Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by on Thursday April 09 2015, @09:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the shhh-don't-tell-anybody dept.

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.

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by GeminiDomino on Friday April 10 2015, @03:09PM

    by GeminiDomino (661) on Friday April 10 2015, @03:09PM (#168759)

    Because politics is fundamentally different from every other topic matter how?

    I think the reason talking about politics (and religion) has historically been taboo is because people internally know that their opinions are not grounded on as firm a base as they would like, but don't want that found out.

    Also because, both being dogmatic(as you say), they tend to be held very dear by a given individual, and disagreements are far more likely to result in conflict escalation and hard feelings than in any sort of "enlightenment" of another party. So you end up with people who have to see each other every day who can't interact effectively anymore.

    Basically, it's "taboo" because no one wants to have to deal with the bullshit butthurt and drama.

    --
    "We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture"
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2