Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission • Hacker News Board

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

#381

Post by dkural » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 2:58 PM UTC

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…

When one guy is hitting another one in the head, a "this is not my concern" stance tends to benefit the guy doing the hitting.

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

#382

Post by TigeriusKirk » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 2:59 PM UTC

nilkn wrote: post #109

objclxt wrote: post #23

Brian Armstrong wants to have it both ways. He wants employees to focus “on the mission”, and not bring societal politics and activism into the workplace. Fair enough. For better or for worse, we live in a capitalist system, and companies are not first and foremost social justice organisations. I am not unsympathetic to the problems he is trying to solve. But he also wants to influence politics and laws to benefit hi…

I have to say most companies I’ve worked for have subscribed to the policies in Armstrong’s blog post, and it has worked very well. But these companies were mostly outside the Bay Area. I suspect the Bay Area is extremely nondiverse and homogeneous, and folks there aren’t actually used to having to work with and get along with people who strongly disagree with them on politics. In that kind of monoculture, it’s easy…

>If Coinbase is going to be remote-first, as they recently announced, the company’s employees are certainly going to encounter a level of diversity they haven’t been exposed to in the Bay Area.

A lot of companies are going to get some serious culture shock if they increase their remote hiring.

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

#383

Post by vidarh » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

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…

Indeed, the choice to "be apolitical" is itself a political choice.

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

#384

Post by username90 » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

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.

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

If the reformists are winning outside the company then the status quo is in the reformists favor and thus forbidding debate is pro change. For example now, Biden is favored to win so status quo is Biden wins, so a company forbidding political debate is liberal.

For Coinbase specifically, all their US locations are in blue states, making the status quo Democrat no matter how you see it.

Edit: Anyway, your argument doesn't make sense, you aren't in favor of the status quo unless you fight to bring it back after things change or you fight to keep it from changing. Also you aren't pro the status quo just because you prevent people you pay money to waste time arguing with each other instead of doing their job.

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

#385

Post by commandlinefan » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

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.

> You keep your political views private.

In nearly every case, the people who are claiming to encourage politics in the workplace are actually demanding allegiance - try supporting the other side and see how they feel.

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

#386

Post by bananaface » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:04 PM UTC

langitbiru wrote: post #325

dkdk8283 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a media company with a reach of 400 million ADI. We had internal meetings more or less instructing employees how to vote. Our hand curated content intentionally catered to this same narrative. It was completely politically biased. I was hired when the company was neutral but over the years the extreme left narrative settled in and we tended to only hire people with the same ideologies. Executive discussio…

So what does the future hold? Will there be left-leaning companies and right-leaning companies? What if I am centrist? So when I apply for a job, do I have to make sure my political leaning fits with the employer? Brave, brave new world.

I wouldn't worry about it. The issue will burn itself out. Courting a culture of loud, demanding people with an axe to grind is a much better short-term strategy than long.

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

#387

Post by nootropicat » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:06 PM UTC

monoideism wrote: post #142

nemo44x wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s generally a small but vocal group. And I wouldn’t call it politics so much as activism. A sort of religious zeal has made its way into our institutions like schools and universities. Some people have taken to it like a missionary would religion and believe it’s their duty to spread the word everywhere at all times. The Inquisition was no different in this regard. You just have to read what the activism says. It…

> It’s far beyond politics and more a religion than anything. I believe this is a result of the fact that Americans have turned away from organized religion in recent years (note: I'm not religious myself). There seems to be something deep inside of most people that requires a shared spiritual experience. Wokism has emerged to fill that need.

I think this article is going to interest you: https://gist.github.com/jart/b73868081a5e1a1c5cf0

>Finally, our parasite will employ a strategy of politicization, insisting that everyone in a society be involved in the contest for political power. Since our memetic parasite is already bound to one or more political factions, politicization leaves no one with the option to ignore it, and simply live their lives. Neutrality is not acceptable. All those who are not actively infected, and who do not openly endorse the parasite, are by definition its enemies. And they will be crushed. The safest thing is to play along, and raise your children in the faith - even if you don't really believe, they will.

>At this point we've established, at least to my satisfaction, that

>(a) there is such a thing as Universalism;

>(b) Universalism is an educationally-transmitted tradition that works just like any theistic religion, and is best understood as a descendant of Christianity;

>Universalism, again, is a mystery cult of power. Its supreme being is the State. And all of the Universalist mysteries - humanity, democracy, equality, and so on - cluster around the philosophy of collective action. Christianity has been a state religion since Constantine, of course, but it always also included magical and metaphysical mysteries, which the advance of science has rendered superfluous at best, embarrassing at worst. So Universalism, unlike its ancestors, is not concerned with the Trinity or transubstantiation or predestination.

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

#388

Post by mardifoufs » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:08 PM UTC

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.”

That's completely detached from reality and pretty much signals that you probably don't interact with minorities much.

As a non white immigrant, I can tell you that in my experience most PoC are apolitical. Much more so than white males as you say. And that's not only true for first generation immigrants, but also for most of their children.

Afro-americans are the only minority group I can think of that are actually pretty politically involved. So unless "white" only means "non black" for you, I really think you need to talk and get to know more "non whites".

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

#389

Post by vibrolax » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:08 PM UTC

I place political activity at work in the same category as religious proselytizing. It is an unwelcome diversion from the tasks at hand, and increases interpersonal tensions. It's difficult enough to grow and maintain one's technical competence and foster team cohesion without additional religious and/or political complications.

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

#390

Post by nrmitchi » Wed, Sep 30, 2020, 3:09 PM UTC

I know that this will greatly help a few who are legitimately disturbed by the recent post and feel they either can't work at, or aren't excited by, Coinbase any more.

But at the level of severance discussed in the post (4 (or 6) months, 7-year exercise window), it feels like most employees who know they could soft-land into another position would be silly not to take this offer. Some people may still enjoy working at Coinbase, but do they enjoy it enough to reject an effective 30-50% bonus?

Especially for employees who were there less than 2 years, and may not necessarily stay for 2 years, this looks like a unique opportunity to lock in that 7 year exercise window.

I've seen offers like this before, and it led to a much-higher-than-expected number of employees choosing to leave.