Worldwide Mass Protests

[Icarus]

Most people do not bother to read ingredient labels Tom. 

As for re-naming products and places, I think that we are taking political correctness to an extreme. Sure enough if the manufacturers want to change the name of their products, like Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben,s rice, or Famous Amos cookies, I am fine with that.  Statues all over The U.S. are being removed or destroyed.  I am not much in favor of that practice as it does not fix the problem. The real kicker is the intent to change the names of many of our military bases.  Some of them have names that are said to be in honor of some Confederate person of previous importance.  That may be true but it is news to me. .

Then of course there are the names of cities. Start with Washington DC.  President Washington was a slave trader.  How about Thomas Jefferson one of our histories exceptional individuals?   Jefferson City, is the capitol of the state of Missouri. Florida has several cities and towns with names like Fort Meade, Fort Myers, and several more.  Jefferson was a plantation owner with numerous slaves.  He is said to have fathered a child with one of his favorite female slaves.  Are we going to rename our cities because of runaway PC?  Alas, Mount Rushmore's likenesses may need to be revised.

Our currency has pictures of dead presidents.  The one dollar bill has Washington. The five is OK because it has Lincoln. The ten has Hamilton, Jackson is on the 20, Grant is OK he is on the 50.  Will we be obliged to change the pictures on some of our currency in order to apologize for past harms?  If so, my piggy bank has a bunch of offensive nickles.  The nickle has an embossed likeness of Jefferson. 

We are in a heap of trouble with some of this stuff.  Southerners will be obliged to dismiss some of their colloquialisms too. For instance: "wait a cotton pickin' minute".  That one has to go for sure.   

[billy rubin]

my great grandfather was an infantryman in tbe confederacy under baxton bragg at chickamauga.

bragg was not a particularly good general. and was replaced.

jackson was a genocidal bastard. i would happily see hiz face erased from the twenty dollar bill.

my position is that tbe public space belongs to the living public, not to history or dead people. if a statue of andrew jackson iz offensive to the people who currently live in its shadow, then i tbink they should be able to move it to somewhere it is wanted. there are plenty of museumz that can take that stuff out of their public space.

[Tom62]

My wife has given me the great advice not to read or listen to the media any more, because they are part of the problem. Instead of bringing objective and factual news, they are only out there to "trigger" people, manipulate emotions, create controversies and instil fear and hatred. I think the whole world has gone bananas, but it is better for my blood pressure and it is safer for my job security, not to comment on these events any more. One "wrong" statement and you could get banned on social media and even lose your job.

[Davin]

Must be weird having opinions that would get you fired if you expressed them publicly.

[Tom62]

Must be weird having opinions that would get you fired if you expressed them publicly.

It is indeed a strange time that we are living in. 

[Dark Lightning]

At my former employer, after the abuse of employees by fellow employees that went unaddressed by HR and management resulted in some high-dollar awards to the complaining parties, we all got to sit through a 90-minute lecture given by a corporate attorney on how to behave at work. No off-color jokes, etc. The big one was physically abusing fellow employees. In the old regime it was recognized by us long-timers as a method for promotion into management. I kid you not. The new regime simply walks the perp out the door, after debriefing them.

[Randy]

Must be weird having opinions that would get you fired if you expressed them publicly.

I had to be somewhat careful too. My former company was run by right winged religious people. It was a family owned company but incorporated. They played Faux News on the main screen in the reception area. Now with co-workers I could get away with my points of view but I dare not say anything to a vice-president or corporate officer.

One of the reasons they like Georgia so much is that a person can be fired simply for looking at someone wrong. We have laws of course for protecting free speech but that doesn't mean they can't find another reason to fire someone.

[Davin]

None of my opinions have endangered any of my jobs. My employers are conservative and I'm in a right to work state. My views are often contrary to those of my employers.

So it must be weird to have opinions that will get you fired. What kind of opinions must those be? Some examples would help.

[Randy]

Opinions: Like, "religions are cults, just larger." "We don't need a religious country, it's secular and that's the way it should remain." "I can't fathom listening to Rush Limburger. What a waste of time and brain cells."

Okay, so maybe not quite so caustic but if it goes against God, guns, and glory in any way, shape, or form, watch out!

[No one]

The skin thinning of humanity is quite discouraging.

[Davin]

Opinions: Like, "religions are cults, just larger." "We don't need a religious country, it's secular and that's the way it should remain." "I can't fathom listening to Rush Limburger. What a waste of time and brain cells."

Okay, so maybe not quite so caustic but if it goes against God, guns, and glory in any way, shape, or form, watch out!

Who has been fired for expressing those opinions?

[Randy]

While I was there, no one that I knew of. It was just an unwritten rule among the co-workers. We simply did not talk about it.

[Davin]

Choosing not to talk about something to honor unwritten rules, is different from thin skinned employers firing employees for saying things that offends them.

And there is a lot of area between the two for a rich gradient of possibilities.

And that doesn't even get into the area of justifiably firing someone for what that person said.

[Randy]

Davin, you are right. I should know better. I concede.