Hmm, so leftist ideas are OK to be supported, except when they are applied to the said corporation. Fun. :)
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Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
141–150 of 481 posts
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#142This isn't a problem with Google, it's a problem with the establishment left in the United States. There's no genuine, credible anti-corporate voice in American politics. The reasons why are many, but of course they typically distill down to the incredible power of money to influence people, of which this is an example. The side-effects of there being no credible labor party in our political system manifests, in part…
Wow. You saw guy get fired from capitalist organization that is funded by another capitalist organization, and you thought "LET ME BLAME THE ESTABLISHMENT LEFT". That's a spicy take.
What makes your take damned near nuclear is that you then argue that your real problem is that there _isn't_ an establishment left, there are only right-wing corporate voices.
Dude... it's shocking that anybody takes your ideas seriously, because you DUMB niggah. You dumb AF.
And I'm hell banned, but don't give af, because Paul Graham is a vile racist piece of shit; sama is a coward; and dang is a worthless pile of turds who is hoping to get rich by sucking both of their cocks. Only truly garbage people respect ANY of those fuckers.
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given how much space in newspapers that CEPOS' press releases gets, I'm considering it as being taken serious. I couldn't put out press release on my amateur research and expect to get articles printed in several national papers, simply because they wouldn't take me seriously.
CEPOs and AE get approximately the same airtime. I don't like any one them but claiming that somehow CEPOS gets more simply isn't supported by evidence. Furthermore they get less and less time because they do more and more lobbying. http://www.altinget.dk/civilsamfund/artikel/taenketanke-faar...
I'm claiming CEPOS get more airtime than me, because unlike me, they are taken seriously :)
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#144This isn't a problem with Google, it's a problem with the establishment left in the United States. There's no genuine, credible anti-corporate voice in American politics. The reasons why are many, but of course they typically distill down to the incredible power of money to influence people, of which this is an example. The side-effects of there being no credible labor party in our political system manifests, in part…
"There's no genuine, credible anti-corporate voice in American politics."
I note that you said "corporate" vs "capital(ism)". Thank you for making the distinction.
Most liberals I hang with favor a Sander-esque version of capitalism meets socialism. Balancing capitalism (ready access to capital), competition, open markets with a strong safety net and democracy. Balancing rewarding achievement and merit with ensuring fairness, not abandoning people.
What does that look like?
I think it looks like more democracy. Every where.
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I've used democratic decision making in the workplace. It's very effective. Think of it as better governance meets social cognition.
Although probably not original, I just kinda made it up, mostly modeled after the USA's Constitution (balance of power) and Demming/Ford quality circles (empowerment, joint decision making).
Since, I've been keenly interested in any effort swimming in the same direction. Co-ops, worker owned companies, the political philosophy of the Occupy Movement, whatever I can find.
I recently read this book. It's good survey of our current pickle (winner takes all economy, chaotic boom/bust cycles) with an okay primer on worker self directed enterprises (WSDE). The "more democracy" prescription is the closest I've found to my experiences. But being rhetoric vs a howto, it lacks actionable steps.
Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism
https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-at-Work-Cure-Capitalism/dp/...
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#145The thing is that Google has absolutely gone down questionable path from their early days. It is a little unfair to think this problem exists only within Google. Time and time again we are reminded why corporations will evolve to become as greedy and as protective of their turf expansive of their power and monopolistic as they can get, even if good people are running them. It is the system itself that does this, corp…
Schmidt was pretty clear in his book that he believes his business success is an indicator of virtue, and that he believes he should use Google and his wealth to intentionally seek to manipulate modern culture. It's a disturbing notion and I've never understood why people weren't more concerned about it.
If every significant avenue of communication used by people is controlled and censored by a group, no matter who it is, there is no option for progress. Any attempt to change social values will inevitably run up against a wall of not being able to actually express proof that societies values have changed. Imagine if tomorrow every human being on Earth woke up realizing nudity is a strange thing to get worked up about. What would happen? The idea would die, isolated, because even if people said they thought nudity was fine, they could never prove it as the communications networks they use would censor out anything containing nudity, stultifying culture and freezing it to whatever was acceptable in the early 2000s.
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#146The thing is that Google has absolutely gone down questionable path from their early days. It is a little unfair to think this problem exists only within Google. Time and time again we are reminded why corporations will evolve to become as greedy and as protective of their turf expansive of their power and monopolistic as they can get, even if good people are running them. It is the system itself that does this, corp…
This is Schmidt acting thru one of his private foundations. It is his money. This isn't Google.
It's pretty disingenuous to consider Schmidt's personal conduct and wealth as separate of Google. As Alphabet's board chairman, he's the third in charge of the company, and is usually the one conveying Google's political position to the leadership of various countries. And a significant portion of his wealth is either cash from Google or stock that's still invested in Google.
The primary difference in it being his personal action, is that there's a lot less regulation governing his use of it.
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#147The thing is that Google has absolutely gone down questionable path from their early days. It is a little unfair to think this problem exists only within Google. Time and time again we are reminded why corporations will evolve to become as greedy and as protective of their turf expansive of their power and monopolistic as they can get, even if good people are running them. It is the system itself that does this, corp…
Google was never good. They only ever did what they thought fit their strategy at the time, to allow them to grow and make more money.
Whatever may be happening now, this is super-revisionist history.
Google fought a large number of very lonely fights in the early dates, all in the name of consumers, the industry, and doing the right thing. It took a very large number of lumps and made a lot of enemies for doing so, but did it anyway.
I was there, in the DC office, working next to the policy director (I started the engineering side when he started the policy side. It started out as just the two of us).
I know what the strategy was, I know why it did it, because I was in the meetings to decide those strategies, and know what leadership wanted and approved.
What, precisely, is your source of information to contradict this?
Because it neither accords with history or reality, as far as i can tell.
(I left DC in 2012, so i can't speak to anything that happened afterwards)
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#148The thing is that Google has absolutely gone down questionable path from their early days. It is a little unfair to think this problem exists only within Google. Time and time again we are reminded why corporations will evolve to become as greedy and as protective of their turf expansive of their power and monopolistic as they can get, even if good people are running them. It is the system itself that does this, corp…
This is Schmidt acting thru one of his private foundations. It is his money. This isn't Google.
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Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#149The key point of the article is this: “Google is very aggressive in throwing its money around Washington and Brussels, and then pulling the strings,” Mr. Lynn said. “People are so afraid of Google now.” Honestly, the only thing shocking about any of this is that people thought Google was "special". The reality is, when its revenues are threatened, it's going to reach like any other corporation, which it should. Googl…
I've actually found FastMail wholly superior to Gmail, HERE Maps refreshingly good at working without a data connection, which is a lifesaver while traveling, and I use Sandstorm.io over Drive, which is capable of a lot more as well. I started with an attempt to leave Google products for political/moral reasons and ended up finding superior products on the way.
That has been my experience too.
The hardest part about moving away from Google around 4 years ago was migrating all my account email address to new providers.
That basically took me an afternoon. No big deal.
Re: Google Critic Ousted from Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant
#150The thing is that Google has absolutely gone down questionable path from their early days. It is a little unfair to think this problem exists only within Google. Time and time again we are reminded why corporations will evolve to become as greedy and as protective of their turf expansive of their power and monopolistic as they can get, even if good people are running them. It is the system itself that does this, corp…
This is Schmidt acting thru one of his private foundations. It is his money. This isn't Google.
Didn't the article say Google, not Schmidt, gave $21 million to the think tank?