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CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

onezero.medium.com

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Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#171

Post by davebots »

banjo_throwaway wrote: post #146

I know two people who took jobs at Banjo. Both of them quit within months because the place was so incredibly toxic. Second hand info, so take with a grain of salt: The CEO tries to run the company like a personality cult. Everyone was expected to be available 24/7 to respond to his demands. He liked to demand things on Friday night, weekends, or holidays to test people's loyalty. My friend was told he had to schedul…

i'm a reporter on the team that broke this story, if you don't mind passing along my email to those people: dave@medium.com. much appreciated, and sorry to barge in on your comment.

Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#173

Post by cultus »

Dahoon wrote: post #124

Why does it matter and why does it mention Softbank? Seems like someone just want to bash people they don't agree with. Flagged.

It matters, and is in the public interest, because he runs a surveillance company whose clients include governments. Of course, to you, not supporting eugenics or the extermination of the Jewish race is just a matter of opinion.

Comments like these show that individuals with these horrendous beliefs are everywhere, including all over Hacker News and the tech industry at large. Hacker New's moderators would do well to focus on these bad-faith actors instead of flagging anti-hate content.

Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#174

Post by aspenmayer »

banjo_throwaway wrote: post #149
bobobob420 wrote: post #21

This was so long ago and he hasn’t killed anyone or done any thing of the sort since then. Who cares ? It is up to the system to deal with him

> This was so long ago and he hasn’t killed anyone or done any thing of the sort since then. Who cares ? It is up to the system to deal with him His company, Banjo, was awarded surveillance contracts for the state of Utah. The state was paying Banjo tens of millions of dollars and giving them access to untold amounts of state surveillance data. As a resident of Utah, I do not want my tax dollars sending surveillance…

Well as a resident of Utah, you may not have as much to worry about anymore.

Utah Attorney General suspends state contract with Banjo in light of founder’s KKK past

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2020/04/28/utah-attorne...

Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#175

Post by romwell »

fortran77 wrote: post #39
forgot_user1234 wrote: post #24

When reached for comment, Patton wrote: "32 years ago I was a lost, scared, and vulnerable child. I won’t go into detail, but the reasons I left home at such a young age are unfortunately not unique; I suffered abuse in every form. I did terrible things and said despicable and hateful things, including to my own Jewish mother, that today I find indefensibly wrong, and feel extreme remorse for. I have spent most of my…

Can someone verify that he actually has a "Jewish mother?"

Claiming to have a Jewish mother (and thus being considered Jewish by pretty much everyone else, regardless of how you self-identify) does it for me.

You call yourself a Jew? You're welcome.

There are way more people shunning their Jewish identity, but I've never met someone pretending to be Jewish.

Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#176

Post by romwell »

koheripbal wrote: post #94
save_ferris wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forgiveness falls upon members of the public who read the story, not the press. I have no problem with this past being reported, especially given that he now runs what sounds like a large surveillance company. Being a successful CEO carries extra scrutiny that he might not have to deal with if he took a path with a lower profile.

I don't think random people in the public deserve an apology. The people he hurt do. Since when does the general social media community deserve to be apologized to. People are getting an emotional power rush by forcing apologies from people who never transgressed against them. This is poisonous behavior.

>I don't think random people in the public deserve an apology.

They do, because he claims to serve the public by fulfulling government surveillance contracts.

Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#177

Post by canadaduane »

cultus wrote: post #168
banjo_throwaway wrote: post #146

I know two people who took jobs at Banjo. Both of them quit within months because the place was so incredibly toxic. Second hand info, so take with a grain of salt: The CEO tries to run the company like a personality cult. Everyone was expected to be available 24/7 to respond to his demands. He liked to demand things on Friday night, weekends, or holidays to test people's loyalty. My friend was told he had to schedul…

Wow, an abusive, toxic person both then and now. It's funny how such people often rise to the top through bluster, despite being objectively bad at their jobs.

I've thought a lot about this. I think there is actually a form of manipulation / abuse that makes a leader objectively GOOD at their job. They become successful, wealthy, etc. That said, that form of leadership has costs. I think there are other modes of leadership that can be even better (cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teal_organisation) and that's what many company cultures are trying to cultivate.

Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#178

Post by cpitman »

zynkb0a wrote: post #27
z9e wrote: post #16

Ouch. I'm sure this will destroy him financially and his reputation, but what if he actually turned his life around and is completely ashamed of this past? I don't want to come off like I support his past whatsoever, because I don't, but I feel there's no forgiveness left in our society to give people like this a second chance. I guess I just believe people can change for the better and I want to encourage that more,…

I don't necessarily disagree, but can one do anything that puts them past a point where society should afford them a chance at redemption? Does an individual always deserve to be given a second chance?

Yes

Re: CEO of Banjo admitted to being a Neo-Nazi skinhead in his youth

#180

Post by teachrdan »

koheripbal wrote: post #166
teachrdan wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is from the Military Times this year: "More than one-third of all active-duty troops and more than half of minority service members say they have personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideological-driven racism within the ranks in recent months, according to the latest survey of active-duty Military Times readers." From the article, "Signs of white supremacy, extremism up again in poll of active-d…

> The vast majority... are not racist... ...and... > more than half of minority service members say they have personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideological-driven racism... These do not contradict. It only takes one person in one hundred to expose half the group to their racist ideas. It's also not surprising that the most racist people are also the loudest.

The narrative in this thread is that, not only will serving in the military make you un-racist, but that those who continue to be racist will be expelled. The fact that most respondents who are people of color have personally witnessed racism in recent months indicates otherwise.

The burden of proof is on you to show that it's only "one person in a hundred" who exposes people to their racist ideas--and to explain why they are permitted to stay in the military if they "are also the loudest."

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