Who Should Lead Us?
drewdevault.com
drewdevault.com
I believe this fundamentally to be true, and not only for software or free software. A lot of things that people wish to be apolitical are political by nature, and like it or not you make political statements all the time about things.
"Just leave the politics out of it" is also a political statement, I see it often online made by gamers complaining about woman or minority characters in video games. Whatever you choose, it _is_ a political statement to make a character white, black or asian.
At best, "just leaving the politics out of it" is a sigh attempt to depolarize a discussion that it is about the explode. "Let's not go there" — as in accepting the futility of trying to come to some sort of consensus even though that's what we really would want.
And since everything is political what they really mean is "leave politics that I don't agree with out of it". COD historical revisionism to put USA in good light is ok but minorities in the games is too much politics?
I agree strongly with this- in that instance of human interaction, you cannot escape politics.
"Asking them to shut up and get in line, to suppress their identity, experiences, and politics, to avoid confronting you with uncomfortable questions about your biases and privileges by way of their existence alone – it’s not right.
...
Treating other people with respect, maturity, and professionalism, and valuing their contributions at any level, including leadership, regardless of their appearance or identity – that’s just part of being a good person."
These statements apply to people who are transgender and are easy to agree with. What's interesting to me is the nature of how it does not apply to everyone.
Depending on who you vote for or your views on social topics, it will not apply universally. There is a line where your identity, experiences, and politics become sufficiently distasteful to a group that they are unwelcome. At that point, you must suppress them to be welcome in the group.
Knowing how much his house costs is super creepy.