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

Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

newsweek.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

461–470 of 597 posts

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#461

Post by skinkestek »

evilsetg wrote: post #204
HDMI_Cable wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a sad thing though, that people don't have enough leverage against their employer for more benefits.

I think this is what unions are for. Powerless alone but strong together.

I've been anti union for almost my entire life as you cannot really be a member of a union without at the same time supporting a number of unrelated cases that I disagree wildly with.

That said I am starting to feel that we could need something like unions, only they should avoid messing with international affairs, avoid supporting any political parties and stick to working for their members directly.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#462

Post by _o0rc »

gnicholas wrote: post #207
_o0rc wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be a strange question, depending on the scenario. You can imagine I probably don’t anticipate being in interviews where I’m asking that of somebody who isn’t the primary executive. (In other words, I wouldn’t want to work under someone whose judgement I don’t trust, and this would be a dealbreaker on judgement.) You’re correct that it rules out some important locations in tech, and I do think geography will…

IMO it would show exceedingly bad judgment to ask someone how they voted in an interview. I wouldn’t categorically refuse to hire such a person, but it would be a strike against.

I understand that perspective, but it doesn't affect my position. I'm free to choose who I work for, and I wouldn't choose to work for someone who found the question disqualifying. I get to define my own utility function.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#463

Post by skinkestek »

sneak wrote: post #415
elliekelly wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you drive by their home before hiring them? Maybe peek through the windows? Obviously you can’t ask for a key to their house, that would be insane and abusive. But anything you can see from the street is fair game, right?

If I thought that such public information would yield information useful to a hiring decision, relative to the time and resources required to obtain that information, then yes. The exterior of someone's house isn't useful in hiring. Their thoughts and opinions they choose to publish to the billions on the internet generally are.

I'd say you could learn almost as much about a person by looking at their house as by looking at their profile on the internet (that is until they learn that you will check their house. Once something gets measured it stops being a good way to measure or something like that)

Edit: and I kind of agree with the others.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#464

Post by _o0rc »

esja wrote: post #217
LarvaFX wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Impact a company negatively" is your opinion as much as the reversal seems to be the opinion of the parent commentor.

It’s not an opinion, it’s basic logic and arithmetic. Shrinking the hiring pool by eliminating both Trump voters and also the non-Trump voters who don’t like the implications of the question. That’s a very large negative and is based on math, not opinion.

I'm not sure that I share the assumptions here about the distribution of talent throughout the American voting population, in particular given that the venn diagram of the tech hiring pool and the American voting population is not a circle.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#465

Post by Jochim »

babesh wrote: post #448
pelliphant wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't China been the obvious world power for atleast 10 years now? Or, atleast, that it have been obvious that they will soon be...

I think what will happen is that a larger percentage of the US will realize it and not like it. I think the US lives in a bubble but other parts of the world are feeling that shift already. I wonder how many Americans know that Europe trades more with China than the US. Or that Japan also trades more with China than the US. Same with Africa. The US is retreating into protectionism, internal struggle, and the opiate o…

The US and to a lesser extent the EU sold their manufacturing sectors to China without any idea of what to replace them with or what to do with the populations who relied on that work, we are feeling the pain of a self inflicted wound. They did this at the same time they dismantled the social safety nets that could have maybe kept people going. Now millennials are feeling the pain of those decisions in an economy that frequently crashes, with houses and education that are increasingly unaffordable.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#466

Post by hairofadog »

cpursley wrote: post #418
eplanit wrote: post #400

The Left is using psychological projection as a technique. They accuse their opponents of doing exactly what they themselves are doing. They'll call you a fascist while they burn books. They'll call you racist while accusing you of "white privilege". Like you say, they'll destroy people's lives, based on racial hatred, while accusing those people of racial hatred. Domestic terrorism.

Not sure why you're getting downvoted. Communists and Fascists share a lot of the same authoritarian tactics.

It’s because they’re positing that it’s only people on the left that do this.

I’ve heard it said that the enemy of extremists isn't the extremist on the other side, it’s the moderates. Extremists are itching for a fight, and they’ll continue fighting forever. Moderates and pragmatists stand in the way of that goal. If an extremist group were to win and completely eliminate the other side, they’d draw some other battle lines within their own group. “Othering” is important to extremists, and the’ll find a way to do it.

I’m another proud lefty. I marched with Black Lives Matter last summer, voted for Elizabeth Warren in the primaries, I’m vegan for all the reasons people think are stupid. All of that is true, and it infuriates me to see leftist extremists getting dressed up in black and setting buildings on fire. It infuriates me to see leftists gatekeeping on Twitter, and taking such joy from tweeting people’s employers to try to get them fired for the crime of making a joke that didn’t pass a purity test, or for having a counterintuitive take on something complex. Internet pile ons are the worst.

