JPMar 18
a theory on the total demobilization of programmers (in aggregate, not you specifically) as a class:
- comfortable life (salary, benefits, retirement plan)
- never protested or resisted anything / did but it didn't seem to do much
- never organized their workplace / community
- computers are a solace from messy real world stuff
- suddenly computers are subject to this new political economy
- feel totally helpless and concede to what's happening right now as inevitable
Show threadJPMar 18
one of the first steps here is realizing all the ways in which you are, dramatically, an outlier from the rest of society, yet your essential class position is the same: you will never be closer to musk zuck bezos altman etc than the people who stock your groceries, deliver your mail, teach your children, etc. who would you rather make your stand with? do you want to be part of humanity or whatever disgustingly evil mirage the tech guys are trying to make? what are your actual fucking values?
Show threadDavid Mitchell Mar 18

@jplebreton

“what are your actual fucking values?”

A question that a surprising number of people really can’t give an honest answer to…

Show threadBlueWinds

@DavidM_yeg @jplebreton I have learned that, push come to shove, the support I thought I had always evaporates.

"You are the moral center of the company" sounds like praise, but what it actually means is "none of us support you in your ideals if they become mildly inconvenient."

Mar 18 at 5:42pmWeb
Show threadBlueWindsMar 18
@DavidM_yeg @jplebreton Which is to say that they can answer the question, but the answer sounds really bad said out loud.
Show threadJPMar 18
@bluewinds @DavidM_yeg oof, yeah. one individual can only do so much. but hopefully the individuals within an org who share those values can find one another, work together, and spread that consciousness. and if they don't meet with success at first, things will only continue to get worse until enough people realize that they're on the losing side of the power dynamic.
some orgs are beyond saving, of course. that's the real bummer. and sometimes that proof comes only after a long struggle.