be listened to, and you need people to open up and feel safe to change their opinions and not be on the defensive around you. And if there’s just straight up racist policies at your job, again that is what unions can help with to curb workplace discrimination through solidarity (which also needs people all to be on the same side)
Thanks for your effort. I’m not here to change my mind. Maybe in the future but there is a short window now and people need to get loud about it.
We want change, the status quo will have to change too.
Okay, but “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. You’re on a fast track for burning your bridges without making the impact you’re expecting and I’m just trying to warn you.
The problem is MAGA are much better at the latter then you or me. So my question is, why not go together?
you clearly have no idea what ‘free speech’ means… and kinda sounds like you lack self control.
insufferable comes to mind, regardless of how good your intentions are
Insufferable is the bullshit we put up with everyday and are constantly told to say or do nothing about it.
You agreed to do a job for the means of production or a mission of some sort with a goal. Politics generally has nothing to do with that directly. This is why everyone else keeps the tradition of politics, religion, etc taboo in the workplace. It only slows down that goal and/or outright derails it. It’s not healthy or productive for the companies needs.
If you don’t like that, go open your own business and see if it thrives under your current views. Generally, they make the worst, most toxic businesses for people to work for.
Just everyone who has strong opinions about politics go start your own business or remove yourself from society. There problem solved.
When everyone sucks but you, it’s almost ALWAYS you that sucks.
This one’s clear as day.
Ok, but what about when everyone else sucks? Like I didn’t let an oligarch conman into the white house? Are you saying I’m just so shitty they put trump in place to spite me?
I guess you just owned the libs. Good job.
“freedom of speech” means the government can’t arrest you for your views. It doesn’t mean the rest of us have to listen…
Your silence is deafening why should I have to tolerate it?
You sound really immature.
Nice edit, now you sound like an immature moron.
God damn who pissed in your Cheerios? Listen I am all for freedom of speech. I believe it is unbelievably important to maintain a free society.
HOWEVER
When you are at work unless your job is to shout about politics you should probably shut the fuck up. The people paying your paycheck do not wanna hear that shit and even if they do your coworkers might not.
There is a time and place.
Look how big that ‘however’ is. Definitely don’t have an agenda here.
Yeah my agenda is keeping my fuckin job you goof.
Why’s that more important then the health of our nation?!
How is yammering at work to people who don’t want to hear it helping? Use your head.
I mean question if you are meaning at work, or in your personal twitter etc…
That being said free speech is about being able to say what you want… but not about forcing others to be around said speech. IE I don’t know your political views, don’t really feel like digging through the post history because it doesn’t matter.
Conceptually though, if say I worked with a racist for instance. he spent the day talking about how mexicans are taking our jobs etc… that would make the workplace very uncomfortable… and as I need to be at work to survive, I would hope my workplace would have an HR person willing to put an end to that. I got no problem if someone else believes that shit, or if he goes home and posts on twitter and other media sources…
Not trying to sound too apologetic to big business, but unless your job is to talk about politics maybe you should focus on your work while you’re being paid for your time… Free speech does not mean people need to give you a platform or listen, it just means the government can’t arrest you.
Look down. Do your work. Do not question the corporate masters.
