There are people who wake up in the morning, just like you or me, and instead of doing something productive with their time begin the day's hunt for a topic to be offended about. These are people that spend every day searching for something that offends them so that they can bitch to their followers about it and feel like they are producing some real change in the world. Think on par with "Fox News commentary," except militant feminism instead of hyperconservative. Facts just get in the way of the rage train. Can't have those.
You are getting a glimpse of those people. Spend your days looking to be offended and, my God, it occasionally happens and you get your chance to rabble! Welcome to social justice warriors.
I used to think I wanted out of the industry too. Now I just keep a list and act accordingly when I am asked to hire. I've also learned to spot the signs, including certain phrases, retweeting of certain people consistently, linking to the Geek Feminism wiki because it's a wiki and it has facts, and so forth. A good example of a red flag tweet: https://twitter.com/jacobian/status/417775128831741952
the SJW thing is in the most classic sense a meme. it's spread into tech and it's really disappointing. i don't really get it. the only explanation I have is that it offers people the feeling that they are somehow smarter than the rest of the sheep for realizing the effects of "the patriarchy" and "privilege". They have a more enlightened perspective and one which has easy to use go-to rhetorical defenses when called into question. These views also have the attribute of making the person feel like they are by definition always on the morally right side of any argument, since they are de facto always supportive of the victim. (Since they define the victim.)
The problem is that these things are set up to be unfalsifiable, and claiming that perhaps situation A or B was not in fact influenced by some hidden, systemic, nefarious thing like the patriarchy sets you up to be labeled at best ignorant and at worst sexist/racist/intolerant/etc. Simple explanations for cause and effect events in society are by definition suspect, if they cannot be tied to some larger scale societal struggle and narrative. It's basically a intellectual framework that has built up immunity from criticism via built-in argumentative tricks, similar to various forms of pseudo-science.
This is not to say there aren't plenty of places where discrimination happens and needs to be confronted. But it is not always the answer, and it is certainly not always the dominant factor in our day to day lives. Folks like the one you posted above seem to see everything in life through this lens, and it colors their opinions on everything, from the important to the mundane.
There is no racism, misogyny, or meritocracy worship anywhere in my comment. To be clear, after that comment, a person who has never met me felt the appropriate conclusion was "that guy hates people who aren't white, hates women, and worships meritocracy." Which, for anybody that knows me, is an asinine thing to say.
People from that group like to trot out horrible things (like "this guy came up to me at a conference and asked to fuck me," which is fucking awful, and I hope it was dealt with appropriately), then condemn a huge swath of people with that experience, then put people that disagree with them in the same bucket and accuse them of supporting horrible behavior. Because disagreeing with a method of discourse is literally the same as sexual assault, right?
I'm past being afraid of these people. The last 24 hours have helped a great deal. I e-mailed several people who said awful things and they all clammed up real fast (or asked me to take the conversation back to public forums, so that they'd have help), including one person who asked me to e-mail her.
Thank you for that, really. It's bad enough I have the opinion that goes against the grain and it's an uphill battle, and then you come along and softball a dumbass comment like that. And now that you've left it in close proximity to me, it's fairly easy for most people to draw the conclusion that HN is a cesspool and the opinions are automatically undermined. You're a real peach for that.
See, when they talk about dicks who have dicks, they're talking about you. You are illustrating exactly what they (and I) are so fed up with. Now the rest of us look bad because you had to piss your tripe in the comments.
I'm done with this account and I've said what I mean to say.
Get over yourself. When someone throws a tantrum on twitter with the regularity of clockwork, mockery is a completely valid response, and often the quickest way to get the point across. Logos, pathos, ethos. The former has no effect without the latter two to back it up.
You are dealing with a mob of righteous indignation that refuses to ever consider that they might be wrong. If you think the appropriate response is to perpetually tiptoe around them and apologize profusely, you are sorely mistaken.
They are toxic, and should be labeled as such until they themselves grow up.
The fact that all these SJWs seem to care so much about their appearance that their impeccably groomed avatars rotate faster than the seasons makes it a doubly delicious burn.
You are so correct, except that some of them don't even hunt for something to be offended about, they simply log onto their favorite websites and take other people's word at what to be offended about!
"Anyone can become angry -- that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way -- this is not easy."- Aristotle
I find the twitter comment you linked to very insightful, it's just a thinly veiled statement of "even if the facts don't support the claims I made about your actions, you're still to blame for your inaction". This kind of "You're either with us, or against us" mentality is rather alarming...
Search for "Offence trolling" and read that section please (the whole article in general is good, but that section talks specifically about what you are talking about).
You are getting a glimpse of those people. Spend your days looking to be offended and, my God, it occasionally happens and you get your chance to rabble! Welcome to social justice warriors.
I used to think I wanted out of the industry too. Now I just keep a list and act accordingly when I am asked to hire. I've also learned to spot the signs, including certain phrases, retweeting of certain people consistently, linking to the Geek Feminism wiki because it's a wiki and it has facts, and so forth. A good example of a red flag tweet: https://twitter.com/jacobian/status/417775128831741952