While I don't particularly agree with any of their points, (Seems a bit SJW-ish, mixed with some climate drama) at least they believe in them strongly enough to actually stop taking a paycheck from the company they've come to hate.
On Resigning from Google
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Re: On Resigning from Google
#12> www.alphabetworkers.org/ > The trouble with deep belief > The reason it’s unlikely to work is that although you can persecute the prophets Sounds a bit full of themselves. They worked for a company, they no longer like the company, they quit. Great, move on. No need to make a big deal about it. It's just a job.
My thoughts exactly, this kind of thinking is really common among google employees. They think leaving is some “event”, it needs massive justification, a blog post, and manifesto to the world. I’ve seen this among friends that work there
They probably see leaving as being excommunicated from a huge social circle that they value greatly.
Re: On Resigning from Google
#13> www.alphabetworkers.org/ > The trouble with deep belief > The reason it’s unlikely to work is that although you can persecute the prophets Sounds a bit full of themselves. They worked for a company, they no longer like the company, they quit. Great, move on. No need to make a big deal about it. It's just a job.
If you leave because of principles, it may be useful to others to explain your position. If you don't like content, great, move on. No need to make a big deal about it. It's just a web page.
Who is making a big deal about it? It’s a Tweet-sized comment...
Re: On Resigning from Google
#14> www.alphabetworkers.org/ > The trouble with deep belief > The reason it’s unlikely to work is that although you can persecute the prophets Sounds a bit full of themselves. They worked for a company, they no longer like the company, they quit. Great, move on. No need to make a big deal about it. It's just a job.
Google (and, really, all of Northern California) has been actively courting these high-minded idealists for a long time. The problem with these types of people is that they invent windmills to tilt at when they run out.
The problem with these types of people is that they actually care about more than the paycheck. ;)
Re: On Resigning from Google
#15While I don't particularly agree with any of their points, (Seems a bit SJW-ish, mixed with some climate drama) at least they believe in them strongly enough to actually stop taking a paycheck from the company they've come to hate.
"hey, why are you leaving?"
"imo the company makes its money in some really shady ways."
"what's next for you?"
"oh, I'm retiring.. made a lot of money here."
???
Re: On Resigning from Google
#16> www.alphabetworkers.org/ > The trouble with deep belief > The reason it’s unlikely to work is that although you can persecute the prophets Sounds a bit full of themselves. They worked for a company, they no longer like the company, they quit. Great, move on. No need to make a big deal about it. It's just a job.
It is extremely self important. The fact that so many people with these proclivities have gravitated to Google can not be a good thing. I have to imagine Google HR is not too troubled by shedding noisy moralizers within their ranks.
Re: On Resigning from Google
#17While I don't particularly agree with any of their points, (Seems a bit SJW-ish, mixed with some climate drama) at least they believe in them strongly enough to actually stop taking a paycheck from the company they've come to hate.
When you say SJW-ish in this context, do you mean you disagree with their assessment (i.e. helping oil companies do their job cheaper is bad, improving the technology underpinning combat drones is bad when the country that uses them demonstrates irresponsible use of them, supporting with labor a company that fires labor organizers is bad)?
Re: On Resigning from Google
#18> www.alphabetworkers.org/ > The trouble with deep belief > The reason it’s unlikely to work is that although you can persecute the prophets Sounds a bit full of themselves. They worked for a company, they no longer like the company, they quit. Great, move on. No need to make a big deal about it. It's just a job.
It seems to me that "I work for Google" is the new "I'm a member of Mensa" or "I went to Harvard."
Only if their intention is to talk about how useless Mensa is and to break the fetishization of being a member of this club.
Re: On Resigning from Google
#19> www.alphabetworkers.org/ > The trouble with deep belief > The reason it’s unlikely to work is that although you can persecute the prophets Sounds a bit full of themselves. They worked for a company, they no longer like the company, they quit. Great, move on. No need to make a big deal about it. It's just a job.
Bruce makes the excellent point that it's not just a company. It's a Fortune 50 with a reach to touch a couple billion users, the technical competency and contacts to make decisions that impact the future of humanity, and is undergoing a significant cultural shift from the kind of company it is perceived to be by past reputation. If one finds oneself in such a circumstance, it's a correct thing to do to speak out abo…
All the more reason to be glad when said company tilts away from the sort of fringe ideological positions described in TFA. A fortune 50 company shouldn’t be driving extreme positions; if you disagree, consider if they were driving extreme positions antithetical to your own.
Re: On Resigning from Google
#20While I don't particularly agree with any of their points, (Seems a bit SJW-ish, mixed with some climate drama) at least they believe in them strongly enough to actually stop taking a paycheck from the company they've come to hate.
"hey, why are you leaving?" "imo the company makes its money in some really shady ways." "what's next for you?" "oh, I'm retiring.. made a lot of money here." ???
There's no doubt that working at Google + frugal living can give a rank-and-file engineer enough "fuck-you money" to make their own calls.
I don't see that as a bad thing though. Just because it's not a liberty everyone has to stop working for a firm they find morally repugnant doesn't imply one shouldn't take the liberty if one has it.