Do any other left wingers here keep their political views in the closet?

When I mean left wing I don't mean the over the top SJW types or even the pretend left wing democrats (up until Bernie rose to prominence that is)... I'm talking proper, old school left wing. Socialized healthcare, socialized college tuition, socialized trade school tuition, higher minimum wage as a bandaid until legislation to put employees on the board of companies like in Scandinavian countries is put in place, unions where necessary etc... some may consider a system where we have these things socialism, I consider it social democracy, but these are just semantics.

People act like they can separate political views from how they view and interact with people, but I've found this to be a lie generally (and of course, believe myself to be in the minority who somehow obviously manages it).

My bosses are centrist at "best", which is what I pretend to be. Really, if an uprising happened tomorrow, I'd be waving the red flag.

I'm not against people being paid well or amassing billions of dollars even, but the current system is far too unequal.

 

I'm "right wing" even though I was more left leaning a few years ago. Open to debating all of these topics and how to pay for them as some of the ideas make some sense.

I became "right wing" when they started spouting white men are evil, diversity above all, and democrats went full on communist giving free stuff to foreigners and speaking Spanish in debates. .

A lot of people are probably similar.

 

I'm a little to the right of you from what you've described but I voted for Clinton and when I'm at work I never mention my political beliefs. I've never been asked at work and when people bring up politics (esp if they're much farther right or left than me) I normally just say "oh okay" or "oh yeah." I've never seen a reason to say more except to not seem outright rude. If my peers bring them up I'll entertain the conversation for a bit, but I don't see much value in debating my friends who support Trump or who are borderline socialists.

 

I'll preface by saying that all "left wing" ideas are not terrible, but you sound like a 23yo who doesn't know wtf he is talking about. Once you mentioned Scandinavia you lost all credibility; you're comparing small, mostly homogenous countries to a fractured America that has no idea how many illegals are even in the country. Scandinavian socialist programs do not linearly scale up, and you'd be a fool to think so.

Now yes, society has become too unequal, but unrealistic policies of "free shit for all, you don't even have to be a citizen" can never be the answer. Root causes need to be examined even though they wouldn't be popular.

 
Pmc2ghy:
Once you mentioned Scandinavia you lost all credibility; you're comparing small, mostly homogenous countries to a fractured America that has no idea how many illegals are even in the country. Scandinavian socialist programs do not linearly scale up, and you'd be a fool to think so.

I hear this rationale referenced a lot but have never heard/seen evidence to back it up. Any recommended reading for that?

 

Uncle Bobo, try "Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right-and How We Can, Too". I think the book is a bit too optimistic for my taste but I think it gets essentials right. I'm kinda left-of-centre but that doesn't mean I preach diversity above all (I'm an ethnic minority and I think its kinda bs). More importantly the book shows which successes can and can't work in USA

 

Talking politics at work is almost never a good idea. I had a boss at work that was a hard enough trump supporter that it made sense to buy a MAGA hat. (yes it was made in china, and he ended up getting the ax, as did his boss who had different views later on for different reasons)

In polite company I describe myself as a "Rockefeller Republican" which is basically a dead term now. In more honest circles, I'd say I'm a bleeding heart libertarian. Let's instiute UHC and UBI and burn down the social safety net. Properly done the administrative costs are essentially zero unlike today, and we get a more dynamic society.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

My experience too. I recently worked in a small IB group in NYC (big bank but small group) where I was the only person who wasn't obsessed with hating Trump. One MD had some stupid Trump toy where you pull a string and Trump says something silly. Every one of our weekly team meetings devolved into commentary about how Trump is ruining America. The group even won some client business because of a sketchy arrangement with a Clinton Foundation guy who pretty much traded an intro to a F500 CEO for donations to the foundation. And I knew about this sketchy deal because even though it's something you'd normally keep quiet about, these guys couldn't stop themselves from blabbing about it.

I think they assumed (correctly) that I'm more right-leaning because I moved there from the south and I'd rather do my work and talk about baseball than politics. And because I was willing to get my lunch from Chik Fil A which they all refused to do because of . . you guessed it . . some political boycott of Chik Fil A for some reason or another.

It wouldve been nauseating if it wasn't also funny sometimes. Couldn't imagine a right-leaning group caring nearly that much though I'm sure it happens out in the boonies somewhere.

 

I completely agree. Having lurked this forum for quite some time I realize the majority on the street (or WSO) are right leaning, but that's moreso a reflection of the common archetype that enters the high finance industry.

Not saying you should keep yourself in a vacuum of people who think and act like you, but I think it's important to have a friends group that you can feel comfortable being yourself around.

As a URM, I just never will be comfortable with some of my colleagues at happy hours or when we go out and they go on drunk political rants reverberating whatever Trump/Fox News happens to be spewing at the time. I'm more light skinned, so I guess they feel comfortable letting their guard down and letting out their raw thoughts around with me (with alc of course) but I know if I was visibly more black/hispanic/minority looking, they would probably wait till I wasn't around to start these convos.

