I think most of conservative anxiety over being excluded from respectable debate is due to the fact that the three big pillars of Reagan-era conservatism - Christian conservatism, laissez-faire economics, and muscular interventionism - all failed simultaneously in the 2000s.
The Iraq War debacle, the Great Recession, and the gay marriage defeat, all within the space of a decade, left conservatives with no leg to stand on except good ol' racism.
And racism has, since the 70s, been excluded from the bounds of respectable elite discourse in America.
And racism has, since the 70s, been excluded from the bounds of respectable elite discourse in America.
Conservatives working at Facebook will naturally feel uncomfortable saying America should deregulate the banks, or legislate a traditional definition of marriage, or invade the Middle East - not because these ideas are suppressed, but because in 2018 they just sound goofy.
The real driver of the right, the source of all the dynamism and passion on both the national/political and the intellectual level, is now racial exclusion - the idea that nonwhite immigrants won't adopt American values, that diversity is a threat to economic efficiency, etc.
A conservative working at Facebook will tend to spend a lot of time reading about and discussing racially exclusionary ideas - on the internet, with friends, etc.
But he can't discuss those ideas at work, since explicit racism is still (mostly) out of bounds.
But he can't discuss those ideas at work, since explicit racism is still (mostly) out of bounds.
So basically, conservatives at tech companies and other elite intellectual spaces feel under siege. They're reading and talking about all these racist ideas outside of work, but they can't bring it to work. Taboos they wouldn't have minded 10 years ago now bind them constantly.
Of course, your response to this may be "Who cares, racism is bad, deal with it."
And that response would be 100% correct.
I am not super sympathetic to conservatives at this point. Just trying to explain where I think they're coming from, and why.
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And that response would be 100% correct.
I am not super sympathetic to conservatives at this point. Just trying to explain where I think they're coming from, and why.
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Also: Note that my explanation leaves out gender stuff (Damore, etc.). You can basically apply everything I said about racism to sexism with only minor changes. I just wanted to get the basic point across.
