Suppose that, at your workplace, or university, you and all other employees/students are notified by your boss: “In support of (or opposition to) a particular Political Cause XYZ, we are all going to wear sloganed T-shirts (or kneel before a game, or wear buttons/hats, or change profile pictures, etc.”
You don’t know for sure what the consequences would be if you refuse, but you know it would be bad. Furthermore, even though you disagree with the stance, you are the only one and all your coworkers/colleagues hold the view opposite of yours.
Could be BLM (for or against,) or abortion (for or against,) LGBT (for or against,) a particular piece of legislation (for or against,) etc. To what extent would you resist?
I would reluctantly comply
I would partially comply (if this is possible)
I would never comply, up to suffering full consequences
Did something like this happen IRL or is this just one of those thought experiments to get us all worked up about a hypothetical thought police situation?
I might or might not adhere while I looked for another job. If other jobs had the same requirement, or this were a national thing, I might comply while I figured out how to get the hell away.
This sort of happened to me yesterday (a colleague wanting me to sign a petition). I explained why I disagreed with the policy that the petition was asking the powers that be to implement, and suggested some other people in my department who might be more amenable to the cause. No drama. The colleague is not someone who has any power over me, but I would have done the same thing if it has been my chair or dean, and I also would not expect there to be any drama.
I can’t say for sure what I would do if I worked somewhere there was a realistic possibility of negative repercussions for that sort of thing, but I can’t imagine I would be especially attached to a job where I did expect there to be bad consequences for thoughtful disagreement, so unless I really needed the money, I think I would probably do exactly the same thing.
I was put in a similar position back in the early '90s. I was Art Director in a NYC ad agency, and we were given the account for the Presidential bid of Pat Robertson. I was (and still am) vehemently opposed to virtually everything that man stood for, and I refused to work on it. This was unheard of in the advertising business; you never turned down a job. But I refused, and would have lost my job over it, but another Art Director stepped in and handled the account.
I work fior a multi-national company - they are very diverse, LGBTQ friendly, and strive to create an inclusive work environment. They’d never do that. We are discouraged from even talking politics at work.
Given that, if they tried something like the OP scenario, I’d fight it hard. Not just because I’m an old fart that don’t take no crap - I used to fight similar things when I was young, too.
I have the luxury of being old enough and financially secure enough to take early retirement, so I’d refuse. If anybody gave me crap, I’d file my retirement paperwork that day. If I were 10 years younger, my answer might be different.
Depends what it is. There’s a lot of stuff I support broadly, but won’t come out and publicly rah-rah for.
For example, I’m pro-LGBQ being treated equally and don’t like homophobia, but I don’t do Pride stuff, and if the place I was working insisted we all start wearing rainbow then I’d probably put up a different (inoffensive) flag on my desk or something, or just tactfully avoid the issue when it came up.
I absolutely refuse to participate in most "Acknowledgement of Country" stuff in urban/city areas, however. I’ve skipped over it when opening meetings and making speeches.
In my state, it’s illegal to discriminate against someone for their political beliefs or activities, so your employer can’t legally do anything if you say “No, I’m not taking part in this”. I mean, they can’t fire you over it, but good luck proving you didn’t get that promotion or whatever because you made waves over a virtue-signalling exercise the company was engaging in.
At work I’d never get involved in any political issue whether I agree with it or not.
It is none of the company’s business and there is no way under UK employment law that they could legally compel me to.
Recently there were a set of courses that were “highly recommeded” and were to do with a currently fashionable political and social cause and I just didn’t do it. By all accounts they were preachy, patronising and generally offensive so I think I made the right choice.
Me too, my company is Japanese owned and is global. They avoid all politics and encourge diversity. Love it here.
But they do kind of push United Way every year, which for various reasons I do not support. No punishment for not giving but it kind of sucks every year to explain to your manager why they will not get a 100% contribution from their group.
Even if I supported the cause, I would object to being forced to wear a slogan as a condition of employment. Not sure I’d object openly, it would be a delicate matter. Maybe if I supported the slogan generally, but didn’t like the heavy handedness, I’d wear my own slogan, or bring a handmade sign… let them fire me over that.
A lot of places doing virtue signaling really want compliance, not virtue. And they want it fast, no discussion. So this act could be perceived as insubordination.
Oh, having worked with top echolons of my current company and having been on the receiving end of their uguarded views I know exactly how much they actually care about these issues de jour. None.
It is purely to deflect attention, an attempt to say “please don’t come for us, look at how nice we are!” It is literally the least they can do and it is all performative. A gesture that is insincere and empty that has pretty much everyone around me rolling their eyes.
I’m only vaguely familiar with the issues with UW - one of which is that most of the contributions go to administrative overhead. The other being this covert social pressure, as in they’re guilt-tripping you for bringing down both the group, and your manager.
I can’t possibly answer without knowing what the issue is. Although I have opinions on almost everything, they are not held equally strongly. I’m a hardcore pro-choicer, having donated more money to Planned Parenthood and volunteered more hours as a clinic escort than I can even remember. So although it’s hard to imagine I would end up working for a place that would pressure me to endorse an anti-abortion stance, I might be willing to stake my livelihood on it if push came to shove. On the other hand, I think the October breast cancer awareness campaign is silly (maybe it wasn’t when it started, but I think we’re all as aware now as the great annual pinkwashing could possibly make us), and I have reservations about how the Komen foundation spends its money. So I wouldn’t be particularly keen to jump on that bandwagon in any way. But if it was a work thing that we’re all wearing a pink ribbon and maybe walking for the cure or whatever, I’m not sure that would be the hill I’d choose to die on.
it also depends on how had bad the range of bad consequence might be. Am I, now nearing retirement, going to lose everything I put in the pension plan? What does that mean for my pensionless wife?
I can definitely see being given a legal, but in my view immoral, workplace order, as a reason to retire.
If this had something to do with an entire society losing freedoms, the most moral stance might be to keep your resistance secret.
I just have a straight-up policy of I do not wear or display anything overtly political. I can’t imagine this ever coming up (especially as I’m my own boss) but in the interest of not fighting the hypothetical, it’s a big “fuck no” from me. I don’t see how an employer can compel you to do that. I don’t care what the political message is, even if it’s something I agree with. No. I am not wearing a Biden or Obama tee shirt any more than I’m wearing a Trump or Bush one.
I simply wouldn’t participate. I don’t even wear political accoutrements for issues I strongly agree/identity with so I’m not going to wear it for something I disagree with. Unless you’re working for a tiny company, odds are good a lot of other employees aren’t going to participate either. Even some that might want to will forget about it in the morning.