Dealing with SJW Propaganda at work.

[LancierDombre]

I'm sorry if this sounds whinny but I'm losing sleep over this.  I'm a computer engineer and there are a lot of things that I like about my job, but every so often I get subjected to a big dose of SJW propaganda coming down from management and it's really starting to get on my nerves.  Today in a staff meeting my manager was encouraging the team to attend "micro-inequity" training.  He was telling us all about how his daughter was told by her adviser in college that she should drop out of the engineering program - she wanted to be a lawyer - and how discriminatory it was that they advised her to join another program instead of "helping her succeed".  It was a very uncomfortable thing to listen to because it sounded so much like special pleading and I knew some of the arguments he was making were BS or had major holes in them at least.

 

Don't get me wrong by the way, this is a relatively new manager for me and there are a lot of things I like about him.  He's the first manager I've had that seems to actually care about developing his employees and helping them to reach their career goals.  It was just painful to sit through that and watch the women get riled up about how something needs to be done.  It's funny how no one cares about making a working environment feel unsafe for a white man.  I'm so angry right now that I can't sleep.

 

To a large degree, I'm angry at myself.  I'm angry that I was too afraid to argue about this in the staff meeting.  It seems strategically rational.  It's unlikely that I would convince anyone and I would probably just make enemies at work.  Maybe I should just quit and find another job, but there are a lot of good reasons to stay at my current company.  Maybe I'm a coward but I don't see much sense in making myself a martyr over this, and it feels awful.  This must be what selling your soul feels like.

 

Does anyone here have any thoughts or words of wisdom?

 

Thank you.

[RCali]

Why do you work with people you don't agree with, or even like? I know the answer to this, and so do you, but I think you don't consider that answer, or haven't considered, to be as important as it really is.

 

Your anger towards yourself and regret for not having done something, when the time was right, is perfectly normal. From my understanding, everyone, or mostly everyone, feels this, and it's our body's insentive to take action on what's best. You know you made a mistake, now it's time to make amends. What that will look like, is of no one's responsability but your own to decide, and if someone here tells you a specific action to take, you should be very suspicious.

[dsayers]

I think the 2nd most important question anybody could be asked/answer is "How do you know?" Here, it would be a way of questioning the conclusions without actually expressing disagreement. If you can identify WHY they believe something, it can help you to decide how to proceed. If they want spanking to be righteous because it preserves the fantasy of who their parents are, pointing out its immorality or true identity as assault likely won't be accepted. In fact, challenging them in a way that they'll reject out of hand will actually serve to strengthen their belief. If they were to say something like they were spanked and they turned out fine, you could point out that more recent studies have shown that it leads to X, Y, and Z and that fine maybe could've been better. Maybe they say huh, mention it to their parents, and it starts a conversation.

 

Also, I'd be a little slower to self-criticize. Did you not speak up out of cowardice or out of survival? The latter can actually be wise. Like if a bear raided your campsite. Sure that's YOUR sandwich, but what would standing your ground accomplish?

 

I don't know the specifics of where you work, so discard whatever doesn't fit. A buddy of mine is an engineer at Ford. Most of what he's done there is software related. He's developed such a rapport he could work from home if he had to. He's also does his share of training, so ranking up could be an option, at which point you could say that work time isn't personal opinion time for example (not ideal, but hey). Maybe on your lunch break, you could fire up a relevant FDR podcast and if people ask what you're watching, let them watch with you. Maybe ease into a conversation by presenting it as somebody who has offered a dissenting viewpoint that you think is compelling.

 

There's a lot of people running around with bad and even harmful ideas in their head. You can't let them ruin YOUR day. If you do end up deciding you might be ready to move on, and aren't afraid to be mildly antagonistic, if they talk about women's rights, repeat them but framed as men's rights. If they promote child abuse, reframe it as spousal abuse. Let them come to the realization that their conclusion is unprincipled.

[LancierDombre]

Why do you work with people you don't agree with, or even like? I know the answer to this, and so do you, but I think you don't consider that answer, or haven't considered, to be as important as it really is.

 

I can't say that I completely dislike them all - though some are better than others to be sure.  There was another non-minority white male in that staff meeting who seemed somewhat skeptical.  Perhaps I should reach out and form a support group.  Like Stef has said, white males are the only group in society that aren't allowed to act in their own collective self interest... perhaps I should challenge that.

 

As for why I'm working with these people, it's a large company, I'm not in a position to control hiring, and the pay and health plan are pretty good.

[Mister Mister]

I don't have experience in this kind of work setting, and I've heard this kind of "human resources" culture is common in large companies, but one thing that popped in my mind is, why is this important?  Why are we focusing on this stuff when we need to be producing for the company and for the customers?  Just a thought of how you could address it without getting into the politics of it.

[J. D. Stembal]

I don't have experience in this kind of work setting, and I've heard this kind of "human resources" culture is common in large companies, but one thing that popped in my mind is, why is this important?  Why are we focusing on this stuff when we need to be producing for the company and for the customers?  Just a thought of how you could address it without getting into the politics of it.

 

It does not help that in many American corporate settings, nearly all the HR reps are female. From my time spent in a cubicle behind a computer screen, I learned that the squeaky wheel, if white and male, doesn't get the grease, he gets the pink slip.

 

Social justice has entered into the corporate culture because one mis-step around a woman or a black could cost the company many dollars in legal fees. I recall one black man getting fired at my company after about a year and a half. Later on, someone (not naming names) went through his corporate emails and found out he left with a six month severance package. That means they probably cut him a check for $40-45,000. That's hush money.

 

This is why many large companies have to spend time making the culturally sensitive types feel comfortable. If they don't follow these HR initiatives, they leave themselves open to lawsuits. Small business are very unwilling to hire minorities or women, if they can help it, because one wrong move can bankrupt them. Peter Schiff talked at length about this phenomenon during the highly publicized sexual discrimination suit Ellen Pao brought against Kleiner Perkins earlier this year.

 

 

 

[Archimedes]

That's why I work at a small company with lower pay than I could have gotten somewhere else. It has no HR, 95% of the staff are males and we all just focusing on getting the job done and creating value for our costumers. I just can't stand the current office culture at larger companies. In fact, I think it's toxic and that's why I choose to not work there.

[GenellanBound]

You might look into a book titled "SJWs Always Lie" on Amazon. It details some ways to protect yourself and gives some theories on the thinking behind some of their actions.