Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

theblockcrypto.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 1001 posts

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

#291

Post by manigandham »

eli wrote: post #192
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…

Forbidding debate is taking an implicit stance in favor of the status quo.

No, it's just stating that the workplace is neutral. It's not for or against anything. You can do that on your time instead.

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

#292

Post by throwaway0a5e »

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.

>For example, can you be a gun shop owner without being pro-gun

What do you mean "pro-gun"?

You're fundamentally trying to reduce something that's a range to a binary and you're gonna lose a lot of accuracy doing that.

There's lots of gun shops owned by fudds who support various things from the "anti gun" wish list. Just by virtue of being older the "people who own gun shops" demographic is likely less extreme on the pro-gun spectrum than the average person on the pro-gun spectrum.

Obviously this is gonna generalize pretty well to other issues. Anyone running an abortion clinic is gonna be pro-life to some extend but selling the service doesn't necessarily mean they're at the super extreme end of it.

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

#293

Post by disposekinetics »

tlogan wrote: post #211

We live in a different world now. Today, apolitical pretty much means “I’m white. And probably male. But definitely white.”

When someone uses the word apolitical I know they’re usually another conservative trying to avoid the witch hunters.

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

#294

Post by doitLP »

howlgarnish wrote: post #11

As a non-American, I find it truly bizarre (and sad) that's it's now controversial to publicly state that you're not taking sides.

So do many Americans. It is a vocal and proselytizing minority getting outsized coverage that makes it seem like “everyone feels this way”.

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

#295

Post by throwaway4715 »

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!

SV companies sell candidates on changing the world and disrupting the status quo. They literally target and recruit the type of people who would want to discuss politics at work.

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

#296

Post by eeh »

davidgerard wrote: post #106
eeh wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CEO is declaring the focus political issue is cryptocurrency. The focus is not whales, forests, ice caps, malaria. Why is this controversial?

for a start, you've just separated "cryptocurrency" from "ice caps", when Bitcoin generates country-sized quantities of CO2.

It sounds like Coinbase doesn't consider climate change to be within their mission.

We need to place a place on carbon, and thus share responsibility, in proportion to use.

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

#297

Post by gadders »

Rotten194 wrote: post #41
gadders wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could... not talk about it at work?

What is "it"? Things that are controversial? Where do we draw the line on that? Most people would agree that talking about your flight "around" the world is OK, even if it takes a side in the somehow-controversial debate on the shape of the earth. What about talking to your coworkers idly and you mention "Oh yeah I've been keeping my kids at home cause I'm worried about coronavirus". Controversial, some people think…

I think the "don't be political" works both ways.

If someone, say, brought up their gay partner to a colleague who is very religious, I'd expect the religious colleague to treat them courteously. I wouldn't expect them to tell them that they will burn in hell for all eternity.

Maybe the line to be drawn is one of policy vs people. As a policy decision, you could be against gay marriage but on a personal level still be happy for a gay colleague that got married. Or happy that they are happy.

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

#298

Post by [deleted] »

unishark wrote: post #19
ZephyrBlu wrote: post #3

I agreed with what Brian Armstrong said in his blog post and thought it was admirable to publicly take that position, but now I have even more respect for his dedication. I don't know if the severance package is good or not, but it seems generous and it gives employees who aren't aligned with the company an easy way out.

Seems pretty damn good severance to me. Four to six months of a SF salary? I wonder if the real goal here is just reduce headcount.

[deleted]

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

#299

Post by hooande »

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…

The issue here is that the company HAD a political mission, and decided to change that. Some employees may have joined specifically because of the company's politics and now they can leave.

Church and state are separate because you don't get to choose your birth citizenship. But you do get to choose where you you seek employment. As long as the company is upfront about their politics when you take the job, it's up to you to decide to work there. ie, don't take a job at a christian bookstore if you aren't christian

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

#300

Post by echelon »

It would be so ironic if every Coinbase employee took this exit. It's not like there isn't more work out there.

The longer I work, the less I put up with dehumanizing actions from the top. You only live for so long. Why be told to your face that you're just a resource.

Post reply on HN