I'm curious what Cook's position is on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Apple's making heavy investments in Israel and Cook has met with Netanyahu who's extremely right wing. Netanyahu's party wants no Palestinian state west of Jordan and for Israel to be an officially Jewish state. Gaza's essentially an open air prison. Of all the things Apple's involved with, that seems to be the most at odds with his expressed values of freedom, equality and human dignity.
Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
31–40 of 68 posts
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#32What are Tim Cook's credentials here? Did he say anything that hasn't been said by others? Is his take novel or particularly developed? This is an incredibly complex issue. As a left-leaning person who wants to see discrimination eradicated, but as a person who also wants to see it eradicated without it being the purview of some constellation of legal obligations, I recognize deep rooted conflicts. Take for example t…
Tim Cook is the CEO of one of the world's largest and most influential companies.
This alone makes him absolutely qualified to comment.
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is not okay. But it's also not something that is (ought to be) under the juris prudence of the law.
Fun story: There's a thing you can do with real estate called a "restrictive covenant". Basically this means that as part of the agreement to sell a piece of property, you attach a rider like "but the purchaser isn't allowed to do X with the property, and must pass this restriction on to future purchasers". This is pretty basic and pretty well established to be legal. For example, people sometimes use restrictive cov…
That is a fun story, and a great example of a deeper analysis of the sort you aren't going to get from Cook. Thank you for sharing it. :) It would be interesting to see whether there is an application of this to hiring practices (I don't see a clear way this could be done).
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#34[deleted]
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#35Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#36However odious the law is, businesses meddling in politics is even more scary and odious. Even if it's for the "good thing" (because of course everybody defines thet "good thing" to be what he stands for).
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#37I don't like him citing that discrimation is "bad for business" as anecdotal justification. Tim is the role model, not Apple.
It's a technique that one uses to cut through with people who don't care about anything but the bottom line.
Essentially, you say that first and foremost, it's bad for business. Plus, it also has some negative effects on society and the ability for people to participate as equal members in society; you know, for airy fairy types with lofty ideals in ivory towers who care about such things.
It's somewhat upsetting that people see the need to frame things this way, but unfortunately it's an effective way to deliver a message without being 'partisan' (whatever that is).
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#38Here's a hefty legal analysis of Religious Freedom laws. There's some interesting history here that bears reading.
http://volokh.com/2013/12/02/hobby-lobby-employer-mandate-re...
(Note that I'm not a lawyer and can't vouch for this interpretation, but there are a lot of plain facts in the analysis that I hadn't known before.)
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#39What are Tim Cook's credentials here? Did he say anything that hasn't been said by others? Is his take novel or particularly developed? This is an incredibly complex issue. As a left-leaning person who wants to see discrimination eradicated, but as a person who also wants to see it eradicated without it being the purview of some constellation of legal obligations, I recognize deep rooted conflicts. Take for example t…
Tim Cook is the CEO of one of the world's largest and most influential companies. This alone makes him absolutely qualified to comment.
Merely being a citizen makes someone qualified to comment.
Being the CEO of one of the world's largest and most influential companies has nothing to do with having correct, interesting or developed legal background or politics.
The Washington Post is using his status as CEO as an appeal from authority - to imply his politics are somehow interesting or informed or correct.
Re: Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous
#40> That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of > legislation — wherever it emerges. I’m writing in the hopes that many more will > join this movement. From North Carolina to Nevada, these bills under > consideration truly will hurt jobs, growth and the economic vibrancy of parts of > the country where a 21st-century economy was once welcomed with open arms. This is bizarre. In what way d…
"This is bizarre. In what way does a 21st-century economy depend on inter-racial marriage?
Am I too cynical for thinking this probably has more to do with PR and/or company morale?"
I fixed it for you.