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Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

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Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#921

Post by jlawson »

exolymph wrote: post #684
munk-a wrote: post #369

From the other side - if the world is on fire but a portion of the population thinks everything is just fine and dandy... is it appropriate for everyone to be politely quite until that portion comes to their own realization that the world is on fire? What if that never happens? I feel like the gun control debate is particularly relevant - whenever a shooting happens one side calmly says "This is unfortunate but unavo…

Fewer than 2,000 people died in American mass shootings over the past 10 years. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/116056745085073408... The problem is that mass shootings are effective terrorism — people freak out about them. But they're not a significant cause of death by any means.

Even that sounds like a lot, so it's important to compare to other causes of death in the same time period.

Just a random comparison:

200 per year for mass shootings.

3,536 per year for drowning not related to boats.

332 additional per year for drowning related to boats.

70,000+ per year from drugs (largely opioids).

https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/w...

A lot of people have real trouble contextualizing statistics and videos because they can't really conceive of how many people there are. This makes it really easy for motivated media activists to manipulate opinion by heavy reporting of particular incidents, while ignoring trends that are killing literally hundreds of times more people.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#922

Post by jazzyjackson »

thebruce87m wrote: post #912
closeparen wrote: post #905

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of my teammates are immigrants. Visa related uncertainty and progress are major parts of their lives. The H1-B renewal lottery colors all future plans. Finally getting a green card is like having a child or buying a house. When the President tweets about blowing up NAFTA, my colleagues on TN-1s can no longer be sure which country they'll live in six months from now. We tried to go for drinks and couldn't get int…

They wouldn’t let her in to the bar because her license had expired? What do they care as long as it has the correct DOB on it?

Eh I get where you're coming from but it comes down to the bouncer or whoever. You get people who say an expired license is not a valid ID and they require a valid ID to get in.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#923

Post by cm2187 »

new2628 wrote: post #376
apple4ever wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great points. There are plenty of areas to discuss politics, and at work doesn't have to be one of them. I've studiously avoided talking to anybody at work about politics, as it usually only serves to anger people if you don't agree. I've had a successful career of doing that.

That sounds like a fine approach, but unfortunately politics creeps into more and more aspects of life, hardly any topic remains apolitical. Like that quote "you may not be interested in war, but ..."

And the other thing is that the company may itself be actively involved in politics that some of its employees may object to. Google actively tries to control the political debate through youtube. Its positive discrimination policies may be considered by some of its employees as objectably discriminatory.

I can understand that the company will not tolerate anyone publicly disagreeing with its political stance but it is a natural thing for their employees to discuss the politics of their employer between them.

Though given the little tolerance of large companies for disagreeing their politics (not just in the Silicon Valley), the said employees would be well advised to not do so in writing.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#924

Post by 80386 »

einhverfr wrote: post #703
nickstinemates wrote: post #700

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In urban California, among software developers, you are likely to have one or two political views represented at most, and these represent a small racial and class-based cross-section of urban California. I would argue that these are the only ones allowed.

In what sense allowed?

I used to hang out in predominantly Californian tech circles, and the atmosphere there was... not at all respectful of places that aren't California.

It would have been a good career move for me to suck up to them. Some of them were serial founders who hired their friends, and others could've given useful referrals.

But that'd come at the cost of being constantly insulted, hearing my family constantly insulted, and so on, and not being able to say anything in defense. I'm not interested in being around people who think everyone who isn't exactly like them is subhuman - even if cutting contact with them is a bad career move.

Then again, that might be why they do that.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#925

Post by cm2187 »

okusername wrote: post #651
mc32 wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what is the alternative? The problem is diametric opinions end with two people (no company involved). What is the company to do to get people with opposing views to “get along”? Let’s put up Tibet. Some people will have strong opinions on one side and another set will have strong opinions on the other side. (Most people will be indifferent). How can the company manage that tension among people who work for them w…

Problem solved: There should be no "opinion" at the workplace outside professional topics. Unless you're the person in charge of the Tibet strategy, your opinion should stay at home. It's a workplace, not your buddy's couch.

I agree but what if the employer takes a position on Tibet? Or more likely on any hot potato topic (gender equality, Trump, pushing the political debate either side if the company has the ability to do so, etc).

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#926

Post by ryacko »

School-Cotton wrote: post #899
pgeorgi wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> prevent leaks about their practices from becoming public Google is a company that provides gyms, cooking classes, non-work discussion forums, extensive cafeteria service, massages and so on and so on to make sure employees are living within the company as much as possible. But discussions on such random forums don't reflect company practice just as the gyms don't exist to make every employee a professional marathon…

> Google is a company that provides gyms, cooking classes, non-work discussion forums, extensive cafeteria service, massages and so on and so on to make sure employees are living within the company as much as possible. I would argue these perks exist because they are what top tech workers can command in the market, not because of some nefarious purpose of wanting people to work longer hours. Sort of like how MLB play…

It could be worse, they could allow employees to sleep in trucks or cars in the parking lot...

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#927

Post by djtriptych »

numakerg wrote: post #868
djtriptych wrote: post #864

Worked at Google for a short time (2013-2014), during the height of Trayvon Martin and other murders of black folks around then. The internal discussion could really be hard to read for me (I'm black). Still, I don't think it should really be stopped. I was glad to be able to express my actual opinions at work. I think they'll have a really hard time totally stopping it though. Internally it's really like a college a…

>The internal discussion could really be hard to read for me (I'm black) Was it a minority of people who had views that were hard to read or the majority? I was under the impression that most people at Google were not supportive of his acquittal.

Loud minority - including a lot of non-US workers as I recall.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#928

Post by freeone3000 »

Aperocky wrote: post #426
freeone3000 wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you imagine how soulless work would be if you couldn't talk about your family and friends? These are the things that make us people. We can't just put them in a box at 9am and take them back out at 5.

There are small talks and talks that elicit a response. Small talks about family which mostly draws wows and wahs are totally fine, but you want work to be centered around the work itself and not get drawn into lengthy discussion about politics. At least do it during breaks. Work is not meant as a substitution of life, it can be incredibly fulfilling but it's still work.

It's eight or more hours of your day, five days a week. Work is not a substitution for life, it's a major part of it.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#929

Post by RaceWon »

sarbaz wrote: post #538
LordFast wrote: post #466

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: my comment below is directed at the culture of Google, and following in the train of thought from your comment. It's not directed at your comment or you. Reading this comment just makes me feel baffled. How much arrogance does it take for a bunch of Googlers to assume the belief that they know what is "just" for the rest of the world? An organization(in this case, a for-profit company) created to deliver…

Should people act in ways that disagree with their sense of justice? Should people be allowed to speak out against things that other people do, but that disagree with their sense of justice? I don't see how you can call it "arrogant" for people to act in accordance with their moral and ethical standards. We don't have the power to force the world do line up with our personal sense of justice. But we do have the power…

> Should people act in ways that disagree with their sense of justice?

Yes absolutely; because that is a what a True professional does when their job requires it.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#930

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

einhverfr wrote: post #674
jdm2212 wrote: post #648

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The American political spectrum is way bigger than the political spectrum in most European countries. There's a lot more potential for deep disagreement in the US when people talk politics.

>The American political spectrum is way bigger than the political spectrum in most European countries. There's a lot more potential for deep disagreement in the US when people talk politics. Ummmm.... The entire American political spectrum fits in the center-right of most European countries' political spectrums. When was the last time you saw a political discussion between a Socialist, a Social Democrat, and an old-s…

Then there's Trump, who would be in one of the newer right-wing populist parties, and the religious fundamentalists who wouldn't fit into any party in most European countries.
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