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Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

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Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#171

Post by cblconfederate »

xnyan wrote: post #160
cblconfederate wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a mainstream view. Maybe it's a 2020-american thing that every action and company and invention is judged by its political potential, but most people wont agree that Gutenberg is to be blamed for what politicians did.

This is not an opinion, politics is the exercise of power. If you are making decisions, you are exercising political power. Apolitical means “We’re going to make political decisions but we are not going to engage with any debate or discussion about them and you are not allowed to either.”

people make decisions, companies don't. That's the problem, people see the company as a political vehicle, akin to a political party. That's wrong on so many levels, primarily on the level that it's a well-funded for-profit organization with the means to cause undemocratic, arbitrary political damage. Blame individuals as much as you want for their politics, don't use the overfunded big tech as a trojan horse to destroy democratic balances.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#172

Post by [deleted] »

demygale wrote: post #104
moduspol wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Virtually every meaningful task humans have accomplished has been a result of groups of us putting aside our differences to unite and focus on solving the problem at hand.

What if the problem at hand is ending structural racism in the workplace?

[deleted]

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#173

Post by rmc »

mrtksn wrote: post #150
jpdb wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is a company wanting to be apolitical is controversial? Because there's really no such thing as, "apolitical." If you offer web-hosting to a group of white nationalists, this is a political action. "Apolitical" is what people who are ok with the status quo use as a dog-whistle to avoid responsibility.

>If you offer web-hosting to a group of white nationalists, this is a political action How so? I would say that this is a risk of exposure to politics but hardly a political action.

Because you're providing material aid to that group, and you're saying there's nothing wrong with doing that.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#174

Post by Gormisdomai »

jokethrowaway wrote: post #128
Gormisdomai wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your high level point about universal tolerance stands - but you might like to challenge some of your object level assumptions about world religions and LGBT. Iranian theocratic leadership for example officially does not think that being trans is against sharia and the nation carries out more gender reassignment surgeries than any country except Thailand (not that their treatment of trans people is perfect by any mea…

A past employer decided to publish a rainbow themed design for LGBTQ pride and rolled back the UAE version of the website following feedback from clients there.

I think "impossible to reconcile with the codified teachings of religion X" and "would receive negative feedback / appear intolerant to people currently practicing religion X" are different claims. Though I totally agree the latter is a good argument for why "universal tolerance" is not a straightforward concept.

Specifically: I'm disputing the theological claim "Being a practicing L, G, B, or T or pro any of them is against sharia, the Catechism, and against the rules of many major Protestant sects like Mormons." That's not really a settled question.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#175

Post by Zigurd »

chii wrote: post #140
wwright wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I (and many others) are of the opinion that you can’t truly be apolitical; claiming to be so is its own form of politics (and generally one that supports the status quo). Politics is ultimately about how we engage and collaborate with each other as a society, not just which “party” you like. The very act of being a company is very relative to the laws and regulations your country has, which are of course determined b…

> you can’t truly be apolitical; that's one of those "you're either with us or against us" type of deal - which is not the right way to deal with anything imho. You _can_ be apolitical - as in, you do not let your political views affect what you do. You keep your political views private. You do not try to change anyone else's political views as part of your job.

That is not what the parent comment is arguing. It is arguing that cryptocurrency has heavy political baggage it cannot shed. That is evident in the kinds of people attracted to cryptocurrency. There are many tribes, but, to take one example, there are a lot of enthusiasts who think central banking and/or national currency is a conspiracy of some kind.

They think that cryptocurrency eliminating the ability of nations to set monetary policy, or to enable people with enough means to escape from the impact of monetary policy, is a good thing. This is politics baked into the product cryptocurrency companies create, and it is part of their "mission."

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#176

Post by hexis »

sammex wrote: post #162
chii wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you offer web-hosting to a group of white nationalists, this is a political action. no it's not - you're just offering a service for a fee. As long as the service is not illegal, and you're not under-charging (which can be considered a political donation), then it's apolitical. Deliberately choosing not to conduct business with a certain group because of their political ideology, on the other hand, _is_ a politi…

I don't agree. Selling a gun to a hunter is not the same as selling a gun to a known child murderer. Both is "just" selling a gun but they are very different in practice.

Yes, but this distinction doesn’t require a corporate policy to implement. One transaction is legal and the other is not.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#177

Post by ozorOzora »

sammex wrote: post #162
chii wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you offer web-hosting to a group of white nationalists, this is a political action. no it's not - you're just offering a service for a fee. As long as the service is not illegal, and you're not under-charging (which can be considered a political donation), then it's apolitical. Deliberately choosing not to conduct business with a certain group because of their political ideology, on the other hand, _is_ a politi…

I don't agree. Selling a gun to a hunter is not the same as selling a gun to a known child murderer. Both is "just" selling a gun but they are very different in practice.

Would you like to mandate background checks for every potential customer?

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#178

Post by mrtksn »

rmc wrote: post #173
mrtksn wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you offer web-hosting to a group of white nationalists, this is a political action How so? I would say that this is a risk of exposure to politics but hardly a political action.

Because you're providing material aid to that group, and you're saying there's nothing wrong with doing that .

By offering I understand selling it the same way like selling it to everyone else. If by "aid" and by "offering" you mean giving it away as a gift or similar then yes - definitely political.

I see a case where it can be political, like creating a mechanism to protect specific group from the others however simply doing business is not a political action by itself.

There's also possibility to be a political action where it's widespread to deny services to certain groups but even that is a stretch because it can also be a good business opportunity.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#179

Post by stevehawk »

sammex wrote: post #162
chii wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you offer web-hosting to a group of white nationalists, this is a political action. no it's not - you're just offering a service for a fee. As long as the service is not illegal, and you're not under-charging (which can be considered a political donation), then it's apolitical. Deliberately choosing not to conduct business with a certain group because of their political ideology, on the other hand, _is_ a politi…

I don't agree. Selling a gun to a hunter is not the same as selling a gun to a known child murderer. Both is "just" selling a gun but they are very different in practice.

ya, one would be illegal

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#180

Post by pracer »

wwright wrote: post #127
Zenbit_UX wrote: post #120

Why is a company wanting to be apolitical is controversial? That should be the default, is this an American thing like how masks and healthcare are controversial? I would expect a government to have proper separation from church and state, so why is it weird to want a company to separate politics and mission? I can't see any good coming from being in a work environment where the company supports a political issue I'm…

I (and many others) are of the opinion that you can’t truly be apolitical; claiming to be so is its own form of politics (and generally one that supports the status quo). Politics is ultimately about how we engage and collaborate with each other as a society, not just which “party” you like. The very act of being a company is very relative to the laws and regulations your country has, which are of course determined b…

You are confusing people with companies. A person is political, a company should not. Otherwise, you are siding with totalitarian regimes that decide which services or rights you have based on what you think or believe. It was tried in the past, good luck for that.
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