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Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

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Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#231

Post by tim333 »

tastyface wrote: post #162
hintymad wrote: post #123

Personally, I don't get why people blindly reject any collaboration with the military. I understand that they are pacifists, but I still don't get it. When I look at history, I see so many tragedies caused by being weak. Both Germany and the Soviet Union were able to invade Poland, for instance, and the Katyn massacre is a national scar. And who wouldn't want to defeat invaders like Genghis Khan? Have you ever heard…

I can't speak for anyone else, but as a Christian, it's really quite simple: any death that you help cause is a black mark on your soul. Maybe you can repent for it, someday. But it's not something that will just be let go when the day of reckoning comes. Incidentally, I'd feel the same way about killing someone in self-defense.

Some nominal Christians like Hitler and Putin had odd ideas on that stuff. I'll give you Christ was pretty peaceful.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#234

Post by rayiner »

nixon_why69 wrote: post #181
rayiner wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's because Americans and many Europeans under the shield of the U.S. military and have never in their lives felt a moment of fear about external threats.[1] They never have to meaningfully confront the central fact of their existence: that they enjoy a vastly disproportionate share of the world's bounty in a way that would be impossible without overwhelming military power. I suspect people living in say Ukraine don…

The Colonel Jessup character was guarding a fence in Cuba. Seriously. Cuba. Imagine hearing that sanctimonious speech about "the manner in which I defend you" and then you find out it's a fence in Cuba. There hasn't been an existential threat to the United States since the Civil War, and that one was self-inflicted. Obviously we need to maintain a military but 99% of what the current military does is either for econo…

Cuba is less than 95 miles from Florida and was aligned with a hostile nuclear superpower. The possibility of using Cuba as a base of operations for an attack on U.S. soil is the closest the U.S. has ever come to a significant foreign threat.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#235

Post by rayiner »

watwut wrote: post #210
rayiner wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's because Americans and many Europeans under the shield of the U.S. military and have never in their lives felt a moment of fear about external threats.[1] They never have to meaningfully confront the central fact of their existence: that they enjoy a vastly disproportionate share of the world's bounty in a way that would be impossible without overwhelming military power. I suspect people living in say Ukraine don…

As in 2026 US army is not used for defense. It is used for offense and proudly so.

It wasn’t used primarily for defense in 1947 when it was renamed “department of defense.”

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#236

Post by rayiner »

leptons wrote: post #182
rayiner wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you just realize this now? The name "Department of Defense" has always been a euphemism. The last time we were in a defensive war was World War II--ironically, when the DoD was still called the "Department of War."

Nice whataboutism. This pointless internet interaction is over .

It’s not “whataboutism” because it’s relating to the same event, not a different event. In context of the facts, it seems like your complaint is that the name is being changed to accurately reflect what the DOD was already doing.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#237

Post by classified »

raffael_de wrote: post #49
trhway wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being financially independent is the moral compass of the financially independent.

"being financially independent" is a state and a "moral compass" is a function or tool. Two different concepts like red and tomato or yesterday and cold.

A compass needs to point somewhere and financial independence is where it points for those people.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#238

Post by Hugsbox »

storus wrote: post #63

Is he a canary in the coal mine, announcing things that are coming?

Not at all. He made his money, so now he can act all morally superior even though we've all known Google to be a menace since long before he started there in 2017. This article is downright ridiculous.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#239

Post by mancerayder »

pjjpo wrote: post #207
zerobees wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. I have respect for Rene, but going by the "HN quitting manifestos" like this, Google has lost its moral compass at least 50 times at various points in the last 20 years. The company is constantly changing, but also hasn't changed all that much. It always talked the talk and was eager to tell others how to behave, but was almost never willing to give up any real revenue to do the right thing. The usual justific…

At this point I assume anyone with more than five years at Google is morally bankrupt to at least some degree. I don't want to paint them as bad people or anything but can't find better words for it - it's so obvious that if you stick around, you are accepting it and likely contributing to some degree. People I still talk to are generally honest about accepting it. I wonder if they will all reneg with this sort of qu…

I think you're coming from a privileged position - finding a job is extremely hard*, and if someone stayed somewhere that paid well then it's a bit extreme to say they're "bankrupt" morally. Alternatives are finance, ad tech, big consulting, etc. Are YOU working for a non profit?

* For us, maybe not for you.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#240

Post by nnettbe »

hintymad wrote: post #123

Personally, I don't get why people blindly reject any collaboration with the military. I understand that they are pacifists, but I still don't get it. When I look at history, I see so many tragedies caused by being weak. Both Germany and the Soviet Union were able to invade Poland, for instance, and the Katyn massacre is a national scar. And who wouldn't want to defeat invaders like Genghis Khan? Have you ever heard…

The author may agree with you. They write:

> strictly defensive action is somewhat different

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