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Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

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Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should 50 workers not be fired for disrupting the workplace to push a political agenda?

Joining a union is essentially saying you're ready to throw down for any worker, even a stranger, and you know without having to ask that they've made the same promise to you. Metal as hell, everyone should do it. {Credit: T Arnold}

> Joining a union is essentially saying you're ready to throw down for any worker, even a stranger, and you know without having to ask that they've made the same promise to you.

No. Joining a union means you agree to collective action. Niche political positions wouldn't really qualify, and if pushed, would actual tear the union apart because just any many people are against as are for.

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because genocide definitionally requires intent. > Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part.. Wikipedia

> Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part That's exactly what Israel is doing from the POV of the whole world but they disagree.

That's not the pov of the whole world. It's actually contrary to the views of all the major Democratic countries like the us, UK and France.

The countries that claim Israel is committing genocide are mostly authoritarian countries.

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#213
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Id be very happy if corporations stopped participating in any kind of politics altogether, including human rights discourse.

Just to be clear... In your worldview selling AI to a mass murdering apartheid state is not political, but talking about it is?

Calling Israel a mass murdering apartheid state is political. Not everyone agrees with that statement, in fact many strongly disagree.

So you can't just assume your conclusion and be aghast that other people don't immediately agree with you.

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#214
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, the pro-palistinian side is favored by the progressive left, the same group who are also pro-gay/pro-trans etc. In a lot of ways, the struggles are similar to BLM - there is a great injustice being done by a powerful force funded by the US government. Or again with opposing the US's global war on terror. The people in those groups aren't forced to be on the palenstinians side, but it is logically consiste…

Interesting. I, uh, am not sure how a person can hold those views simultaneously. Success of Palestine will mean oppression of the groups the cause seeks to protect (LGBTQ+ specifically). Isn't this "paradox of tolerance"-esque, or is there a belief that if the Palestinian people were not being bombarded by an oppressive force: that they would be equitable to LGBTQ causes. Or: does it not factor into it at all?

> Success of Palestine will mean oppression of the groups the cause seeks to protect (LGBTQ+ specifically).

That depends on what you mean by success of Palestine. Eg if all you're talking about is an end to the current war, that's not really true.

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#215

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> that previously criticized anti-fascists for punching Nazis For punching people they called Nazis.

Accurate or not, the perception of someone being a Nazi made them punchable. It's not hard to argue people desiring to punch Nazis are probably not anti-Semetic.

Of course it's hard to argue that. Nazis are the great bogeymen right now, wanting to punch them might have little to do with feelings about Jews, and everything to do with just looking for an outlet to attack "the bad people" however defined.

When we read historical cases of witch trials or executing "demons" or "possessed people", it's the same thing.

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#216
post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Correct. AI (or other technology) are tools. They can be used for good, they can be used for evil, it is should not be within the purview of a company to make such moral judgements. So basically when IBM was selling business machines that were being used in the concentration camps to the Nazi government it was ok. And when other US companies were selling all kinds of things including technology to the Nazis, which…

> Stop murdering children first.

Of course, Israelis and their supporters will say the same thing.

There is no one party to this state of affairs still alive that threw the first stone. There was October 7, before that there were settlements and annexations, before that there were intifadas, before that there were mandates, civil wars etc, all the while punctuated by stray killings, bombings and rocket attacks, on and on reaching back millennia.

I think plenty of people are tired of the simplistic, reductive, one-side treatment protesters give the issue, as you’re showing here. They think they can dictate to everyone how it should be solved. Condescension like that just never plays well.

Comparing the Israel-Palestine conflict to Nazi Germany is both a qualitative and quantitative error. The degree to which Israel has killed Palestinians is dwarfed by the numbers the Nazis put up. The Nazis invaded many countries, occupying a total area over ten times the size of modern Germany. All that in the span of a decade or two, depending on when you count the start; compared to a conflict that in modern times alone is measured in a hundred years, with a small fraction of the impact. With multiple countries committed to their destruction.

It’s a disappointing comparison and I can’t help but think it’s made deliberately to provoke an emotional reaction.

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#217
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to be clear... In your worldview selling AI to a mass murdering apartheid state is not political, but talking about it is?

Calling Israel a mass murdering apartheid state is political. Not everyone agrees with that statement, in fact many strongly disagree. So you can't just assume your conclusion and be aghast that other people don't immediately agree with you.

Not that I'm advocating for either side, but how do you know they were referring to Israel unless you agree?

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#218
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling Israel a mass murdering apartheid state is political. Not everyone agrees with that statement, in fact many strongly disagree. So you can't just assume your conclusion and be aghast that other people don't immediately agree with you.

Not that I'm advocating for either side, but how do you know they were referring to Israel unless you agree?

Because the topic under discussion is about Google firing workers for protesting Google doing business with Israel. The subtitle is: "Some employees protested the tech giant’s contract with the Israeli government. They’ve been let go."

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#219
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All politics should not be acceptable in some sense. As in it's fine to discuss your views with colleagues over lunch. It's fine to express concerns privately over appropriate channels. If you disagree with the contracts your company takes on you can always quit. There is no need to make your coworkers feel threatened for just doing their job.

The best way to make people get along is to tell them what's acceptable for them to talk about with each other.

Most professional adults already know that.

Statistically speaking some of my coworkers voted for trump. I ll never know. Some of my coworkers probably think abortion is murder. Some think that women should stay at home, or that being trans is a mental disorder. None of these are the things to discuss at work

Re: Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

#220
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, stuff like the IBM Nazi thing or the helmet tracking used on slaves in Qatar is kinda... kinda gives bad vibes, I guess.

[flagged]

I think your sarcasm antennas need some adjustment.
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