OPINION

Google's Leftist Goggles Leave Googlers Agog

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So, Google is a leftist company.

That's no surprise. All you'd have to do to verify that fact is watch the rotating Google doodles throughout the year. They frequently feature social justice warriors, leftist causes celebres and random slaps at religion. Or you could check its search results, which tend to favor leftist causes and politicians over conservative ones.

But Google isn't just liberal; it's leftist. It's so leftist that its vice president of Diversity, Integrity & Governance, Danielle Brown, participated in a public scourging of an unnamed Google employee who had the temerity to question the company's odd focus on "diversity" hires. The employee penned a 10-page Jerry Maguire-style memo outlining Google's obsession with "diversity" and why its practices amount to illegal discrimination -- and pointing out that the lack of women in top positions reflects scientific differences between men and women on average, not discriminatory social policy.

This intrepid soul openly signaled his opposition to sexism but then pointed out that personality differences between men and women on average, as well as men's higher drive for status, could lead to wage gaps at the company. That is absolutely correct based on a tremendous amount of available social science data. In fact, it's also true that while women on average may slightly outperform men on IQ tests, more men are found at the extremes of the bell curve -- there are more men on the upper and lower ends of the spectrum. That would lead to the hiring of more men at prestigious companies like Google based on merit, not based on sexism.

But according to Google itself, such wrongthink must be curbed. And so, Brown stated that the memo "advanced incorrect assumptions about gender." Not controversial -- incorrect. The facts, you see, must be made to fit Google's theory. Furthermore, said Brown, "I'm not going to link to it here as it's not a viewpoint that I or this company endorses." But there was good news. "Diversity and inclusion are a fundamental part of our values and the culture we continue to cultivate," she said.

Yay, diversity! Shut up, guy who disagrees!

Unfortunately, this philosophy of diversity before freedom or merit has run amok at many of America's major companies. And it has an impact on product. YouTube has reportedly been restricting videos it deems controversial or inappropriate, and disproportionately targeting comics like Steven Crowder and educators like Dennis Prager. Facebook has taken steps in recent months to curb its own biases, but only after a blowup with conservatives who were angry at its apparent attempts to crack down on non-leftists. Twitter has banned or suspended conservatives for mysterious reasons that it has never applied to members of the left.

Google has a pair of leftist goggles on at all times. Its users shouldn't have blinders on about it. Every search result should be scanned for algorithmic bias. After all, a company that will rip its own employee to shreds for defending its hiring practices on the basis of science and data will do anything to defend its leftist politics.