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On Resigning from Google

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Re: On Resigning from Google

#151

Post by jancsika »

paxys wrote: post #26

Random thoughts: 1. I applaud the fact that they are actually quitting the company to voice their disapproval of these policies. In my mind all the "internal activism" happening at Google and others is massively hypocritical. One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise. 2. If they think Google is discriminatory towards LGBT employees and minoriti…

> One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise.

Quitting one's job is disruptive enough that it's reasonable for one to make several good faith attempts to make changes from the inside before pulling the trigger. And that includes making public critiques as people from every industry do all the time.

There are of course cases where one only gives lip service in order to gain social karma points while continuing to rake in the dough. But separating those cases from the actions of reasonable, ethical people takes more than setting a "one bit" Manichean flag for hypocrisy.

Don't get me wrong-- skepticism should be used when assessing any critique by someone still collecting a paycheck. But rejecting all such claims out of hand strikes me as flip and extreme. Or at least doing so requires a persuasive argument, and you did not provide one.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#152

Post by koheripbal »

baddox wrote: post #69
paxys wrote: post #26

Random thoughts: 1. I applaud the fact that they are actually quitting the company to voice their disapproval of these policies. In my mind all the "internal activism" happening at Google and others is massively hypocritical. One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise. 2. If they think Google is discriminatory towards LGBT employees and minoriti…

Consider what happens if everyone who has a moral complaint about their employer immediately quits rather than staying around and attempting to chase the complaint up the management hierarchy and/or educate and organize other employees to voice the complaint. I think utilizing one's power as a worker and aligning other workers to increase workers' power is far from hypocritical. It's a great way (perhaps the only rel…

The problem is that as long as you remain an employee, you have a LEGAL obligation to act in the interests of the Corporation. That is the nature of Fiduciary Duty - something all employees are legally bound by.

You may "voice your concerns" all you like, but while you're an employee, it is your duty to ACT in accordance with the directions you're given, and in the absence of explicit direction, in the interests of the company.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#153

Post by privateSFacct »

CydeWeys wrote: post #106
privateSFacct wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please - quit your overpaid tech job and actually work to change the status quo. No one is saying you have to accept the status quo. But your lectures while driving past the homeless in a $100K tesla on your way to swank vacations are tiresome - particularly as you build that money off the status quo you are so eager to say is terrible.

> Please - quit your overpaid tech job and actually work to change the status quo. No one is saying you have to accept the status quo. False dichotomy. You don't need to quit your job to work to change the status quo. Indeed, you can often effect change much better from inside an important organization than from outside it.

Please - cash your big checks built on the back of misery and then complain to the company about their violent attacks on your "physical security".

You don't need to change your job - but if you are getting paid very well to do a job, then posting long internet postings about how terrible it is to work at an "important organization" risks getting you some eye-rolls.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#154

Post by MeltySmelty »

paxys wrote: post #26

Random thoughts: 1. I applaud the fact that they are actually quitting the company to voice their disapproval of these policies. In my mind all the "internal activism" happening at Google and others is massively hypocritical. One cannot publicly criticize a company while enjoying cushy paychecks fueled by those very activities they despise. 2. If they think Google is discriminatory towards LGBT employees and minoriti…

this person is definitely mentally ill and does not realize they live in a bubble

Re: On Resigning from Google

#155

Post by tedmcory77 »

scardycat wrote: post #62
aaomidi wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hiding behind "it's a business" isn't an argument acceptable to most people. Sure "it's a business" but does that give it a green card to act how it pleases? We're getting into the philosophy of what we want businesses to be in our society. More and more people are realizing that the inhumane structure a business operates in isn't acceptable to them, and would like to have a say in what they're doing. This person lef…

> Sure "it's a business" but does that give it a green card to act how it pleases? of course, yes! As long as it stays within the boundaries set by the law. Do you not act as you please? Do you not eat a $40 meal while a homeless person is lying outside in the cold? DO you not send your kid to a private school at $100k/year while the kid down the street (down the highway) struggles for school supplies? > So please, s…

Is your argument that because something is legal, it's ethical? I want to make sure I understand your assertion.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#156

Post by hnewsshadowbans »

aaomidi wrote: post #61
JimboOmega wrote: post #21

The post talks about Google supposedly persecuting LGBTQ employees for speaking up. But the linked articles only talk about them (possibly) getting retaliated against for protesting other issues, like border security or sexual harassment. As an LGBT person (who does her fair share of activism), I'm not clear what the LGBTQ angle is here other than if the people involved happened to be LGBTQ. It seems like even if the…

LGBTQ+ activism doesn't just involve fighting for rights for people who fall within those labels. It has evolved onto fighting for rights of EVERYONE who is currently being harrassed, targetted, and discriminate against. It's activism for human rights for everyone. Not every LGBTQ+ activist agrees with this evolution, but a large group do. I'm personally in that group.

So you are okay with this guy dishonestly connecting Google disciplining this workers for an unrelated issue to LGBT rights?

Would you be okay with a story from FoxNews saying Dems has a policy of targeting black people because they happened to throw out a black activist disrupting their meeting in the name of gun rights?

Re: On Resigning from Google

#157

Post by Supermancho »

vharuck wrote: post #29
tmpz22 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Impact the future of humanity If Google disappeared off the face of the earth, every system, server, and employee, mitigations would be in place by the end of the week - and a year later it would be like nothing ever changed. Let's not overvalue an adserver, free email, etc. These services are important but never life defining outside of the relatively small number of people they have made RICH.

This is like saying the President of the United States has no effect on the country because the person in office is replaced within the span of a day every four or eight years.

> the President of the United States has no effect on the country

Thats not remotely analogous as the point is about the effects of the magical disappearance of google on humanity. Your analogy wouldnt be how the disappearance of a PotUS would not cripple the US, as that contradicts your view...which I have difficulty grasping.

Re: On Resigning from Google

#159

Post by triceratops »

veeralpatel979 wrote: post #51

The solution to climate change is not to make energy producers like oil and gas companies go out of business. The way these companies became so successful was by providing something of value at a low cost. Do you really want to pay substantially more for heating/cool, gas, and almost every good? Instead, the Tesla model is the way to go. Build products that are 10x better than their fossil fuel reliant competitors. T…

> Do you really want to pay substantially more for heating/cool, gas, and almost every good?

Yes, if everyone else does too. It seems like the only way to drive greater efficiency in transportation, construction, housing, and manufacturing.

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