Being a minority in any culture is difficult. People might laugh at me, a straight, white guy, talking about being a minority. I get it. Our culture is so used to only judging diversity from a very superficial perspective. We look to show variety only in demographics, and it is easy to look at any white man as simply a majority member of society.
In virtue points, that is supposed to imply that I must somehow subjugate my voice to those of minority demographics.
Diversity has been promoted as a priority for any business to have a significant opportunity in any market. Often bypassed in seeking diversity, though, is diversity of thought and beliefs. A boardroom can be full of racial and gender diversity, yet be singularly bereft of any voice of dissent on matters of religious views or their politics.
This undermines the reported benefits of diversity, of course, but that isn’t the point. Though defined superficially by my gender and my color, I am a Christian who holds somewhat fundamentalist views of scripture. That makes me a minority. Politically, I align with the libertarians and define myself most closely as a voluntarist. That’s strike two, and probably makes me one of less than a couple hundred thousand at most.
Standpoint theory suggests that marginalized groups bring a different perspective to an organization that challenges the status quo since their socially constructed world view will differ from that of the dominant group. Although the standpoint of the dominant group will often carry more weight, encouraging conflicting standpoints to coexist within an organization which will create a forum for sanctioned conflict to ensue. Standpoint theory gives a voice to those in a position to see patterns of behavior that those immersed in the culture have difficulty acknowledging.
-Wikipedia, Diversity (business), 23 August 2021
In almost every room I enter, I can almost guarantee that I have no confidants present. In my current employment, I feel that is almost without question. I can find a few who might agree with me on a couple issues, but who quickly distance themselves when further topics are explored.
Presenting a voice of dissent is emotionally draining. You can feel lonely when the vast majority in a room seem to split over apparent conflicts that you view as irrelevant or even as a fight over two incorrect positions on critically important matters.
Insert the Mises Institute.
This past weekend they held a meet up in Colorado Springs. It is the first event I have been able to make it to since my silent journey of solitude began a little over a decade ago.
Sure, I listen to podcasts, read books, and otherwise try to surround myself with as much of their material as possible. Yet there is still a significant portion of all humankind that is social and I am not the exception. The entertainment and material I have adopted as part of my routine are certainly engaging, but they are no more “real” than the rock my children throw around the yard. The voice of Tom Woods doesn’t manifest the face of an actual man. A book by Bob Murphy doesn’t let him see me and engage with me as a person.
They might as well be fictional characters in a story that I just like to believe.
For a solid three hours and some change, this past Saturday I got to be surrounded by like-minded people. I didn’t get to shake the hands of Tom or Bob, which I will most certainly have to coordinate at a future date, but I did get to meet Jeff Deist, Ryan McMaken and the other attendees. Most of the attendees were even locals.
It was an opportunity to not only see the real faces of real people (unmasked, Praise the Lord!), but to network and exchange some contact information. I met people in the crypto sphere, software engineers, entrepreneurs, and others. I know they live in the communities around me and no longer feel isolated on my island of dissent.
I want to thank the Mises Institute and Jeff Deist for the event. I will certainly coordinate to make it to future events, especially those that are in my area. Not just so that I don’t feel alone, but also to remind me that the tremendous work provided through these venues is produced by real people who live real lives just like me.
The key note speaker was John Tamny who wrote When Politicians Panicked and I enjoyed it as a read. Highly recommended.
I was excited to hear a couple questions from the crowd which I feel I may be uniquely qualified to share an opinion on. I will save those for future posts, but if you are concerned about biowarfare during the current cycle of COVID, or what resistance looks like and how it can be practiced, then stick around.
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