I would bet that tech workers are less conservative and reactionary than they were during the dot-com bubble. Losing your nice job and dealing with unemployment does wonders when it comes to political radicalization.
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What was the source of the conservatism and reactionary beliefs some techies held?
I think it was a combination of things -- a belief meritocracy was fact and not merely a fantasy of corporate brochure writers, the youth of many of the technologists ( a proven contributing factor to arrogance) and the relentless propaganda campaign of the dot-com moment when techies were hailed as the new gods.
Well, goodbye to all that.
After learning to believe almost nothing corporate managers say about rewarding 'valuable contributions', after observing the weasely, the schmoozy and the just plain stupid forge ahead (the natural mode of corporate operation), after working long hours for nothing, after growing up a bit and finally, after losing their jobs and experiencing tremendous difficulty finding new ones -- yes, after all these things and innumerable other disappointments a course correction towards progressive ideas has occured in the hearts and minds of many.
But there are others who've just turned bitter and, for example, started blogs in which they applaud every stumble of the Bush admin as if it were the height of genius.
Read some of the so-called 'war bloggers' Dennis Perrin's written about closely; you'll note that more than a few are angry, unemployed technologists, confused their utopian, meritocratic dreams fail -- again and again -- to see the light of day.
DRM