Comments on: Is Technology Liberal?

By: Jason Baker

Jason Baker — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:45:39 +0000

Many people in technology are younger. The youth skew left. If you sell to government you need to donate (ahem, bribe) both repubs and dems. Many technology business owners I know lean republican due to tax concerns. Neither party is all that different today except for some key social issues.

By: Christopher Monnier

Christopher Monnier — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:56:34 +0000

> The Republicans I know in the tech industry are usually more libertarian. They lean Republican because of perceived fiscal benefits, gun rights, and a general dislike of most Democratic leaders.

The key to that statement is perceived. Republicans have been anything but “fiscally conservative” over the last 8 years. Libertarians (disclaimer: I consider myself a left-leaning libertarian) should disavow any association with Republicans and their anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-curiosity culture.

By: darrel

darrel — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:52:06 +0000

Great theories here!

“The Republicans I know in the tech industry are usually more libertarian.”

Good call. Now that I think about it, I’d have to agree based on those that I know.

By: bex

bex — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:27:35 +0000

There’s a bunch of data about how the brains of conservatives are fundamentally wired differently than liberals.

Conservatives like certainly, they don’t like ambiguity, they don’t like change, and minor bad things REALLY scare them.

You just can’t survive in a fast-paced crash-and-burn field like technology if you brain is wired like that… Maybe you could be a DBA

The Republicans I know in the tech industry are usually more libertarian. They lean Republican because of perceived fiscal benefits, gun rights, and a general dislike of most Democratic leaders.

By: Ed Kohler

Ed Kohler — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:13:28 +0000

What Jesse said.

And tech folks are generally pro-science.

By: Steve Borsch

Steve Borsch — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:42:39 +0000

I’ve been curious about this too and like what you, Jesse, pointed out about the art world. Most of the folks I follow on Twitter, for example, lean left, and are mostly tech folks and creatives.

As a former “right of center” tech guy who himself is now left of center, it’s my belief that the Republican party represents a command-n-control mindset; a hyperfocus on tradition and yes, “looking backwards”; and the art of the snippet or headline (vs. depth).

The Democratic party represents a depth and expansive mindset; a focus on the people (i.e., the ‘crowd’); and deep thought and issue consideration that is exactly how tech views the world.

So Republicans feel ‘stale and old’ to tech folks while Democrats feel ‘forward looking and futuristic’.

By: Jesse Ross

Jesse Ross — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:45:46 +0000

Virtually everyone I know in the tech industry leans liberal, at least socially (Democrats, Green, Libertarian). I think there is a strong foundation in the tech industry of “equalizing” and “democratizing,” whether via the sharing of open source software or in providing open and equal access to computing time and resources. The GPL is particularly political in nature, and is definitely a left-leaning license, valuing the rights to individual access and affording community protection. Add to that the tech community’s long-standing connection with the art world via designers and writers, and those fields’ classic association with liberal and progressive ideals, and you have the foundation for a politically left-leaning industry.

By: Christopher Monnier

Christopher Monnier — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:26:10 +0000

I think one big thing is open-mindedness. Present-day Bush and McCain-style conservatives seem very close-minded, very anti-intellectual, and very anti-science. If the Republican Party ever shifts from a focus on social conservatism to economic conservatism, that huge imbalance of support for the Democratic Party will probably start to level out.