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Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

theregister.co.uk

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Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#391

Post by jcranberry »

ProfessorLayton wrote: post #168

Without trying to be inflammatory in any manner, I will say that it takes a certain level of privilege to say one shouldn’t discuss politics at work. If you disagree I’m happy to discuss this viewpoint rather than being downvoted to oblivion. Lots of issues are deemed “political”, but imagine you fall into one of the marginalized groups: — lgbt: Don’t discuss the possibility about being fired for your sexuality becau…

I would think the most influential voice in these cases would be managers/leadership adding a provision to company guidelines and the like, in order to attempt to cultivate and safeguard a productive day to day culture.

But this particular perspective isn't necessarily a function of their 'privilege' in the sense of cultural capital and an advantageous background etc, but just of their own self-interest in this exact moment.

Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#392

Post by tomohawk »

keithnz wrote: post #194
corndoge wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to hear your political opinions at work. I want to work and make money for myself. Just because I have to be at work to make money for myself shouldn't mean I now have to listen to your views on politics. That is my view on it.

no ones talking about forcing you to talk about it, question is, if you wanted to talk about the ethics / poltical impact of what you are doing with coworkers, shouldn't you be allowed to?

If it's important to you, you should be willing to pay for it yourself instead of insisting someone else pay for it.

Whatever activities you're doing on company time are paid for by the company.

If you're yakking about politics, it is impacting the time of coworkers around you. It's distracting and unnecessary.

Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#393

Post by kelnos »

neonate wrote: post #280
anm89 wrote: post #129

I personally think this is awesome. I don't wan't some git hosting startup to be the arbiter of morality for society. The engineers, designers, and PMs shouldn't have an outsized voice in society because they have a specialized useful skillset and ended up on a successful product. If these users are breaking laws, then put them out of business via the courts and sieze the assets (the repos in this case) via legal mea…

Wow, that is such a clear analysis that someone should transcribe it. Here's the main part of what Naval says: "If Google, Facebook, and Twitter had been smart about this, they would not have picked sides. They would have said "We're publishers. Whatever goes through our pipes goes through our pipes. If it's illegal, we'll take it down. Give us a court order. Otherwise we don't touch it." It's like the phone company.…

The telephone analogy is terrible. Phone calls are usually between two people, or a small number of people. At the very least, they're bounded to some relatively small number.

When you post something on Twitter, unless your account is private, you've broadcasted your speech to anyone in the world who cares to see it.

Not moderating any speech at all is a quick way to allow a community to turn into a cesspit of spam and trolling. Look at any web board or forum over the past several decades for inspiration. They either have moderation, or they get overrun.

Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#395

Post by Dobbs »

wbronitsky wrote: post #173
aaomidi wrote: post #44

FYI: If you say you don't care about politics and you ban political speech in your workspace - that on its own is a political statement that you're fine with the status quo.

There are many places and times that people do not want to discuss the politics of the outside world. Examples could include while giving birth, while shopping alone at the grocery store, while sitting alone on a city bus, while performing surgery, while discussing your raise with your boss. Just because someone does not want to discuss something here and now, doesn't invalidate that they have original opinions. Not…

Which toilet (if any) I use is political. Being dressed as myself is a political statement. My right to have documentation that matches me is political. Whether or not I can be fired for being myself is political. So since one side has decided to make my very existence political then I think I have the right to talk about it. If you don’t want me talking about it at work then convince the GOP to stop trying to take away my rights, women’s rights, and so on. Until then tough cookies.

Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#397

Post by midnighttoker3 »

big_chungus wrote: post #317
voxl wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Preach. Politics being silenced in a work place is so short sighted and dumb. We should strive for a world where disagreement is not the end of a good working relationship, not one where crypto-politics is the new normal in the workplace. Because if you genuinely belief people want try to identify who is and isn't racist in a "conforming" way then you're delusional.

Would you please clarify what you mean by, "Because if you genuinely belief people want try to identify who is and isn't racist in a "conforming" way then you're delusional?" Here's the problem: at least in SV, you're going to be restricted to a sub-set of very narrow beliefs which are acceptable to express. I may hold a personal belief that, say, trans-sexuality is not a "real thing" or ought not to be treated with…

Maybe the rule should jsut be don't be an asshole.

Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#398

Post by swebs »

This is honestly a breath of fresh air. It seems that in the past 5 or so years, most tech companies have begun to radicalize and become more authoritarian. It's great to have neutral platforms for people who don't particularly identify as far-left.

Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#399

Post by peeters »

Whenever I think about this topic, my gut says that a service provider's moral obligation to refuse service to customer relates linearly with the customer's reliance on the service in conducting its morally odious behavior. In other words, I see McDonalds selling cheeseburgers to ICE differently than I see a physical security company selling cages to them.

Is this defensible? From a utilitarian standpoint there's an argument that your refusal of service has greater moral impact as the customer becomes more reliant on it. Practically speaking there's the argument about efficiency. A lot of people need cheeseburgers and so the list of companies you have an issue with is going to be pretty damned large. But other than that is there a philosophical basis for this way of thinking?

Re: Gitlab: don't discuss politics at work

#400

Post by xenocyon »

anm89 wrote: post #129

I personally think this is awesome. I don't wan't some git hosting startup to be the arbiter of morality for society. The engineers, designers, and PMs shouldn't have an outsized voice in society because they have a specialized useful skillset and ended up on a successful product. If these users are breaking laws, then put them out of business via the courts and sieze the assets (the repos in this case) via legal mea…

Counterpoint: many tech workers want some agency over what they are building and don't want to be forced to work on nefarious applications. I don't seek an outsized claim on society but I do reserve the right to decide what my hands will - or won't - build.
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