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On Resigning from Google

alphabetworkers.org

31–40 of 295 posts

Re: On Resigning from Google

#31
post #26

Random thoughts: 1. I applaud the fact that they are actually quitting the company to voice their disapproval of these policies. In my mind all the "internal activism" happening at Google and others is massively hypocritical. One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise. 2. If they think Google is discriminatory towards LGBT employees and minoriti…

https://i0.wp.com/thenib.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/mist...

Re: On Resigning from Google

#32
Being principled and high minded is wonderful when you are financially independent. Given Google’s amazing financial success, I’d imagine the author is or should be financially independent and can choose to do whatever he wants. Some of the rest of us are not in a position to be as ideological.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#33
> if you can strip a reform-oriented pastor of their PCUSA ordination, you also strip them of their employment and their health insurance, because you can’t serve as a Presbyterian pastor if you’ve been stripped of your ordination as the result of a church judicial action.

...

>With the recent spate of Google firings of LGBTQ employees for their activism, including Laurence Berland, Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman, and Kathryn Spiers, I see far too many similarities to what we experienced in the PCUSA twenty years ago.

not advocating any specific position, just noting a pure logical difference - being fired from Google doesn't stop you from being software engineer at another tech company.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#34
post #26

Random thoughts: 1. I applaud the fact that they are actually quitting the company to voice their disapproval of these policies. In my mind all the "internal activism" happening at Google and others is massively hypocritical. One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise. 2. If they think Google is discriminatory towards LGBT employees and minoriti…

Regarding (2): while it's true that the average is absolutely terrible, that can actually increase the importance of not letting the leaders off the hook for screwing up.

i.e. the world ought to look more like the leader, not the average; regression to the mean is not desirable.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#35
> Well, it didn’t work in the PCUSA, where activists eventually won the fight to remove homophobia from the church constitution, and won the fight for marriage equality; and it’s unlikely to work at Google.

I go to a PCUSA church and have a different view of this. Churches that did not agree with the changes to PCUSA's position split from the denomination and created the ECO denomination, which retains the prior position on same-sex relationships. So it's not so much that PCUSA "won" as that there is effectively a schism happening, with some of the largest churches from PCUSA departing.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with these types of people is that they actually care about more than the paycheck. ;)

Then they should have said no to the paycheck earlier on rather than sucking on it for 14 years. As someone else said, just a bunch of whiny SJWs. Don't they have some caucus-voting app or something to go work on?

Why the hate towards someone who is talking about their experiences at Google?

Do I sense jealousy?

Re: On Resigning from Google

#37
post #6
post #2

> 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.

I'd like to hire you for "just a job". I'm gonna make a big deal about how my company is "morally good" and "does no evil". Hitman OK? No? How about I hire you for janitorial duties at first, and slowly transition you to the death squad duties over 10 years? Don't quit, it's "just a job".

Given that, at Google, he only went from a Network Engineer [2005] to SRE [2020], I don't think you can call that moving to defense contracting, especially as a SRE for the Ad Serving platform.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#38

> Attacks like this were an attack on people’s jobs and physical security: if you can strip a reform-oriented pastor of their PCUSA ordination, you also strip them of their employment and their health insurance If I'm understanding correctly, the argument with regard to "physical security" is that if you try to get someone fired, which would result in them losing their employer-provided health insurance, that they wo…

Yes, and it's a common thinking that's a quirk of the US; it's not a stretch in the US that an attack on one's employement is an attack on one's "physical security" or "well-being" because the US tied most people's health insurance to continued and stable employment.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#39
post #26

Random thoughts: 1. I applaud the fact that they are actually quitting the company to voice their disapproval of these policies. In my mind all the "internal activism" happening at Google and others is massively hypocritical. One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise. 2. If they think Google is discriminatory towards LGBT employees and minoriti…

Strongly disagree.

> In my mind all the "internal activism" happening at Google and others is massively hypocritical. One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise.

Absolutely incorrect. Paychecks have nothing to do with whether you as a person find the company's policies palatable or not. Google employees provide a lot more value to Google than they are compensated for. They are well within their rights and should be encouraged to voice their honest opinions.

> 2. If they think Google is discriminatory towards LGBT employees and minorities, contributing to climate change etc., they are in for a big shock once they are really out of the Google and SV bubble.

So you would have them STFU, because the rest of the country sucks? This sounds completely backwards and doesn't make any sense to me.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#40

Being principled and high minded is wonderful when you are financially independent. Given Google’s amazing financial success, I’d imagine the author is or should be financially independent and can choose to do whatever he wants. Some of the rest of us are not in a position to be as ideological.

Which in turn gives way to changing the system which allows more people to be ideological.
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