All that said, it confounds me that people on the right seem to be unable to see these traits within their own party, and aren’t working harder to rid their ranks of QAnon, Proud Boys, and Trumpism. It seems like anyone on the right who has the temerity to point out these problems gets branded as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and expelled from the party. Jeff Sessions – JEFF SESSIONS – was cancelled by the right for not being right enough.

So, yeah, there’s a lot of projection going on all around.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#467

Post by treeman79 »

Number157 wrote: post #196
paperwasp42 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have literally seen NYT bestselling authors talk about how they're super excited to publicly heckle an author at his next book signing. And join in on conversations promoting burning his book. His crime? Writing a female character who goes on the run, has limited food, and trains in martial arts--which leads to her losing weight. This was, apparently, fat-shaming and deeply sexist. The authors involved in these thr…

Some people just want to hurt others. These are just excuses to do it in a way that they can enjoy being malicious while claiming to be "good".

That is sad but normal.

What’s scary is that this behavior is now acceptable. As long as it’s against group X

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#468

Post by p_l »

johnchristopher wrote: post #453
p_l wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, in Lord of the Rings, it was implied that the change in Frodo was due to carrying the One Ring, and that it was due to it that he couldn't rejoin normal life while the other Hobbits could (and in Shire, ultimately became much more famous)

No, not when that scene happens. It clearly was a comment he made on how he got healthier by walking around. It's early in the book.

Ah. Well, he was the lazy stay-at-home guy of the four hobbits before the adventure :)

Samwise did hard physical work regularly, and Meriadock and Pippin while also somewhat pampered (remember, of the four hobbit, only Sam wasn't nobility!) were somewhat known for their adventures.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#469

Post by hluska »

Chazprime wrote: post #367
hluska wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure that I’d call the reaction to Bergstrom a debacle. Here are a couple of quotes from the excerpt that made everyone angry: “It’s a novel with a teenage heroine set in a dystopian future. Which novel in particular doesn’t matter because they’re all the same. Poor teenage heroine, having to go to war when all you really want is to write in your diary about how you’re in love with two different guys and can’…

Those quotes really don’t warrant the disproportional responses to his book nor the vitriol directed at him personally & professionally. I think it’s time we start calling out the social media mobbing for what it really is: hateful .

Did you actually read his interview though? If you’re going to mock your entire genre, you should at least be accurate. Otherwise, critics will rightly point out that you’re writing a genre you don’t know. When you add in that second quote, it’s even more obvious that he doesn’t know his genre.

The dude wrote some books at a team with YA was all the rage and got a film deal out of it. He made some godawful marketing and communications decisions and faced predictable consequences. I don’t feel bad for writers who can’t communicate. Nor do I feel bad for writers who aren’t capable of thinking through how their work fits within a genre they’re trying to capitalize on. Businesses that make bad marketing decisions cancel themselves and in this case, the writer made a myriad of awful business decisions. That’s capitalism.

And seriously, who would outright mock the Hunger Games without expecting some sort of disproportionate backlash? YA works in disproportionates - it’s the entire beast, right down to the growth strategy. If you’re not wise enough to understand your genre, you lose. The thought that you could dismiss that entire genre with garbage critiques and not face bizarre retribution is so insane that I can’t take it seriously.

And if you’re going to do that after you’ve signed a film deal?? I’m sorry but you deserve to be cancelled.

Re: Agent fired from literary agency for using Parler and Gab

#470

Post by _o0rc »

zo1 wrote: post #260
_o0rc wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As pointed out below, there are some states where politics are protected. I looked it up because I do plan to use that information in hiring decisions going forward. I wouldn't surprised if I get downvoted for this, but I intend to ask anyone I interview in the future (not currently in a role that involves hiring) if they voted for Trump in 2020. And a yes will be a disqualifying answer on the basis of poor judgement…

You should probably put that on your job-listing ads! Also, how do you plan on phrasing the question? And if you're not fully within the power to "disqualify" the candidate, what other steps are you planning on taking to prevent them from being hired by your employer? Have you discussed it yet with your employer's HR department yet?

Ha, yes, the intent is that it would be an open and stated part of the hiring process. There's no reason to surprise people with the question. I'd rather let candidates self-select them out, as much for this question as for any other mis-alignments.

I did a poor job in my first comment of explaining my role relative to hiring. I'm speaking from a position of having been a founder and CEO, and likely being one again. The question about how this would play it with HR is understood, but isn't applicable to me personally. I believe (as I suspect you do) that in most organizations, this would be a hard thing to instill retroactively or individually and would meet lots of resistance, unless it were a very philosophically aligned company.

Post reply on HN