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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

#221

Post by Allower »

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…

If you don't know how to separate social issues from politics, well shit, that's the whole problem isn't it. Figure it out or continue being a moron dragging civilization back into the dark ages.

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

#222

Post by michaelt »

eyeball wrote: post #165
michaelt wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a theory this is a consequence of tech companies wanting to move things online and become 'platform owners', leasing and ad-supporting everything rather than selling it. After all, nobody would complain if the KKK had brought Microsoft Office licenses, any more than they'd complain if the KKK had brought food at wal-mart. But many tech companies have realised how profitable it is to be Facebook or Github. They…

> After all, nobody would complain if the KKK had brought Microsoft Office licenses, any more than they'd complain if the KKK had brought food at wal-mart. Oh yes they would. Selling to the KKK would make Microsoft and Walmart KKK supporters.

Wal-mart doesn't know if that shopper is on their way to the KKK cook-out. If you've heard someone proposing wal-mart should start IDing shoppers to check them against a blacklist of undesirables, they were trolling you.

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

#223

Post by paulgb »

tossAfterUsing wrote: post #201
paulgb wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What happened? I'm partial to Aaron Levie's take on this[1]: > An alternative take on the importance of companies taking a stand on critical social issues that impact our employees and communities: when there's a vacuum of leadership from the government in dealing with these topics, businesses often need to lead more than ever. When we have had presidents who were willing to condemn white supremacy, we tended not t…

> When we have had presidents who were willing to condemn white supremacy, we tended not to call on CEOs to. https://twitter.com/robsmithonline/status/131113297546835968...

Last night he was given the chance to unequivocally condemn the Proud Boys and instead told them to "stand back and stand by", which the group themselves has taken as a rally cry. Just like how after Charlottesville, white supremacists took his ambiguous response as a sign of approval.

He doesn't condemn, he validates with just enough deniability that people can make lists like the one you posted, while everyone who is following along sees exactly what is happening.

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

#224

Post by cblconfederate »

pornel wrote: post #56

This is going to work great for Coinbase. It's very helpful for employers to select for conformists who can be told to shut up, and not stand up for what they believe (unless they believe in the status quo and the company, which is called non-political). Selecting for groupthink^W mission is pretty important in the business of cryptocurrencies. Reduces chances of anyone having a different moral stance that would push…

crypto attracts a lot of misfits, so yes it seems it will be good for them. I doubt they are conformists though, i mean, being a conformist to a very minority opinion (anarcho-capitalism) is not really possible, is it?

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

#225

Post by falcor84 »

michaelt wrote: post #200
chii wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

IMHO it's job-dependent. For example, can you be a gun shop owner without being pro-gun? Some would say actions speak louder than words. On the other hand, if you own a bakery being apolitical is a lot simpler. Avoid the Masterpiece Cakeshop case and there's as little politics as you'll find anywhere.

I'm not one of them myself, but I know people who would argue that the ubiquity of sugary foods in our diets is a bigger net negative to society than guns.

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

#226

Post by CPLX »

moduspol wrote: post #94
kkhire wrote: post #65

I’ve never worked in the Bay Area, so could just be OOL but I’m genuinely surprised that this is such a big deal, or that this blog post got so much praise. Never discussed politics at any of the companies I’ve worked for, we were always too busy with...work!

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.

It’s pretty common for the problem at hand to be a group of violent extremists attempting to seize power.

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

#227

Post by happytoexplain »

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…

>Why is a company wanting to be apolitical is controversial?

It depends on how extreme the politics of the society are. It only sounds like there's an obviously "right" answer to you because you're used to living your entire life in a society where politics aren't that extreme yet from your point of view. But for many other people, the line was crossed in recent years.

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

#228

Post by [deleted] »

chii wrote: post #145
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. 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…

[deleted]

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

#229

Post by yunohn »

jpdb wrote: post #136
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…

> 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.

This is on-point. Others here seem to be oblivious to reality:

White guy at webhost: We took the white supremacists' money, so this is totally legal.

Black colleague: Sure, but now they're using the website to display anti-black ideology and actively plan rallies to remove my rights.

White guy: This is politics and I'm trying to be apolitical. Please lobby the courts if you have a problem.

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

#230

Post by clinta »

vowelless wrote: post #215
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…

> Politics is ultimately about how we engage and collaborate with each other as a society, It is so sad that people increasingly have this view. Politics was never how “we engaged and collaborated in society”.

Politics is discussing when it is justified and appropriate to use violence. For enforcing laws, collecting taxes ect...

All peaceful human interaction falls outside of that.

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