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Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

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Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#131

Post by meowface »

fzeroracer wrote: post #64
manfredo wrote: post #55

This article was posted to HN yesterday or maybe the day before: https://slate.com/technology/2019/09/kickstarter-turmoil-uni... It looks like unionization wasn't the only point of contention. In particular, a segment of Kickstarter's workforce conflicted with company leadership over an "Always Punch Nazis" comic book kickstarter project apparently made in reference to violence against Richard Spencer. Employees pres…

Alternately, doesn't this mean Kickstarter censored satirical content due to a far-right hit piece? Shouldn't people be decrying censorship at every turn? Because that's exactly what happened in this case when leadership decided to veto the decision and take it down.

Only in cases when it's very clear satire, I think. Things get tricky when the title of your book is easily interpretable as a call for action to assault people, especially when Richard Spencer has been sucker-punched in public before. If a book named "Always Punch Hillary Clinton" was posted on Kickstarter a month after someone sucker-punched Hillary Clinton in the face as she was walking down the street, I bet the listing wouldn't be up for long. Of course those two people aren't anywhere near the same level, and I have no sympathy for Spencer in general, but battery is battery.

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#133

Post by [deleted] »

nickjj wrote: post #70

I know close to nothing about unions or the KS story but I am from the US and myself along with almost everyone I know tend to associate unions with extreme wasting of resources. This is coming at it from a spectator's point of view (ie. not a union worker / not a unionized business owner). For example, I've witnessed an overpass taking over 2 years to finish (it was blocked off / limited access / under construction…

[deleted]

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#134

Post by egypturnash »

Animats wrote: post #16

Don't be a scab! Don't put your project on Kickstarter! Don't contribute to Kickstarters!

FWIW:

“All of us organizing with KSRU are committed to the mission of Kickstarter, and will continue to support creators currently on the platform and in our alumni network. We are not calling on creators who rely on Kickstarter to abandon live or planned projects.”

“That said, we deeply appreciate the support from our community. The work we are doing is not only in service of employees, but the artists, makers, and backers throughout the Kickstarter ecosystem. We’re all in this together.”

-https://mobile.twitter.com/ksr_united/status/117251195128248...

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#135

Post by holy_city »

PorterDuff wrote: post #92

re: Unions If a software union only existed to deal with the following: . Pensions . Health insurance I can see the point.

It could use the Hollywood unions as a model, at least partly. The Screen Actors Guild for example doesn't limit actors' ability to negotiate salaries independently but does allow for freelancers to get health insurance paid through employment in a larger network.

There are other benefits too. Elimating crunch without overtime.

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#136

Post by SamReidHughes »

nickjj wrote: post #97
shakezula wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That type of inefficiency isn’t exclusive to unions, you realize that right? You realize that maybe there were other factors involved that caused the bridge to take that long? You realize that construction is often a very sequential process that can block other steps from being completed until the first is done? Every part of your comment is completely anecdotal and could be due to myriad other factors. > associate u…

> Sounds like 30+ years of anti-union propaganda working its charm. I dunno. I see it all over the place. Look at the US government. Most of the govt. run customer facing services are abysmal when it comes to efficiency (DMV, etc.). From my quick Googling the DMV is unionized. It doesn't end at the DMV either. I know some types of construction jobs are usually sequential but I don't understand how in any circumstance…

That's state governments, but I haven't heard much better about non-unionized federal offices.

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#137

Post by tomnipotent »

xnxn wrote: post #12
unions23143 wrote: post #9

Aren't Kickstarter salaries quite high already? https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Kickstarter-Salaries-E49199...

We've been over this, Jeff. https://twitter.com/codinghorror/status/1172279395035308032 https://twitter.com/codinghorror/status/1172349293216186368

Pretty sure I just lost most of my faith in my fellow liberal techies after reading these responses. It's amazing how little substance their is to the responses, and how much outrage and throwing out of the word "privilege" there is. When did being outraged become a valid stance, without having to back it up with any reason position?

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#138

Post by Ididntdothis »

daddylonglegs wrote: post #120
nickjj wrote: post #70

I know close to nothing about unions or the KS story but I am from the US and myself along with almost everyone I know tend to associate unions with extreme wasting of resources. This is coming at it from a spectator's point of view (ie. not a union worker / not a unionized business owner). For example, I've witnessed an overpass taking over 2 years to finish (it was blocked off / limited access / under construction…

I think German industry is a good example, it is strongly unionised and the unions have representatives in the board that supervises the running of companies. Apparently the result has been better cooperation between employers and workers: where the employers invest in and are mindful of employees and the employees in turn see the "big picture" and are committed to making sure their employer is competitive. My German…

Yes German unions work really well. I think part of it is that after WW2 the whole system was designed to be a market economy with social elements (“soziale Marktwirtschaft “).

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#139

Post by zaksoup »

ukyrgf wrote: post #75
freeone3000 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So's operating a taxi without a license or running a hotel in a residential area. If you can get enough investor money to ignore the consequences, laws don't stop this.

Uber drivers aren't driving around picking up fares to take to an unknown destination. AirBnb renters don't have vacancy signs out front. There is a difference.

Neither cleanly pass the duck test, though

Re: Kickstarter’s Year of Turmoil

#140

Post by bgilroy26 »

wernercd wrote: post #39
baron816 wrote: post #18

Why are American companies so afraid of their employees unionizing? Because American unions have a history of creating an adversarial relationship between managers and employees. They’re self serving and have a zero sum game outlook where they try to grab as much as they can from a company. The unions were a major contributor towards the collapse of the American auto industry. European unions differ in that they are…

> Why don't American's like unions? Unions are a layer of bureaucracy, red tape and an entity that cares more about the Union than anything else. Add to that, as a conservative and right leaning individual, the last thing I want is be forced to donate to left leaning organizations that go against my best interests. Color it for what you will... I think there are cases where Unions do important things. But most of tho…

>Unions are a layer of bureaucracy, red tape and an entity that cares more about the Union than anything else.

These descriptors cover most human organizations. Churches, clubs, businesses.

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