Startled by what they do not understand, the hypersensitization of all the US adult population demographics is a simple cause and effect relationship between stimuli and negative emotions, a process of coercion that has been perfected by the big data architects of the tech world. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the hormone-laden factories of the pre-Covid college campuses, where resources are allocated through meticulous committees to offer undergrads teetering on the edge because of their social media page failing to update due to a temporary system glitch of their latest adventure in posting a bone headed challenge and synopsis to enhance their status, the entire creature comforts of extended daycare services minus the hugs. More established adults react in bizarre and pathological ways, acting out through a hunker down bunker style of Cold War isolation maneuvers, creating awkward and tedious interactions on rare trips to the grocery store in hoarding Fancy Feast, bathroom tissue, and unflavored gelatin, their tax dollars proudly funding the enablement of younger cohorts with the prevalence of “safe zones” hastily strewn around institutions of higher learning like eclectic tent cities popping up in cities up and down the West coast. Liberal pundits and the tech realm have got society exactly where they want, as a significant number of minds and hearts are silly putty for deprogramming and reeducation, a group of people who would rather be overrun with propaganda and positive reinforcement, than to face fear from unknown derived from itself, and having to endure the rigors achieving an accomplishment on their own. Unfortunately, this phenomenon has spilled over to the workplace, where conflicts and vibrant colors, and the cutting-edge, and the daring are muted and discouraged by the management, throughout an entire world where the world slowly dissolves in an eternal haze of gray.
As water cooler discussions of current events, sports and politics have been virtually eliminated from the daily work experience, unless the conversation aligns with the agenda of the business, in many cases Conservatives are being outed and isolated, and in extreme cases terminated, simply for their choice of ideology. The aforementioned tech hierarchy has aggressively proliferated the message that right of center thinking will not be tolerated, as the paramount example involves a former Google employee, who was fired for sharing an email memo with fellow employees expressing concern and disdain for a corporate culture blatantly intolerant to employees with Conservative viewpoints. The beleaguered worked filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Google’s parent company Alphabet, Inc., which was ultimately dismissed at the request of the plaintiff. There are no clear indications whether the tech hierarchy are addressing the dual ongoing issues of personal politics and privacy concerns.
A business is obviously afforded the freedom to make their own rules if procedure falls under the umbrella of law and passes the Constitutional test, however, as the nation is still figuring out the norms and kinks pertaining to just how ingrained online reputations are in the context of society. While the more and more employers discourage a specific ideology, ironically, the broad scope and heavy use of digital applications and platforms provide decision makers with the ability to monitor and track the politics of workers, cementing the disconcerting notion that personal beliefs are becoming way too public, and indicating that the privacy controls of the social networks are in dire need of reevaluation and how individuals rights apply to this bold and new frontier.
In the latest incident of the lines of work and life blurred by a failed policy, an employee at Citigroup was terminated from a corporate IT security position for their alleged involvement with a conspiracy theory website and app. CBS News reports that the worker spent hours of free time supporting infrastructure hosting controversial QAnon content. The heavily scrutinized and largely discredited information paints the false narrative that President Trump is battling an Illuminati-type organization comprised of prominent former Democrats, including the Clintons, in trafficking and cannibalizing children for the sake of “spirit cooking”, and world domination. While the idea of “Pizzagate” and the various narratives are absolutely ridiculous, the manner and method in which the employee was let go, points to a developing impasse, where First Amendment rights take second fiddle to what a business believes is best for the itself and the country. Citigroup claims that the sole reason for dismissal was a result of “no second job” clause being violated.
Company brass were apparently first alerted to the financially compensated tech support role the worker filled behind the scenes of the controversial site by an article published on the fact checking site, Logically.ai, revealing the employee’s role in the upkeep of aggregator Qmap.pub, and with an associated app that for a time appeared on the Google play. The website is currently down and the app was removed for violating the terms and conditions of the Google’s digital marketplace. The data sleuth hounds were apparently working on a coordinated campaign to unmask the elusive leader and the heart and soul of QAnon “Q”, by narrowing the search in exposing and castigating associates and related minions.
The Logically story first appeared September 10, not only giving details of the professional credentials of the employee in question, but leaked personal information providing specific geographical references to within a seven minute drive from the worker’s residence. The release of personal and sensitive information to legions of ravenous hyenas rivals the 2017 scandal of an NCAA basketball referee doxxed on radio by a relentless talk show host and fan, encouraging listeners to post poor reviews on the ref’s F***book business page, and make harassing calls to the man’s home. In a lawsuit filed against the radio talk show host by the referee, a district court judge ruled in favor of the defendant and that the notoriety of the sports official within the public sphere of major college basketball was relevant to public discourse. The broadcast personality was effectively let off the hook for any liability, or being responsible for the actions of his listeners to act on their own accord in focusing their ire on destroying the livelihood of the ref.
The investigation team at Logically.ai traced the online records and actions of the former Citigroup employee through a disturbingly complex and impressive chain of digital clues and data worthy of Holmes in building a complete dossier of the individual. Built on information compiled from social networking, domain registries, IP addresses, and logical assertions, the professional activities interlaced with personal nuances of a private citizen in question was instantaneously made public through one click of the mouse. Chillingly, the involved steps to remain anonymous through a lengthy data trail were stripped away in nano-seconds, and all for the sake of politics.
While the fate of the ex-IT worker does not set an official precedent dictating the future course or application of procedure, the deep pockets of the tech overlords and limitless legal resources will not deter the influence of the workplace invading the home. Without any separation between the office and the sanctuary of the living room, politics have now become a factor in job sustainability, a choice that is presently up to the individual, but thanks to the digital echo and the perfect memory of the internet, certain ideologies can choose to facilitate a witch hunt at a moment’s notice, and implement the vaporization of credibility as well and employability. As the leaders of Silicon Valley perpetuate an implacable leftist agenda, the rules of the game are so severely skewed, that the any reasonable gesture of resistance is almost laughable.
Currently, there are no checks in balances in place to prevent the harm to the reputation of individual through well-placed posts on social networking or articles left published on obscure websites. While libel and slander stipulations apply to straightforward instances, the intricacies and stratification of digital platforms are just too nuanced for the legal system to handle, especially in a case that rivals the firing and character assassination of the Citigroup former employee, who is eternally tainted by political beliefs.
The sobering notion is that in a few years, nearly the entire population of the professional workforce in the US will be scattered throughout the online universe through chinks of data readily accessible to what is construed to be the public domain of the internet, that the playing field will technically be leveled. But with lawmakers on board with the tax concessions and protections of the tycoons and tech, professional life will never be the same without politics, and vise versa.