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National Journal's Rebecca Nelson reports about the Republicans lurking in the shadows of the Bay Area:
Deep in Silicon Valley, where the free market reigns and the exchange of ideas is celebrated, a subset of tech workers are hiding their true selves.
They're the tech company employees, startup founders, and CEOs who vote for and donate to Republican candidates, bucking the Bay Area's liberal supremacy. Fearing the repercussions of associating with a much-maligned minority, they keep their political views fiercely hidden.
The consequences for being outed for conservative views can be dire. In a highly public controversy last year, newly-hired Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich stepped down after critics attacked his 2008 donation to support Proposition 8, the anti-same-sex marriage law in California. Eich, who declined to comment for this story, faced an internal uprising from within the Mozilla community, as well as boycotts from other tech companies, and quit after just two weeks on the job.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bradley13 on Thursday April 09 2015, @11:30AM
I was also surprised at the idea that discussing politics could somehow be unprofessional. If you like your workplace and the people you work with, you will become friends with some of your co-workers, even if the friendship remains within the work context. Over coffee, at lunch, on business trips you will have time for small talk. After you get tired of talking about the weather, politics is a pretty natural topic.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.