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this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
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The problem is that the things they “disagree” about are sometimes basic scientific facts, like climate change, or beliefs which strongly affect people’s lives negatively, such as racism, anti-lgbt bigotry, or economic views like “it’s just fine to pay people such low wages they can barely afford to live and will never be able to buy a house”.
And why are these politics an issue in the workplace?
I'm 52 and have worked a wide variety of jobs. Nowhere I have been employed was it acceptable to talk politics, except on the down-low with people you knew well. If there was a political discussion where two people disagreed, they either agreed to disagree, or it was quickly dropped.
I'm the same age as you, so I've seen the same social and political changes as you have over the last 20 years or so. Some "politics" are just negative moral stances about other people. If your political/moral views make people feel excluded and you make sure we all know your views, whether through explicit political conversation or implicit comments, we are not going to "agree to disagree." We will be telling the shithead to STFU, and if they don't, we will be getting HR involved. We can't and won't tolerate intolerance in the workplace.
In my experience, in the 80s and 90s, intolerance was pretty commonplace, and racial and moral minorities mostly just had to suck it up. What's changed is that liberals have "woken up" to that long-standing intolerance, while conservatives want things to stay the same. Up until about 2016, the majority of these conservatives hid their intolerance. Little did we know that they were just seething inside. Then Trump made it okay to be vocally hateful again, and that seething mass of conservatives exploded into public discourse again.
I don't think Gen Z is incapable of disagreeing with their co-workers in a respectful way. I think they are seeing angry, usually older, conservatives raging about moral issues that they thought were already resolved. Or, they see boomers still denying climate change, which is a real slap in the face for the younger generation who will face the consequences long after those boomers are dead. It is very disconcerting and depressing for Gen Z, and as the father of a couple of Gen Z kids, I'm proud of them for taking a stand.
Agreed with almost all that! Except the last bit...
Where, outside social media, is this happening? Worked all sorts of positions over 30+ years and the times I've heard politics in the workplace are memorable because they're so rare.
Maybe I'm out of touch, but I rarely saw it in the past, and even less so now that we've been so politically polarized. And I notice none of the younger folks are chiming in with their own anecdotes, just the assumption that Boomers are the badies, spouting bullshit in the workplace.
Millennial here. I hear a lot more anti woke, PC, LGBT, etc talk than I would like. Both the Bud Light and Target "controversies" I heard about at work because people were apparently enraged by it.
“Cancel culture” forgot that in my comment above but it gets thrown around like the candy at Halloween
I'm an older millennial, mid 80s birthday, and I hear at least one GenX or Boomer make jokes about how they 'can't make jokes anymore' or 'uh oh the woke police we'll get me if I say that' or 'everyone's so sensitive these days' or 'that's probably not politically correct' a week. I've had more than one boss in my life talk about 'welfare queens' and 'ObamaPhones' and another that outright denied climate change. One of my co-workers was recently talking about how 'slavery has been everywhere throughout human history, so why are the US so evil for it still?'. Had another one ask me if the neighborhood of the city I live in is safe now that we've 'defunded the police' which no we haven't.
I've encountered people talking politics everywhere I've ever worked in my 15-year career in tech over 4 different companies, 3 in the Fortune 500. It's not always from boomers, but it is always something along those same beats of either complaining about how things have changed, and they can't say whatever they want to whoever they want, some bullshit right wing talking point, or concern over non-existent crime.
I envy you. I work for a university. I started in 2017 and it took about 30 minutes for my conservative lab mate to start talking to my Mexican ass about how "we need to build the wall." That's just one of the many times this person went on racist rants, unprompted. Though to be fair they were not a boomer, so it's a problem that spans generations.
In my case, we had a very religious guy in the office. Elder Gen X, not quite a boomer. He was very open about being evangelical and morally conservative, which was perhaps irritating to some, but tolerable. But then Trump and COVID happened and he went off the deep end, spouting COVID conspiracy theories and talking about supporting Trump and the Bible and the end-times. We eventually had to fire him.
The problem since 2016 is that people don't have to be explicitly "talking politics" for their intolerant views to be known. Trump isn't really a "conservative" in any traditional sense. He is a crass hate machine, and that is his overwhelming brand. So, if you support him, you are pretty much advertising that you are intolerant. It isn't hard to see how that would be hostile to young people who have been raised to be tolerant above all else.
Because whether some people are allowed to exist is politics now, and gen z and others aren't going to quietly let bosses/coworkers banally brutalize people anymore without pushback.
The workplace is steeped in politics, like every other part of your life. The discussions dont have to be about politics day in day out, but somethings have to be addressed directly, work or not.
Basically, if youre workplace is fair and decent, then you likely wont hear anyhting about politics. if it's full of bigots/abuse, well, people arent putting up with it anymore.
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.
Because those aren’t politics. These are peoples lives. There’s no such thing as agreeing to disagree about if people get to have basic rights. What’s been labeled as political now is denying people the ability to live as they want, ironically taking away the freedom one side claims to love.
Think you're going to win hearts and minds by arguing at work? No, you won't, you'll only hurt yourself and cause the opposition to double down, lose more than you gain.
Worse if you're young and confronting an older coworker! "See, I knew these kids were full of shit. There goes another one." Counterproductive, ain't it?
And no, just because one side holds heinous beliefs does not make those beliefs apolitical. Fair definition I found:
May I invoke Godwin's Law? :)
Hitler believed Jews were pests that should be exterminated. Many people agreed then and now. Of course that's a vile position. But it's still a political position because it guided governance.
Saying, "My opinion is morally correct and that absolves it from the politics descriptor.", is unhelpful at best. At worst makes the speaker harder to engage.
Why would I have a conversation with someone like that? Sounds like a conservative talking to me. Comes off like, "I'm morally superior and if you disagree, it's not 'mere politics', you are scum unworthy of engaging."
One more thought for y'all: You can, and should, push back on regressive opinions. But there are plenty of ways to say, "I'm not interested in hearing that bullshit.", without literally saying that. It's a social skill, and isn't the lack thereof among Gen Z the topic at hand?
(Here's something plain crazy; I'm upvoting your comment for adding to the conversation, even though I disagree.)
Like you, I've moved around the US quite a bit have have worked at a variety of companies. But I noticed that the article mentions Miami University, which is in southwestern Ohio. People around here have an odd idea of what constitutes rudeness or what should not be discussed at work.
They are ALL IN on politics.
Visitors to our work's Ohio location (from out of country or out of state) are completely freaked out by it. Locals have no idea that their behavior might be considered rude or inappropriate.
Long story short, I'm not even remotely surprised that a local school is trying to teach people manners.
Because scientific facts, or social and economic issues (that definitely affect and belong in the workplace) are not “politics” regardless of how much you'd like to label them as such so you can shove them under the rug and forget about them, you retrograde fossilized lich, and because “agreeing to disagree” with assholes who hold harmful opinions only serves to empower them and enable them to keep causing harm.
Go ahead, pick fights at work. See how that works out for you. According to the story, it ain't working out.
My current company is a Seattle based software dev, about as liberal as it gets. You come talking politics and arguing with people, even though you're on the "right" side, and you're fucking fired. Bye.