We are complicit in our employer’s deeds

191–192 of 192 posts

Re: We are complicit in our employer’s deeds

#191

Post by matchbok » Thu, May 07, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #172

matchbok wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, maybe you do. You are not everyone. Stop assuming things to make your argument stronger. You know exactly nothing about 99.9999% of the engineers at these companies and their lives and their needs. You also do not know what they care about and if their morality lines up with yours (which you have decided to be the global "right" morality, for some reason)

You seem to be purposefully obtuse in your thinking. The author's argument, as they have come here to even further clarify, although it's very clear in the article, is that MOST tech workers, specifically developers/coders/makers whatever, absolutely have the privilege of choice. That's one of the side effects of a strong hiring field in technology. You can, in fact, in most cases, put your butt in a seat that aligns…

No, they don't. That's just not true. I'm in that group and I cannot simply get up and leave if my company decides to do something like that. I have responsibilities to my family and future. Same with everyone one of my friends in the field.

A high salary today is meaningless if you are out of a job tomorrow.

That line of thinking is very disingenuous. Every worker probably has at least a few disagreements, morally speaking, with their leadership. That's how the world works.

Obtuse? Nice try.

Re: We are complicit in our employer’s deeds

#192

Post by abandonliberty » Sat, May 09, 2020, 4:17 PM UTC

spaced-out wrote: post #18

We technologists like to pretend we're powerful, that we could bring these giant megacorps to their knees because those fancy suits need us, right? No. They need an engineer, not any one specific engineer. Companies like Amazon reject many candidates that could probably do the job they applied for, but were rejected because they can afford to be picky. If anything changes at Amazon it not be because of the loss of th…

When the vast majority of ultra-successful companies engage in undesirable practices, we must accept that those practices experience evolutionary positive selection. They are advantageous in the current environment. This is a structural problem, rather than a problem with any specific company.

More distressingly, this means that any work at a funky, independent, ethical company is merely laying the foundation for future unethicality, like Y2K Google.

The industry is known for contempt of the law, tax evasion, and oppression of the poor and minorities because this is what our society is known for.

Fantasies of personal power abound as we engage in cultural wars with our fellow citizens on personally important, but nationally and structurally irrelevant topics. We feel strongly about gender/animal/gun/vaccination/religious rights and engage in passionate debates and demonstrations as wealth, power, and freedom is gradually and inexorably stolen from all of us.

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