Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

theblockcrypto.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 1001 posts

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#391

Post by Larrikin »

chii wrote: post #140
wwright wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I (and many others) are of the opinion that you can’t truly be apolitical; claiming to be so is its own form of politics (and generally one that supports the status quo). Politics is ultimately about how we engage and collaborate with each other as a society, not just which “party” you like. The very act of being a company is very relative to the laws and regulations your country has, which are of course determined b…

> you can’t truly be apolitical; that's one of those "you're either with us or against us" type of deal - which is not the right way to deal with anything imho. You _can_ be apolitical - as in, you do not let your political views affect what you do. You keep your political views private. You do not try to change anyone else's political views as part of your job.

It's only possible to believe this if you are in a majority with a majority opinion. If this was 60 years ago, during Jim Crow, is the apolitical thing for a company to do when it comes to their workers? Were companies in the right to have separate bathrooms, to hire less or no minorities so that they didn't have to maintain separate facilities? Saying those acts are ok is a political opinion endorsing Jim Crow simply because it was the law.

The entire mission of a company doesn't have to be front and center in politics but there is no such thing as being apolitical for any company interacting with the world in a meaningful way

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#392

Post by cblconfederate »

hnrodey wrote: post #338
cblconfederate wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often wonder about the other side: Why do people who work in SV seem so militant on political issues? After all they live in a very privileged space (or "bubble") which is severely disconnected from the reality of most of the Earth, and even nearby american cities. I don't know enough about the demographics of the region and what can drive this behaviour but it is full of contradictions. For example, while they all…

>After all they live in a very privileged space (or "bubble") It's my personal view that so much of the current political vitriol is because as a society, we've run out of things to worry about. We've reached critical mass of people solving Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and therefore, we are dwelving in to other arenas where we are feeling neglected.

I have a much more benigh benign theory: The end of mass entertainment. When we no longer listen to the same music/watch the same movies/ same tv, it's hard for people to come up common themes in discussions. Politics doesnt fit in that because usually countries have one government, and everyone has an opinion on politics, it's too easy

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#393

Post by Dirlewanger »

echelon wrote: post #300

It would be so ironic if every Coinbase employee took this exit. It's not like there isn't more work out there. The longer I work, the less I put up with dehumanizing actions from the top. You only live for so long. Why be told to your face that you're just a resource .

Please show me a modern tech company that treats its employees fairly, pays decent wages, whose mission to actually bring about good change in society, is profitable and won't go under next year, and doesn't say they support X social movement on Twitter for cheap PR points.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#394

Post by lliamander »

ldd wrote: post #312

I will offer a personal take on keeping politics out of my 1-man video game company. In theory, I am all for it. I do not use hashtags on twitter, or openly support any ideologies. However, as a light brown dude whose parents immigrated here to Canada, my existence itself is a political statement (in support of legal immigration) that is bound to offend people. I try, to the extent that is possible, to not say politi…

> my existence itself is a political statement (in support of legal immigration)

Unless those in your country who are opposed to immigration literally want you dead, this is a pretty hyperbolic statement.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#395

Post by erik_landerholm »

thelock85 wrote: post #342

This won’t end well. The moment Coinbase articulates anything remotely related to an underlying set of values or business ethics, the accusations of politicization (and hypocrisy) will come flying. I believe that corporations are not governed or regulated to support activism writ large, but there has to be room for dissent (even if it ends in separation). How else do you arrive at a shared definition of “economic fre…

What do you mean next step? You can process anyone’s money, it good for business. Name one money processing entity that’s ever taken a stand against...anything?

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#396

Post by RIMR »

Zenbit_UX wrote: post #120

Why is a company wanting to be apolitical is controversial? That should be the default, is this an American thing like how masks and healthcare are controversial? I would expect a government to have proper separation from church and state, so why is it weird to want a company to separate politics and mission? I can't see any good coming from being in a work environment where the company supports a political issue I'm…

Because running a business is a way we participate in society, and society is run by politics, so being "apolitical" as a company feels like a willful ignoring of the social consequences of your business practices.

