[hasbroslasher]

The problem, of course, is that there's no way to tell from outward appearances what someone believes. A good example of this is the appropriation of Satanic imagery in rock music: few of these bands are theistic or LaVeyan Satanists, most of them are just doing it to send a message. The connotation of pentagrams and upside down crosses is "watch out, I'm evil, I like evil things, etc". Conservative Christians, however, often don't realize this and legitimately believe these people to be agents of the Devil, when usually they're just trying to provoke a reaction.

There's a layer of semiotics that's important to any outward appearance. Wearing a swastika but saying "Nonono it's a Hindu symbol of fertility" probably wouldn't go over well. Nor would saying "Well I didn't like the Holocaust but I really did think the Nazis had some good ideas about things". Similarly, wearing a hammer and sickle shirt will get you into trouble in more conservative places.

The MAGA hat's obviously on a different level than that, but it does explain some of the reasoning. That hat in particular represents (sometimes fanatical) appreciation for a man that liberals believe is doing immense harm to our nation, it's citizens and its image via racist, reactionary and backwards-looking politics. Because of far-right extremists, I get scared when I see that hat, to me it signals some form of white supremacy that I need to stay away from. So yes, wearing it at work might make people uncomfortable.

[majormajor]

I completely agree that trolling your coworkers is not good behavior, and I also oppose the idiots playing nazi for similar reasons, as it's bad for the level of public discourse. But I don't think saying "I think we should be restricting immigration from some areas so we don't end up with isolated, un-integrated communities that might lead to extremism[1] like elsewhere" fits the same bill, even though my personal approach to the problem would be different.

If that would hurt someone's feelings so much to be a "hostile work environment" then that's the same problem shown by right-wingers getting incensed over Colin Kaepernick. There are a lot of publications out there, left and right, that try to fan flames more than they try to inform, and we need to get past that.

But, in the short term, I'd take it as a kindness if we could just stop talking politics at work. I don't want to hear you whining twenty minutes every day about Trump, and that's coming from someone mostly in the "the democrats are too conservative and centrist" camp.

[1] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/31/the-other-fran... - very long, but a very interesting look at some potential perils

[hasbroslasher]

I've actually come to hate the "whine about Trump lunch". After a while it's just rehashing old truths and there's no novelty in the discussion. Just weird, random venting. Then again, I do have coworkers who have been publicly called terrorists because of their race. To them, Trump represents a much greater evil than he does to me, because he literally does that kind of thing on television. To people with illegal Mexican family members, he literally is suggesting that we should split their family apart. It's not as much about conservatism broadly as it is about this one specific guy who is poorly behaved and downright mean.

[zeveb]

> That hat in particular represents (sometimes fanatical) appreciation for a man that liberals believe is doing immense harm to our nation, it's citizens and its image via racist, reactionary and backwards-looking politics.

Of course, many people believed that the previous president was doing immense harm to our nation, its citizens and the world at large … but I don't think many were fired for wearing their Hope & Change or Yes We Can hats …

> Because of far-right extremists, I get scared when I see that hat, to me it signals some form of white supremacy that I need to stay away from. So yes, wearing it at work might make people uncomfortable.

And yet people have no problem whatsoever bringing stuff expressing the opposite viewpoint into the workplace. It's normal to hear people expressing moderately- and far-left opinions in the workplace. It's not to hear them express even centrist-right opinions.

FWIW, I don't subscribe to pretty much anything a MAGA hat conveys, and I didn't vote for the current president.

[mcguire]

"but I don't think many were fired for wearing their Hope & Change or Yes We Can hats …"

http://www.businessinsider.com/voted-for-obama-youre-fired-2...

http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/another-case-of-bein...

http://httpjournalsaolcomjenjer6steph.blogspot.com/2013/02/f...

https://www.salon.com/2012/11/20/8_bosses_who_screwed_their_...

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2013/01/utah-fired-for-supporti...

Oh, and a bonus:

http://shoebat.com/2015/04/28/teacher-in-georgia-declares-to...

[hasbroslasher]

I mean, I'm not saying anyone should be fired, but people should understand the context of their fashion choices and the persona they cultivate. Aside: conservatives like to say "life's not fair" until it comes to things like this.

FWIW I occasionally express centrist positions at my left-leaning job, I don't get fired or reprimanded. Nor do I get reprimanded for advocating for socialism. I don't think anyone would be either for expressing conservative positions. Maybe I'm naive.

They might, however, face social sanctions or get in an awkward debate if they were arguing that two people on my team should not be allowed in this country as immigrants, or that my gay coworkers shouldn't have the same rights as everyone else. There's obviously going to be a clash of beliefs and they should recognize that. Similarly, if any of us were to make sweeping generalizations about white people, it'd be awkward for the white people on the team, and it might spur a big debate. No one likes to feel attacked, especially at work, so we learn to feel out what's allowed or what's out of bounds and then work with that.

Without a doubt, if one of my coworkers came to me and said "Look, I like working with you but you have to stop shit talking conservatives at work" I'd be more mindful of it and avoid making it awkward. I'm not sure why these men feel that they aren't able to do that.