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Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

theguardian.com

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Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#141
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(c) Every drops of oil you use strengthen Saudi Arabia, why didn't you stop yet? and (d) If you are using Uber, WeWork or in a company being invested by Softbank, Saudi Arabia get benefits from it as well ( https://www.pif.gov.sa/en/Pages/OurInvestments-Global.aspx ). > but I don't see much of a moral distinction between the two. The key here is that you will have to elaborate how you think the two are similar. And t…

This just seems like a recipe for paralysis. Just because you can't live a perfect life - I try to drive as little as possible, and try to be careful about where things I buy are sourced, but my time is not infinite - doesn't mean you can't live a better one. This doesn't seem like a slippery slope argument to me.

My argument is different. I'm not saying that you shouldn't, or that you didn't try to live a more morally good life. I'm saying that you tried, but we don't know if your actions have the effect you want.

It might be the case that you driving less, and trying to be careful about sourcing necessities. But you are contributing more, rather than less, to the benefit of nations/ people you don't like.

The original discussion was you making the claim that working directly under MBS management is morally the same as working in one of the thousands companies that have to obey the request of Saudi Arabia, and I'm asking you to elaborate how to draw the line.

Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternatively, there is such a thing as a woke corporation, and there is such a thing as an anti gay corporation, and they might even be the same corporation at different points in space and\or time. Wokism is a dominant religion (not demographically) in the US, therefore corporations there pray to wokism and observe its rituals. Anti gay islam is a dominant religion in the Middle East, therefore corporations there w…

Genuine question: what is the definition of 'woke' (in the context of how you're using it)? Dictionary tells me it is "alert to injustice in society, especially racism". But the vast majority of time I see someone talk about 'wokeness' or 'woke culture', they use the word in a derogatory manner. So I'm guessing the 'woke' mentioned is not "being alert to injustice" (as it is a pretty reasonable stance to be alert to…

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Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#143

Do people agree that corporations should respect the customs and values of the local people when operating their business there? If yes, then Amazon is not "bowing", and it is The Guardian who is playing word games here. If not, then it would seem to imply that we are OK with western powers using their capital (instead of gunboats) to impose their ideology on other cultures in the world. Now, one may argue that the c…

> If not, then it would seem to imply that we are OK with western powers using their capital (instead of gunboats) to impose their ideology on other cultures in the world. “impose their ideology” is a disingenuous frame for this situation. They are censoring search results. As in, the customer, who Amazon makes money off by showing them what they want, is not being shown items that relate to what they searched for. T…

But Americans celebrate tolerance and diversity of ideas, that is unless you actually disagree with us.

Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#145
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, let's see that superiority when the US supremacy breaks down. Because the only way that the Western culture has prevailed this century is through bloodshed.

There must be some western culture that has been successful because it is what humans naturally gravitate towards.

We seem in fact to gravitate to tribalism if my (admittedly shallow) grasp of history is worth anything.

Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#146
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(c) Every drops of oil you use strengthen Saudi Arabia, why didn't you stop yet? and (d) If you are using Uber, WeWork or in a company being invested by Softbank, Saudi Arabia get benefits from it as well ( https://www.pif.gov.sa/en/Pages/OurInvestments-Global.aspx ). > but I don't see much of a moral distinction between the two. The key here is that you will have to elaborate how you think the two are similar. And t…

This just seems like a recipe for paralysis. Just because you can't live a perfect life - I try to drive as little as possible, and try to be careful about where things I buy are sourced, but my time is not infinite - doesn't mean you can't live a better one. This doesn't seem like a slippery slope argument to me.

You are optimizing virtues to your convenience. Others are doing it too. Still you are seemingly coming up with a superior attitude about other's behavior.

So, unless you are putting up serious personal sacrifice in real world for your beliefs, this is pure and unadulterated virtue signaling.

Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#147
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, let's see that superiority when the US supremacy breaks down. Because the only way that the Western culture has prevailed this century is through bloodshed.

There must be some western culture that has been successful because it is what humans naturally gravitate towards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history

Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By not providing your services to the people of these countries, you are making their quality of life worse. See heavily sanctioned countries like North Korea and Iran for examples of quite how much worse life is for those citizens. "I don't want to support Mohammed bin Salman" needs to be traded off against "I don't want to make 34 million people have worse lives". In my view, in nearly every case, the latter effect…

As a former Chinese citizen, I've always been a bit confused why people get mad at companies operating in the country, censored. At least in my experience, a censored version of a foreign website is always much better than the stuff developed locally, and there are some political reasons for this I won't go into. In my opinion, it's pure virtue signalling to argue that "a company compromising morals in a different co…

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Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question: what is the definition of 'woke' (in the context of how you're using it)? Dictionary tells me it is "alert to injustice in society, especially racism". But the vast majority of time I see someone talk about 'wokeness' or 'woke culture', they use the word in a derogatory manner. So I'm guessing the 'woke' mentioned is not "being alert to injustice" (as it is a pretty reasonable stance to be alert to…

Quoted post unavailable.

What does any of this have to do with how the word 'woke' was used?

The word 'woke' has one applicable dictionary definition (and not thousands of years of teachings, etc.) which doesn't align with how I see it used. I'm not asking for a theology lesson, just how OP intended their usage of 'woke' to be interpreted by the reader.

This isn't some 'gotcha' question or start of a debate. I literally am just not understanding what 'woke' is intended to convey, outside of the dictionary definition, especially when used in a derogatory or negative way. Your comment does literally 0 to answer the question, and I fail to see how it is even related.

Re: Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results

#150

I just cannot understand why so many people get so angry about what other consenting adults get up to in a closed bedroom. Live and let live.

This is such a tired argument. LGBT+ acceptance is fortunately not limited to « what people do in their bedrooms ».
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