White guys: Why can't you just not care about what happens to other people?

But I am other people. It's happening to me.

White guys: I mean that sucks, but you don't have to bring it to work. Die on your own time, ya know what I mean?
White guys: We shouldn't be forced to talk about this stuff at work. It doesn't matter right?

It matters to me. I want to talk about it because it impacts my actual life.

White guys: Sorry. By "we" I mean me. I shouldn't have to hear about how you're dying. I'm trying to work.
White guys: Free speech above all else!

That's not how that works. It's about government...

White guys: No! It's a general foundation of our society!

Okay, I wanna talk about this issue...

White guys: Whoa! We're at work. The boss says you can't talk about that stuff here.
White guys: Cancel culture is out of control! If I'm not PC I'll get fired. It's not fair!

So you think we shouldn't get fired for talking about...

White guys: No that's different, you should definitely be fired. I mean it's work right? Gotta expect that.
White guys: Look, stop trying to twist my words around. All I'm saying is I should get to do what I want because freedom, and you can't cause I don't like it. That's just how the world works.

And it works that ways because...?

White guys: Spontaneously emerged from nature.
White guys: I'm not saying I'm *superior*. I'm just saying my logic is infallible while everyone else's is... Wait no.

White guys: It's okay to be different. I'm only saying if you would just think and act like me, you'd be better... nope, not what I meant.
White guys: You just wanna call me a racist!

I didn't say a word...

White guys: Yeah but you would have if I kept talking. And that makes YOU the real problem!
White guys: Forget it okay. It's not even about race. It's about class!

So you think the bosses are the problem? And we should organize...

White guys: Oh god no. We should be grateful. They take all the risk so of course they're in charge. I mean class like... shut up.
White guys: This is going nowhere. I don't think you'll ever see it my way. Maybe you can't work with me at all...

You mean...

White guys: No, no. I'm sure you're trying to read into that too. We're still equals. I just think maybe we need to stay... separate.

~FIN~

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More from @polotek

28 Apr
Cleaning house.

"Yesterday, we offered everyone at Basecamp an option of a severance package... For those who cannot see a future at Basecamp under this new direction."
world.hey.com/dhh/let-it-all…
It's worth reading DHH's pay. It's kind a ramble, but there is important information there. He talks about how they failed to facilitate and meditate contentious discussion at the company.
I believe him when he says it felt disruptive. But I blame a lack of clear and decisive leadership. This is where white men like these show they lack the range. That they're not up to the task of navigating an environment where a diverse group of people all get to have a voice.
Read 12 tweets
26 Apr
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.
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"?
Read 12 tweets
26 Apr
More white guys in tech deciding that their company and their money is gonna be separate from what’s happening in the world. - Changes at Basecamp world.hey.com/jason/changes-…
Here’s Fried 10 days ago saying the part he “dislikes” about his job is “trying to please everybody”. The writing was on the wall there I suppose.
This is literally what’s happening with a lot of white men.
Read 11 tweets
25 Apr
We got disconnected. We have a new room. twitter.com/i/spaces/1ynJO…
Whew. We had some pretty bad technical difficulties on Spaces this time. I think it was mostly still a great conversation. But it brought home to be how important it is for the technology to be rock solid.
Read 9 tweets
21 Apr
How do we take back control of our livelihoods? I can tell you where my thoughts are taking me.

One core idea is that we have to create companies that are not wholly directed by the capitalistic profit motive. @operaqueenie is doing a lot of work around things like co-ops.
This has a lot of implications. The company can still be for profit. Just not at the cost of people's health and happiness. Instead, the leadership of the company is beholden to the employees. So it has to balance profit motive with other things that matter.
It's hard for one company to survive in this entrenched market environment though. Instead we also have to think about bringing companies together into a shared ecosystem based on values. One where we choose to do better together and reject the current set of dominant incentives.
Read 4 tweets
21 Apr
Aniyia and I watched this last night, and I want to share it this morning. We've never heard a white man in elected office talk like this. Clear and direct about the problems of racialized police oppression. I recommend watching it in full.
msnbc.com/the-last-word/…
What struck me about this is not only that the Governor was saying the things I wanted to hear. It's specifically that the language he is using is the language of the movement. It shows how far we've come in changing the conversation. This is advocacy work.
If we can get every elected official to understand these issues the way that Tim Walz now understands them, we might see meaningful change.
Read 5 tweets

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