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A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

blog.coinbase.com

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Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#591

Post by pron »

yeetawayhn wrote: post #277
yokaze wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see it the other way around. (Almost) everything is political. The mission of the company is not disjoint from the society it is embedded in. Things have become divisive by being able to ignore and blend out the opposing views. By not talking and listening to one another. This is just one more step in that direction. Funnily enough, I think it has been extrapolated by Neal Stephenson in Diamond Age. We will end up…

If everything is political, then nothing is.

That's like saying that if everything is physical, then nothing is. "Everything," by which we mean many things, is political in the sense that it has political aspects that should be recognised, but those aspects are very different from one thing to another. Political means pertaining to the distribution of power and resources in a society. But what kind of power/resources, which society and what form of distribution vary greatly. That many things have a colour doesn't mean the concept of colour is meaningless, nor that it draws its meaning from things that don't have a colour, because colour is an aspect with many hues. In short, "everything is political" means learning to look at the political aspects of things. The goal is not to distinguish between the political and apolitical, but between the many different shades of the political.

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#593

Post by TaylorAlexander »

nitrogen wrote: post #571
randmeerkat wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ll take a shot at responding: I would argue that the board wouldn’t exist without the people that make up the company. I would also argue that with monied interests and lobbyists in Washington, one of the last places that people can really effect societal change is at the work place. Companies have become the power center in American politics, so of course activism is going to rise up there. As far as compelled act…

It's the framing of everything in good vs evil, monochromatic terms that actually increases divisiveness and prevents deescalation of conflict. Forcing people to take one's side or else "be on the wrong side" in a multifaceted environment is not appropriate for a workplace, where people expect to be able to set aside differences to work together on work itself.

I mean it’s absolutely appropriate to take a side on certain issues. I've always refused to work on military hardware for example. If my employer started working on military hardware, I’d refuse to contribute and I would try to encourage others to refuse as well. But actually we all have things we would refuse to do. Usually it’s not an issue because both management and the workers feel the same way. Most people wouldn’t want to create a product designed to murder people for example.

The issue comes when some people are uncomfortable with work being done and others aren’t. Those who are uncomfortable are probably going to want to have discussions about it. If I was asked to contribute to a system that put people (any people) in to cages I would refuse. But that’s precisely what ICE is doing in the USA. If such a contract came up you can bet it’s something I’d want to talk about with my coworkers!

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#594

Post by [deleted] »

beaunative wrote: post #587

I've seen plenty comments saying 'everything is political'. I don't doubt that, but not every political issue, important maybe, should be the top priority for every company, there are a lot of NGOs created just for that. A company should notice the importance of politics, but should also not forget the reason of its existence, which is to provide services or produce commodities of some kinds. As citizens and organiza…

[deleted]

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#596

Post by tomgp »

The idea that a company which spent $200000 on political lobbying last year[1] is somehow above taking a political stance is utterly laughable. Coinbase is an intensely political company. From where I’m standing this all looks like a move to make sure everyone in the organisation is ideologically aligned so they can all carry on pretending that their actions have no effect on the broader world (beyond those areas where they’ve decided they’re going to change the world). The whole thing whilst entirely predictable also beggars belief in its incredible double-think.

1. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/lobbyis...

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#597

Post by jhealy »

Is this a uniquely Amerian debate? I live outside America, and I don't really understand the subtext of these Coinbase posts.

What does are some concrete examples of a company being political or apolitical? What are the kinds of things the Coinbase used to do and no longer does, which employees might leave over? Is it about the company donating to political compaigns, or openly participating in community debates and having a position on social issues (same sex marriage, abortion, Black Lives Matter, Trump, gun control, etc)?

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#598

Post by puszczyk »

mola wrote: post #575
notSupplied wrote: post #488

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I certainly agree that the mission of a company can (and preferably) be more than just for profit. However, "to be political" is still a pretty wide range of possible missions. Who calls the shots about what you're going to be political about, and which side you take? And when a group of employees disagree with the shots being called, what kinds of reactions are appropriate or not? I'll take a shot: - I think compell…

Companies that have a mission "to change the world" attract employees on the basis of activisism in the world. Heck this company is trying to overhaul the entire monetary system. If succeeded this will effect the lives of billions of people. Recruiting people with this premise, and then telling them actually, you don't have any say in what the company actually does, and the ways it changes the world, that actually it…

Serfs are (were) bound to their feudal overlord. Their children were bound as well. They couldn’t quit. They’ve had no political power. In many places they were even denied access to courts — they were forced to arbitrage through their lord. There was nothing they could do to improve their or their children’s lives.

I don’t think it compares, even as a hyperbole, to Coinbase employees.

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#599

Post by muyuu »

tomgp wrote: post #596

The idea that a company which spent $200000 on political lobbying last year[1] is somehow above taking a political stance is utterly laughable. Coinbase is an intensely political company. From where I’m standing this all looks like a move to make sure everyone in the organisation is ideologically aligned so they can all carry on pretending that their actions have no effect on the broader world (beyond those areas whe…

Coinbase's very mission is highly political, but that has nothing to do with other completely unrelated politics taking over the focus of the company.

What they did makes a lot of sense and I suspect many other companies will follow suit, even if they don't do it so openly.

*typo

Re: A follow up to Coinbase being a mission focused company

#600

Post by muyuu »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #23
thedevil wrote: post #11

One thought: If you see a resume with Coinbase until October 2020, that's probably someone who prefers political activism in the workplace. That might be seen in a positive or negative light, depending on your stance. I personally am afraid to associate myself too publicly with a political stance, lest I be wrong and/or the environment changes.

Alternatively, if you see a resume with Coinbase through 2020-2021, that person probably prefers the opposite, which may also be seen in a positive or negative light, depending on your stance.

Not really. People default to not leaving a job with an impending recession and possibly the worst crisis in a century looming.

Taking the package can be seen as a strong stance, not taking it... not really.

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