While I generally refrain from commenting on specific issues, there's  a recent development which caught my interest both due to its wider contemporary relevance and to its connection with a general social trait that I have been noticing. Brendan Eich, the CEO of Mozilla, ended up having to resign (was forced out) when his campaign contributions to an anti gay legislation in 2008 recently became public knowledge. This outcome was precipitated/hastened by a massive outcry by individuals and companies which do not  agree with his position, threatening loss of business for the various Mozilla subsidiaries. In summary here is a person who supported a position which is very quickly losing the majority support (and for good reason in my opinion) by acting perfectly within the legal framework and was punished for it in a way that reeks of mob vigilantism. It also serves as a very good example of a general principle which seems more true now than ever before, flourishing as it is within the deep reach and unifying power of modern mass communication. The principle is one of the diminishing middle where people with centrist, often nuanced, opinions are drowned in the rhetoric and the noise which is generated by the raucous majority. The middle is diminishing faster today because the majority grows bigger, finding it easier to coalesce through the glue of internet and mass media. This is not to say that Eich's views were centrist but intelligent and discerning observers would probably have considered them with more nuance and they would probably have given him more space for his positions which, after all, are quite legal. Intelligent people would also have better evaluated Eich's worth as a technologist separating his personal views from his professional services and capabilities. However doing all of this requires thinking and suspending our deep seated prejudices, something that large groups are not particularly good at. Large groups have always sought simple explanations and have always bayed for blood and revenge in different forms. Large groups become large by crushing dissenting voices and this instance is just another manifestation of this general tendency. Society, just like almost everything else, seems to be moving towards greater conformity in the form of bigger consolidations. The result is an all pervading "us vs. them" narrative which is as bland and as soulless as it is annoying for people who can still think. I wish Eich didn't have to resign. Not because I agree with his position (I don't) but because it reinforces the bad precedent of the rule of the mob over logical and respectful discourse between dissenting thoughts. Because it takes away a little more emphasis from the colorful individual and gives it to the intellectually dead mob.
Tag Archive: group
Resignation of Brendan Eich
Posted by Ankit On April 3rd, 2014