In the few places I have worked over my lifetime I have seen a rise in the enforcement of politically correct policies in recent years. While these may appear to be a good thing at first it raises questions about where we are heading as a society and how the work place will function in the future.
Traditionally the social structure of a company was determined by the value of the employee on par with how they worked and how much a company made from their labor in exchange for the cost. Let’s face it, a company’s job is to pay its employees the least amount of money for the most amount of work. There is an agreement, an exchange here between employee and the company. The employee may enjoy what they are doing for a living and so the job is its own reward. The company, if it is smart will look for people who thrive in their chosen business with the hope of maximizing profits through these employees. The formula wasn’t complicated, until now.
With the workplace becoming more diverse policies are changing and there is a new generation of people coming in demanding a change from the old system. Criteria for jobs are changing but nobody seems to know what they are. There are odd classes with names like “hidden racism” and “proper use of pronouns.” The last one is kind of funny and I will explain in a moment. There is a re-education happening and while we look at places like China and cringe at the thought of people being put into camps to learn how to be a better citizen the same thing is happening here but under the threat of losing your job. Adapt or find new employment.
The pronoun game is for those who don’t understand language. The most common versions are he, she, and they, although there are many more that are being added all the time. What I find to be the most interesting about this topic is that people request to be called these pronouns, fair enough. When was the last time you referred to the person you were talking to as he? Or she? Or they? Why would you use these words when they have a name? these pronouns are for when you are talking to someone else about that person. “she said this.” “they did that.” “He is out of his mind.” The person is not present when you use these words. A person can request, or demand, how others talk about them while they are not present. Personal conversations are now subject to the public court of law.
There is another change in HR policies that is shaking things up, the use of hearsay and rumors is now being used as evidence for termination or disiplinary action. How a rumor looks can caused HR to hold a meeting to address how to move ahead. “This looks bad” is now cause for alarm as opposed to “is this true.” What would not hold up in court is good enough for a company to do something. There doesn’t appear to be due process anymore and with the “right to work” laws, a complete BS name, workers can no longer sue for unjust termination and employees can be fired for no reason at all. In fact, it is best to terminate an employee and not give a reason, leaving the company free from retaliation.
I don’t know where things are going with this. There was a time when talking politics at work was taboo but lately I have seen people carrying “I love abortion” backpacks and talking about being oppressed by white people, with some of this coming from white people. I sit back and scratch my head. I can see now the desire for people to work on their own, the desire to become one’s own boss and be free from such a strange social structure. When your very existence is always in question and everything you say or do can be interpreted in some strange way why would you want to work in that kind of environment?
I understand where the social justice movement came from. The desire to make the world a better place for everyone is a goal that we should strive for. Having people be accepted for who they are sounds like a good idea, but at what cost. Trying to force people to change who they are does the exact opposite of what the SJW movement says they want to do. Instead of creating one culture with a single goal in mind it creates an us versus them mentality that causes more division in the workplace with some people going into hiding rather than be exposed as the person they really are. In the end people are being hurt for the sake of not hurting people. This is why utopian novels turn into nightmares by the end.
There was a time when the country came together for one cause. There was no religion, race, or social background. Chaplains had to learn the rights of all religions as part of their job. Jim bob from corn country worked next to john smith from corporate America. These people had one goal in mind and differences were set aside to achieve that goal. We can look back and say “ya but they were killing Nazis and Japs” but keep in mind if that didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have had the civil rights movement. Do you think those years of just being Americans didn’t change things for the years that followed?
If the SJW movement is going to do anything besides piss people off they need to have one goal in mind. These petty little battles do little in the way of changing society and in the end, they resulted in the election of Donald Trump. Thanks a lot.