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diff --git a/blog/tech-bros.org b/blog/tech-bros.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d027c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/tech-bros.org @@ -0,0 +1,92 @@ +#+title: Tech Bros +#+author: Preston Pan +#+description: and other people that other people hate. +#+html_head: <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../style.css" /> +#+html_head: <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/apple-touch-icon.png"> +#+html_head: <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/favicon-32x32.png"> +#+html_head: <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/favicon-16x16.png"> +#+html_head: <link rel="manifest" href="/site.webmanifest"> +#+html_head: <link rel="mask-icon" href="/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#5bbad5"> +#+html_head: <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#da532c"> +#+html_head: <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"> +#+html_head: <meta name="viewport" content="width=1000; user-scalable=0;" /> +#+language: en +#+OPTIONS: broken-links:t +* Introduction +People use the term "tech bro" in a pejorative manner. This blog post is meant to be a cultural analysis +of why people hate tech bros, and, in general, this blog post is meant to be a cultural analysis of tolerance and intolerance +towards groups of people. In general, I believe that progressive or liberal cultural values are just as intolerant +as conservative cultural values; progressives will tell me that this is wrong for many reasons, and I will try to give +my best explanation as to why the common retorts are made from a misinformed stance. + +I think related to the culture of hating tech bros is hating self proclaimed smart people. Many like to make sarcastic +or ironic remarks after people self-report intelligence, even though downplaying identity in any other context would +be culturally unacceptable. In general, this is the case for people that are confident in any conventionally useful +identity trait. People are, generally speaking, much more tolerant of "punching up" -- a concept that /shouldn't exist/ +if you take a postmodern outlook on identity. The rich are often made fun of in various ways, for example. In response +to the statement I just made, someone might make fun of that fact, say, "oh no, not rich people!", or some sarcastic +or ironic statement to that effect. I think this cultural phenomenon is toxic -- the statement "these people are doing +better, therefore I can make fun of them" is not logically valid. A does not imply B -- "these people are doing better" +does not imply "therefore, I get to be mean to them". It is just not a good reason to punch up. Ideally you'd consider +the fact that the quality of categories of people doesn't matter in the face of individual people. + +Now, I understand the mentality of people that do this. There are common arguments that this is to be expected because of +they themselves are a part of many marginalized groups; punching up seems to be an empowering way to use that against +those same people who punch down. What people in general don't understand, I think, is that there are no groups of people, +only individuals inside those categories. People that others in general make fun of aren't a monolithic group, and even +progressives seem to not be able to register this fact at times. +** Sexism and Feminism +Now, I will also point out that sexism literally exists for everyone, not just women. +I've heard the statement "I hate men" many times throughout my life, genuinely unable to tell whether +or not they are being ironic. Obviously, one could say they are expressing their own personal life +experiences, many of which may be negative, but people who are otherwise sexist or racist also do that. And, no, +I don't think it's because "men lose out from the patriarchy too"; I think most people that subscribe to feminist +analysis in practice don't pay attention to this after giving some minor lip service to this. +I have no problem with feminism; it's a useful tool for observing the world, and the patriarchy is just a descriptive +term (it is a model of the world that can be correct or incorrect, just like other +models), and people may have their opinions about what is happening in the real world based on said descriptive models. +But for most people, I don't think having said prescriptive opinion is useful because most people can't meaningfully change +other people. If that is the case, it makes more sense to create a descriptive model than a prescriptive model. Unless, +of course, your goal is to appear morally righteous to your peers. If that is the case, I'm not even judging you -- +I'm just calling this behavior out because it doesn't currently get enough attention. + +I'm not a feminist, but I'm not an anti-feminist. There are interesting points to be discussed regarding feminism, +but I think there is value in using the same descriptive outlooks and coming to different conclusions. Yet, +something tells me that there are some things that people would not like to actually think about from a morally neutral +perspective (I am personally favorable to the argument that patriarchy is a /bad/ thing -- but then again, I think +Capitalism is a /good/ thing, and apparently [[https://www.thegazelle.org/issue/199/capitalism-patriarchy-inseperable][Capitalism implies patriarchy]]. Wait, what does /good/ or /bad/ mean +in the first place? Well, I actually think those terms are ultimately /meaningless/ -- but that's for another article). +** Race +The only race of people for which there is no slur is white people. Now, the term "cracker" might be seen as a slur, +but many don't consider it to be, and the fact that I'm able to put it in quotes and just put it there as opposed +to the N-word or the C-word might tell you that there's a special status assigned to "cracker" (note that I myself +am allowed to say the C-word, or "chink", as I am asian. Yet I don't think this rule "should" exist either). + +Using the same "punching up" mentality, you can make the argument for assigning this special status. Yet, it's kind +of psychotic in my opinion to make fun of someone's race. I've heard people say, "I hate white people" in the same +way I've heard people say, "I hate men". I think they use irony to mask what they think in the same way ultra +white-nationalist people do. Not to compare them in any other way, though. + +Not everyone that has white privilege feels it. Depending on your definition, not all white people may even have +white privilege. It's not very empathetic or progressive to just say you hate white people. In truth, it is pretty +deranged. The same is true for saying you hate men. +** Confidence/Intelligence +People who are confident about their intelligence or some other form of personality trait generally considered positive +often are the butt of jokes. You get the point already, "I am oppressed, they are not, therefore let's be assholes" is +not a logically coherent reason to just be an asshole to someone i.e. mock them when they are trying to tell you something +that probably reflects some reality. +** Class +Same argument applies in almost the exact same way, read above. +* Conclusion +This is to say, tech bros are one of the most well-paid, intelligent, disproportionately white and male populations on +the planet. I believe this is why they are also the most hated people in the progressive sphere, and one of the more +misunderstood classes of people in my culture as a result. That statement might /sound/ really wrong to you. I don't +want any conservative audience either championing anything that I say, because I think the conservative/"libertarian" +crowd is one of the main sources of people shutting their brains off. Still, conservative /sounding/ statements are just +tasteless to the progressive culture, even if they point to some reality. I wish to live until the day we ask ourselves +/why/. + +And everything that I've said applies in the opposite direction, obviously. This should go without saying, but +saying that you "hate women" is even more deranged than saying you hate men, and the same with race as well. Though, +I didn't include this because everyone in my culture already knows. They need to desperately hear the other side of +the story. Not to say that I have any influence over culture, anyway -- but it's fun sometimes to try. |