Not for racist online comments but

Omg, I actually got a tear from that one!!!

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You’re just in time.

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Coooool, but I think I tried too hard to catch up with everyone…

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Too bad. The Hors D’oeuvres were to die for:

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To say nothing of the open bar

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I bet rabid biddies are bad at rapid bidding.

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Whatever you say, Frank.

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nom de lulz

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That’s the problem. The power here belongs to the boss, not to anyone else. Public outrage may convince a boss to cut someone loose or perhaps the boss will ignore it because he agrees with the bigot. Ultimately the boss-worker relationship is a financial one so bosses will get rid of anyone whose private opinions they feel are a threat to the company. The power here is not being used to teach people to be less bigoted, it’s about making money.

I agree, but my point was that job loss isn’t an effective consequence in dealing with bigotry. Since it’s the boss’ decision, it’s an arbitrary, unaccountable and possibly out of proportion consequence. In a nutshell, if you want to tackle bigotry, giving bosses more power is the worst way to do it. It will be abused by bosses to get rid of workers who they don’t like.

Sure, I don’t really sympathize with those who got caught spewing bigotry openly, when it’s terrifyingly easy to do so anonymously. My concern is that with a surge in racism, public tolerance for such outbursts could become higher. If naming, shaming, & firing is the only tactic, a more bigoted general public will not pressure companies as much.

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Private opinions are EXACTLY NOT what we are talking about here.

I implore you to not be obtuse.

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acute observation. :fried_shrimp:

(i also don’t like firing as the result of being a public asshat, but i made my views known in another thread)

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i knew othermichaels name wasn’t actually michael! it’s alice!!

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Okay, poor word choice. I mean opinions outside of work. Opinions that don’t have any direct bearing the ability to do a job. Opinions someone expresses in their free time, etc.

But you’re zeroing in on something secondary to my main point. Do you think job loss is an effective tool for dealing with bigotry or not? I’m not arguing against it on free speech grounds cause I have no problem with anti harassment policies in the workplace, but that the workplace is not the best place from which to police harmful opinions in wider society, because the boss-worker relationship is already a fundamentally reactionary and undemocratic structure. Like hate speech laws are way better cause bosses are just going to fire anti-racists for “hating white people” or some horseshit like that.

I somewhat resent being called obtuse since my points haven’t actually been addressed, nor am I defending a right to express opinions without consequence, specifically bigotry which if tolerated, causes actual material harm to marginalized people.

i was making an ‘angle’ pun, that is all. i sympathize with some of your arguments, but i choose to frame them in the At Will Work reference. there was no insult intended.

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Alice doesn’t live here anymore (no good delis that deliver).

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Yeah, at will employment is awful. It’s part of what I’m getting at since precarious employment status makes it harder to people to fight bigotry. But also that bosses really shouldn’t be the people in charge of policing opinions, not that I am opposed to harmful opinions being policed in general. Cause bosses will use at will employment and a license to police opinions to exacerbate discrimination because it frustrates attempts by their workers at creating collective solidarity to overcome things like the systematic underpaying of women and minorities.

i don’t mind seeing bigots being (figuratively) kneecapped. I don’t think your workplace is the right, er, instrument for the for that action. so given our employment laws i just mentally compartmentalize, until we have something approaching unions, worker protections, and stronger anti-harassment and bullying laws. (why yes, i am a wide eyed optimist)

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