Link to the memo: https://assets.documentcloud.org/docu...
Like a 21st century Martin Luther/Jerry Maguire, (now former) Google Software Engineer James Damore wrote a 10-page memo for his employers entitled Google’s Ideological Echo-Chamber: How Bias Clouds Our Thinking About Diversity and Inclusion - and was promptly fired!
Why? Well, because it appears to be true: Google, or at least Damore’s office, seems to exist in an extreme leftist echo chamber. Damore critiques leftist ideological bias through some very reasonable arguments and, because that went against GroupThink, he was swiftly excised by PC Authoritarians. Independent thought will not be tolerated!
What incendiary things does Damore say? Careful to mention that he’s speaking in generalities while linking to scientific studies and simultaneously propounding that he is pro-diversity in the workforce, he provides compelling arguments to explain the fundamental differences between men and women based on biology - not social conditioning - which explain gender gaps in tech. He would also like to see more diversity in opinions and political viewpoints than the narrow leftist orthodoxy currently only accepted at the company. He also mentions how diversity hires could end up damaging Google in the long-term as the company’s willingness to employ less qualified workers so long as they fill out a diversity quota.
Damore goes on to suggest ways to include more women in tech (though he concedes that these will probably not be effective due to the unappealing nature of the work for most women). It also seems like he’s attempting to improve the stifling work environment for those who don’t subscribe to this kind of politics.
The memo is an intriguing insight into one of the most powerful companies in the world today and the insidious nature of extremist politics. Among the many sensible statements Damore makes are: gender gaps do not imply sexism; diversity should not be moralised; people should be treated as individuals and not as groups; microaggressions and sensitivity training are fucking retarded (my phrasing); and, embracing honesty and reality are deeply important. He also concisely and informatively explains left and right political ideologies and biological gender identities.
Look at how benign those statements are - and look at the furor it caused. That’s the world we’re living in now. Damore is a classic liberal who’s being portrayed as a right-wing sexist. His words are also being misreported in the mainstream media’s coverage, which, from what I’ve seen, is appallingly lazy and intellectually dishonest. I encourage you to read the memo for yourselves - it’s not long and very accessible - and see what it actually says.
This memo is one of the most inoffensive things you’ll ever read and yet it ended James Damore’s Google career which is a disgrace. However, at the time of writing, he’s currently looking into legal action against Google - I applaud him for speaking truth to power and hope he takes these fuckers to the cleaners for an ass-load of money!
Facts, not feelings, guys.
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