You cannot separate the business practices of a financial institution from politics. It simply isn't possible. To attempt to do so is a political statement in an of itself, and quite frankly, it isn't a good one.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#397

Post by ballenf »

wwright wrote: post #127
Zenbit_UX wrote: post #120

Why is a company wanting to be apolitical is controversial? That should be the default, is this an American thing like how masks and healthcare are controversial? I would expect a government to have proper separation from church and state, so why is it weird to want a company to separate politics and mission? I can't see any good coming from being in a work environment where the company supports a political issue I'm…

I (and many others) are of the opinion that you can’t truly be apolitical; claiming to be so is its own form of politics (and generally one that supports the status quo). Politics is ultimately about how we engage and collaborate with each other as a society, not just which “party” you like. The very act of being a company is very relative to the laws and regulations your country has, which are of course determined b…

All these arguments just feel like people wanting the benefits of owning a company without doing the work or taking the risk.

When you accept employment at a company, you do so on their terms -- including whether political activism on the job is permitted.

If you want to set the terms of employment, start or buy a company. Or, I guess, get laws passed that outlaw companies from having a policy you disagree with.

Whether being apolitical is itself political or not is a circular argument -- for some it is, for some it isn't. And that difference is itself a difference of political opinion of the same kind as the others.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#398

Post by klyrs »

commandlinefan wrote: post #360
DSingularity wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t operate in a liberal society (liberal in the sense that we favor human liberty and freedom) and demand that your employees suppress their opinions. It’s a contradiction.

Except that every company that's taken a political stance has demanded that their employees suppress their opinions, unless those opinions are extreme left-wing opinions.

Define "extreme left." Do you mean stalinism or maoism? Are these companies in favor of exterminating the aristocracy through lethal force? Do you mean marxism? Are these companies that are in favor of peacefully gifting their workers with the means of production, and equalizing pay for all employees? Show me these leftist corporations.

Or are you referring to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent Supreme Court rulings as the "extreme left"?

Or do you mean it in the Fox News sense, where any disagreement with the president is "extreme left"?

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#399

Post by Aunche »

wwright wrote: post #127
Zenbit_UX wrote: post #120

Why is a company wanting to be apolitical is controversial? That should be the default, is this an American thing like how masks and healthcare are controversial? I would expect a government to have proper separation from church and state, so why is it weird to want a company to separate politics and mission? I can't see any good coming from being in a work environment where the company supports a political issue I'm…

I (and many others) are of the opinion that you can’t truly be apolitical; claiming to be so is its own form of politics (and generally one that supports the status quo). Politics is ultimately about how we engage and collaborate with each other as a society, not just which “party” you like. The very act of being a company is very relative to the laws and regulations your country has, which are of course determined b…

> How can they truly be neutral on all of these issues that are directly relevant to the business they do?

Coinbase didn't say they would be neutral about all issues, just issues that aren't related to their business. Obviously if the government wants to ban cryptocurrency, they're going to lobby against it.

Re: Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

#400

Post by dogman144 »

An interesting part to this is Coinbase's mission is, if it actually works out, absurdly counter-culture and near revolutionary.

Yeah, it's an exchange, trade w/o mainstream adoption will likely go on for a while, and there are a lot of caveats I'm not mentioning.

A mainstream Coinbase with mainstream cryptocurrencies, which will include Bitcoin (assuming a multi-currency future, not just BTC dominance), implies some serious changes to bedrock financial and geopolitical practices currently in place.

In the same way that wearing a mass-produced cotton shirt vs. a homespun one in 1890 implies the industrial revolution which implies Manchester mill-towns which implies...., so does a successful Coinbase if it reaches the end goals of its mission.

It's interesting that in exchange for not taking a stance on one set of issues, their very aggressive stance in another extremely societally profound area is getting overlooked. Like literally, interesting. Probably a nature of how Coinbase vs. other crypto cos chose to market itself.

Post reply on HN