Thread by @polotek

I was talking to @operaqueenie about this at lunch. Fried and all these other Owners would have us believe that people are spending all day arguing about these issues instead of working. I think it's important to address that fallacy.

https://twitter.com/RomanieThomas/status/1386781651209003008

For the record, it is in fact a fallacy. You cannot square the *record* profits that companies have been posting with this idea that people aren't working. It's incredibly disingenuous and dishonest. So what are people actually talking about?

Here's what Fried says in his post.

"It's a major distraction. It saps our energy, and redirects our dialog towards dark places. It's not healthy, it hasn't served us well."

That's sounds ominous. But it's always worth asking. Who is "us"?

If people weren't getting their work done because they wanted to argue about politics all day, then those people should probably be fired. Are we pretending that companies have a problem with performance management? It's that what's going on?

No that's not it. I think what Fried means it's that *he* is being distracted. Him and other Owners wanna spend all of their time worrying about their business. And instead they're being asked to have an impact on these social issues. That's the distraction he's referring to.

Taking about these social issues is making these white guys feel bad. They have to show up every day and be told they are what's wrong with the world. I can imagine that "saps their energy".

Perhaps not as much as hearing how often people who look like me are getting killed by police. I mean that's what distracts me. That's what takes me to some "dark places". But that's neither here nor there. We're talking about the feelings of white men, and that takes precedence.

My point is this. What we're witnessing is what Whiteness has always done when confronted with unpleasant things. "I'm changing the rules so I don't have to deal with it".

This is no different than "I'm not racist. I just want a nice neighborhood. And you know how they are."

They let too many of us into their gated community and now it's not working for them. So they're closing the gates. That's what's happening folks. Don't miss it. And don't fail to connect this with the long history of white supremacist patriarchal oppression.

I wanna come back to this because I don't think I made the point strongly enough. Taking about politics is not keeping these companies from being successful. But it is easy for bosses to *say* there's a problem and *blame* the political discussion.

https://twitter.com/polotek/status/1386813534667874305?s=19

If you set out to squash politics at your company, it's a common strategy to suggest that it causes the company to be less successful. If you're company is struggling, it's common to look around and find the things you personally don't like and suggest those are the culprit.

None of these companies have provided any evidence that their work wasn't getting done because of "politics". It's a complete fabrication. Instead what we are seeing is yet more politics at play. It's no longer convenient to be seen as actively supporting social good.