Didn't really have any direction with this post, but that I do agree with you, at least on the social aspect of the spectrum. I find my closest friends (banking or not) to be other minorities or fellas who grew up in the same mixed race neighborhoods that I did (urban, 5 boroughs, you get the point), as I know they don't think of my people as potential terrorists/criminals or whatever the current narrative is.

Just know how to keep a balance and not let anything affect you too emotionally and it'll only become more of a refined skill; becoming malleable with whatever group of people you're tasked to work with.

Array
 
porzingod7:
I completely agree. Having lurked this forum for quite some time I realize the majority on the street (or WSO) are right leaning, but that's moreso a reflection of the common archetype that enters the high finance industry.

Not saying you should keep yourself in a vacuum of people who think and act like you, but I think it's important to have a friends group that you can feel comfortable being yourself around.

As a URM, I just never will be comfortable with some of my colleagues at happy hours or when we go out and they go on drunk political rants reverberating whatever Trump/Fox News happens to be spewing at the time. I'm more light skinned, so I guess they feel comfortable letting their guard down and letting out their raw thoughts around with me (with alc of course) but I know if I was visibly more black/hispanic/minority looking, they would probably wait till I wasn't around to start these convos.

Didn't really have any direction with this post, but that I do agree with you, at least on the social aspect of the spectrum. I find my closest friends (banking or not) to be other minorities or fellas who grew up in the same mixed race neighborhoods that I did (urban, 5 boroughs, you get the point), as I know they don't think of my people as potential terrorists/criminals or whatever the current narrative is.

Just know how to keep a balance and not let anything affect you too emotionally and it'll only become more of a refined skill; becoming malleable with whatever group of people you're tasked to work with.

Being a minority doesn't immediately and neatly place you into an ideological camp. 28% of Hispanics voted for Trump (and according to some polls, he may actually be gaining there), and 40% did for GW Bush. Just sayin.

 

actually I've found most of my friends in finance are left leaning. Getting an education will do that to you.

Snarky comment aside, I actually find that finance is fairly evenly split - just like society overall. I don't tend to share my political views at work itself, but I do with friends / socially outside of the office, even if they are industry peers. I find politics talk not necessary in the office, esp since I'm passionate about my views. Knowing that some of the MDs voted for Trump wouldn't help me work with them any better. When I'm in the office, it's all about the mission. And I suggest when you're in the office, you also make it all about the mission. Don't allow politics to make your work life any harder.

 

I think this has to do with an indoctrination of sorts, not necessarily a "political" one but a guilt of class so to speak. Most people don't really know anything outside of their class bubble until they go to college. Even then people are insulated to real class divide but they start to get exposed to it and the guilt builds. Liberalism is generally a grouping of political ideas that permeate from guilt. This is why liberals can not understand poor conservatives, the liberals do not understand why poor people wouldn't accept their glorious help. It turns out, people prefer to be their own people.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 
heister:
I think this has to do with an indoctrination of sorts, not necessarily a "political" one but a guilt of class so to speak. Most people don't really know anything outside of their class bubble until they go to college. Even then people are insulated to real class divide but they start to get exposed to it and the guilt builds. Liberalism is generally a grouping of political ideas that permeate from guilt. This is why liberals can not understand poor conservatives, the liberals do not understand why poor people wouldn't accept their glorious help. It turns out, people prefer to be their own people.

Couldn't agree more with your last 2 sentences. It's unreal to see the pure bewilderment.

 

I think the left right wing way of thinking of things needs to end. Preferably, in favor to the four quadrant political spectrum. X-axis being economic thought and Y-axis being authoritarian. That way you can say, economically I lean very far right but I also lean very anti-authoritarian, or economically I lean far left but also anti-authoritarian.

Gun rights activist
 

The four quadrant thing is in my view a terrible representation of reality, it is far better than the left right nonsense but you really need a three dimensional representation. A globe for example would be ideal. People don't realize that ultra far left and ultra far right are almost identical in their authoritarian views, the only difference really is who or what would be the target of the authoritarian oppression. Just because different targets are picked doesn't mean that the tactics are suddenly different.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

I will add that if you talk politics at work, or even in other settings, you need to be respectful about it and try to keep it to the issues, not the politicians. If you don't, then you'll end up in an echo chamber where you won't hear anything except your own views parroted back at you. That's not good in work or in life.

Personally, I'm friends with hippies who've spent time being homeless, and an individual that was once employed by the office of a congressman who threatened to throw a reporter off of a balcony on camera.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

I am left leaning and have no issue with saying so. I have found the most enjoyable political discussions happen with the people I work with. One of my business partners brought a buddy out when we were in Texas who worked on a prominent republican's campaign and that is probably one of the best times I ever had discussing politics because he was an awesome guy to talk to and explained his points well.

The only time you shouldn't talk politics is if you're around idiots or people you don't know too, tooooo well and generally you should ask if they're cool with it first since sometimes you just want to get shitfaced and eat chicken. If you're all well-versed in how to present and argue something then generally you won't dissolve into a yelling match.

 

Somehow you managed to stumble upon a liberal leaning part of finance. I have worked in finance in the northeast for a long time and have never experienced a left leaning environment.

 

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