Live data from Hacker News

A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

blog.coinbase.com

31–40 of 774 posts

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#31

> “I’m worried that the severance package was too good” Yeah... I'm genuinely curious how many people actually quit over the "apolitical" stance, vs employees that were just unhappy with the job in general and took this convenient opportunity to leave with a pretty sweet deal.

> Yeah... I'm genuinely curious how many people actually quit over the "apolitical" stance, vs employees that were just unhappy with the job in general and took this convenient opportunity to leave with a pretty sweet deal.

Getting people who are unhappy (politics aside) to leave sounds more like "the severance package was a nice move" than "the severance package was too good."

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#32

One thought: If you see a resume with Coinbase until October 2020, that's probably someone who prefers political activism in the workplace. That might be seen in a positive or negative light, depending on your stance. I personally am afraid to associate myself too publicly with a political stance, lest I be wrong and/or the environment changes.

Or it may mean that they just took advantage of a severance offered and found another job

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#33
post #15

I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on.

Not using your business as a political platform is not the same as supporting the status quo. The "if you're not with us, you're against us" stance is definitely polarizing and is not making things better.

But Coinbase is using their business as a political platform[1].

[1] https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?...

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#34
post #21
post #15

I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on.

Is it necessarily? Social media has amplified polarization. Is it really the case that everyone must support one or other of the poles?

Something being a political statement doesn't necessarily mean it is directly in support of one pole or the other. It's still political.

Saying "my business supports whatever the current US government's stated opinion is on all issues" is a political stance. It may not be partisan, but it absolutely is political. Those aren't synonymous.

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#35
post #15

I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on.

You are correct in your "understatement" claim, though I suspect unintentionally so. Yes, "avoiding politics" cuts into time you could be spending advancing progressive politics. So does writing software. So does watching a movie with your spouse. So does sleeping. So does every single thing that isn't literally "advancing progressive politics."

"No politics = politics" is an utterly vacuous statement.

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#37
post #15

I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on.

Not using your business as a political platform is not the same as supporting the status quo. The "if you're not with us, you're against us" stance is definitely polarizing and is not making things better.

Logically, it is. Just not in a way that's meaningful or interesting.

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#38
post #15

I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on.

My cynical take on this is Coinbase is preparing for Democrats to take control of the US gov't in a few months and sees Republicans suddenly becoming very concerned about gov't / central bank failures and buying cryptocurrency as a hedge. Don't want to be seen a leftist company when your user growth will come from the right.

That is definitely an interesting take but I think any right-winger that goes that far is more likely to be caught up in a grift than going to Coinbase where they have to send in their government-issue ID and link their account to a US bank that reports to government if they notice suspicious activity.

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#39
post #15

I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on.

That’s a very paranoid way of looking at things. Signalling support for the status quo would involve something more active, eg “wooo, go status quo!!” on a banner.

Maybe they have different priorities than you and just want to make money. Not everything is political.

Post reply on HN