Aug 17, 2017
WHY I AM TAKING A STAND WITH JAMES DAMORE AGAINST LEFTIST AUTHORITARIAN LYNCH MOBS
Preface:
That many will misunderstand where I am coming from with this post is probably inevitable, but I hope to pre-empt some cases of it with this preamble, based on my learnings from the feedback I received on my original Facebook post.
I understand that we are in the midst of a volatile cultural moment. I understand that many minorities are hurting and scared right now. And that many people don’t believe a white male should be penning provocative pieces that could hurt others further.
However, I believe we are at a critical cultural, political, social and economic moment where the perspective I am putting forth in this post matters and urgently needs to be heard.
I recognize that there are people who I will never convince of this viewpoint and that I will be the target of a lot of negatively charged emotions. So be it. It is important I give voice to an increasingly silenced Trans-Partisan group of Moderates, who are caught in the middle of the race to the extremists ends of the political spectrum. This silenced group includes both men and women, many of whom have reached out to me privately. You may think all your friends agree with you that the perspective presented in this post is entitled crap, but you would be hypocritically ignoring your own role in others not feeling safe to speak their truth.
I hope this post can serve as some kind of catalyst for the people who already identify with this viewpoint to feel less alone and to find each other. Many have told me it has already had that effect. I hope that it may reawaken other Trans-Partisan Moderates who forgot this vantage point was an option.
I hope you’ll take the time to read many of the illuminating comment threads from the original facebook post linked at the bottom of this post, which provides an incredible ethnographic cross-sectional sample of where people’s hearts and minds are at this critical moment in human history.
I hope you’ll recognize that underneath the intensity of this post is an Ocean of Compassion and Love.
I AM TAKING A STAND WITH JAMES DAMORE AGAINST LEFTIST AUTHORITARIAN LYNCH MOBS
When I first heard about James Damore’s Memo I thought he probably wrote something that could be characterized as scientifically unsound and offensive, but should not be fired for it.
When I finally found the time to read the actual 10 page memo this week I was shocked.
I couldn’t believe how badly he had been mischaracterized in the media and how much outrage there was on social media considering what he actually wrote.
People claim he said that women aren’t meant for engineering roles when he was merely summarizing the current establised literature of academic personality psychology and was careful to not apply generalizations about populations to specific individuals by wrting, “Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions.”
Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai said Damore’s memo violated the “Code of Conduct and crossed the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace” when he was merely stating the descriptive data from a peer reviewed psychology study that used the Big 5 model to explore the question, “How big are gender differences in personality and interests, and how stable are these differences across cultures and over time?”
After I read his actual memo, I realized most people had not read the memo and were more invested in being angry and self-righteous than having an honest inquiry and debating the science.
Overall, I found the memo to be an incredibly reasonable and well argued perspective, on a timely and controversial topic, that was nuanced and deserving of a level headed debate.
I feel compelled to speak up and say that:
I am a liberal, who is for Women Empowerment, who is taking a stand with James Damore.
I am taking a stand against Leftist Authoritarian Lynch Mobs.
I stand with James Damore.
In fact, I am exercising my White Male Privilege to do so.
Furthermore, I am using my Privilege of Self-Employment to be able to stand up to this Mob of Shame and Social Coercion without Fear of Financial Consequences.
I am not ashamed of my White Male Privilege.
I am Emboldened by its Bestowed Responsibility to speak out for Justice and Higher Truth.
I am speaking out against Leftist Authoritarianism.
Let it be known that if you are Angry, you are not Seeing Clearly.
If you are Triggered, you are not Seeing Clearly.
If you are attached to your role as Victim or Hero or others as Oppressor, then you are not Seeing Clearly.
If you don’t believe me, study your religion’s version of the Dharma.
Then come back to me.
The Dalai Lama said, “anger does not get you anywhere… Thinking this way you realise that anger is no use for solving problems. It creates more problems…If you can calm your mind and be patient, you will be a wonderful example to those around you.”
Even if you don’t agree with James Damore’s points, if you believe he should be fired for what he wrote then you…
Are part of the Problem of Intolerance that you claim to be Fighting Against.
Perhaps most importantly, Focusing on the Content of the Memo and its Rebuttals are actually NOT the Point.
Because the Left is Engaged in a Reactive, Socially Violent Form of Counter-Oppression.
Effectively Breaking the Container in which Solutions could Possibly be found to the very Complex Question of…
“If we want both Men and Women, and the Organizations they represent to Flourish, what Policies should be Enacted to Enable that Future?”
Like it or not, no Societal Scale Solution will be found to this problem anytime soon.
There are simply too many Cognitively Advanced Adults with the Emotional Maturity and Self-Awareness of a Child.
Growing up takes Commitment, Time and really, Lifetimes.
However, what is possible is…
To play a part in creating your own Organizations and Communities..
Which seek to Embody and Enact the Highest Potentialities of what is Possible at this Point in Time.
That is what I am working on.
I hope you’ll join me.
P.S.
There were many illuminating comment threads that emerged amongst the 260+ comments on this post on Facebook. You can read up on them on my facebook post directly since it is public: https://www.facebook.com/maxhmarmer/posts/10211513035875595 or catch up on a selected archive I’ve copied to my blog: http://www.maxmarmer.com/blog/selected-archived-facebook-comments-post-standing-james-damore/
Further reading on related blog posts of mine that support this perspective and worldview:
1 — What Is My Summarized Critique Of The Left Wing Cultural Movement And Political Party?
2- Why I Really Don’t Like The Postmodernist Concept of “Privilege”
4 — How to Use Evolutionary Psychology To Overcome Your Fear of Being Judged
5 — New Agers Are Metaphysical Lightweights
