Google is stifling anti-ICE speech in the workplace
bloodinthemachine.comIt's funny -- about 8 years ago I remember this exact same issue came up, but the other way around. There was this guy, James Damore, basically a republican who said the diversity program was grievance politics or whatever, sent out a memo to hundreds of other employees, created a kerfuffle, ultimately was fired. He sued and retracted.
Anyways back then I felt some sympathy for the guy, talking politics at work, because as far as I could tell he was a good-faith free-speech proponent. I even wrote a blog post about it and shared it on this site.
However now seeing how much the tables have turned, and how little that cultural swing had to do with free speech, I feel embarrassed about my past self. It's incredibly clear to me that at most a small % of those "free speech" advocates are genuine, because I never see them speak up for the other side (like I did).
Big Tech to grow required deceiving its workers into thinking they all worked together towards a new future.
Thankfully, that veil has come down, showing it is business as usual.
Exactly my thoughts! Now google is not the "making a world better place" prestige place but just ordinary well paid job. Just with less cubicles. "Don't be evil" my ass.
It's pretty clear now that this new future will be more like Google's AGI repressing humans.
> “Most folks are afraid to discuss anything remotely political at work.”
There are plenty of other places to talk politics, religion, or share personal opinions. Work is best kept for work.
> There are plenty of other places to talk politics, religion, or share personal opinions. Work is best kept for work.
We could all use a bit more compartmentalization. This idea of "bring your whole self everywhere" is just a recipe for conflict and dysfunction. No two people are that compatible, let alone N people in a group.
Work should be about work, and work topics (which includes things like working conditions an unionization). Maybe you have a work friend you talk politics too, but that's a little non-work bubble at work. That's definitely not:
> hundreds of Google workers, outraged by the federal government’s mass deportation campaign...went public with a call for their leadership to cut ties with ICE. The employees are also demanding that Google acknowledge the violence, hold a town hall on the topic, and enact policy to protect vulnerable members of its workforce, including contractors and cafeteria and data center workers This week, the number of supporters has passed 1,200...
Work should also mind it's own business about non-work. If you're an activist on X, Y, or Z, it's none of your boss's business. If people are mad at you on twitter for saying A, B, or C, your boss shouldn't fire you for it (even if the mob demands appeasement). Employees should also not be nosy about what their coworkers think or do outside or work, if they're not mature enough to handle what they find out professionally (e.g. feeling the mere presence or someone who thinks X, Y, or Z creates a hostile environment, even if they never express or act on those thoughts).
And even if you're outside of work, if you're in a club about model airplanes (or instance), stick to model airplanes, etc. Don't bring up the latest outrage of the Bush or Obama administration.
Why did the Google CEO attend the Trump inauguration then? Isn't that politics?
The inauguration is the post-politics part, it should be okay for anyone to attend.
Of course, with this president any public appearance is more like a political rally and the tech CEOs were there to kiss the ring.
Choosing not to discuss something and being afraid to discuss something are very different in very important ways.
I agree, though if all someone has to go on is that I stayed silent, it might be difficult to conclude whether I am uninterested, indifferent, or scared stiff.
Doesn't mean you should be afraid to lose your job when you sign the petition tho
Yes, but cencorship is also politics. What happens if someone just tries to stay apolitical and "work safe" and are still cencored? Any attempt at fighting this will be categorized as "political", "difficult" or worse.
Remember when they "censored" the guy who had the gall to write "men and women are a little different" at Google. There's an object lesson here, even if you disagreed with that guy.
Am I the only one who enjoys reading political flamewars on the large email aliases at work?
Asking to leave a federal contract? Wouldn't that have downstream consequences with future potential federal contacts? If I were the customer I wouldn't give them my business of they pulled out of a federal contract because of politics
I'm surprised this kind of speech was tolerated in the first place. Tbh even if it was, I'd do the devil and speak up in a way where I'm identifiable #futurecareerprospects
I admire the courage of the people that do it anyway though.
Google Defenders: "Keep politics at home!"
Google: "Google CEO Sundar Picchai has been a fixture at the White House, attending parties and events. He oversaw Google’s $22 million donation to the White House ballroom and its $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund. Brin, meanwhile, has become a Trump supporter."
Google is pro-gestapo now? They have fallen so far from "Don't be evil."
Not just them, all BigTech/GAFAM are
Does google still have employees who spend all their days in the chat rooms advocating for their lifestyle choices while on the clock?
Yes every large software company has Rust coders.
What tech company allows this at workplace these days? How's Apple these days?
Pretty much all the big tech companies allow this. It's just that they are pro-ICE and pro-current administration in the workplace speech. Their CEOs have already bent the knee, made the tens of millions to half billions in donations to the Trump family, and expect everyone under them not to undermine their sycophancy.
It's a real problem with the tech industry. Repeating IBM's WWII mistakes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
Most US companies are run like tiny little fascist dictatorships, which is a great training ground for the real thing. Contrast eg Norway, where businesses operate inside of a formal 3-way agreement (Trepartssamarbeidet) between the government, employers associations, and trade unions.
It's going to take probably a few rounds of fascism and many millions dead before Americans widely decide to change the fundamental nature of business.
Capitalist companies are just the modern day evolution of feudal lords with the mandate of maximum value extraction with zero care for the impacts on your fiefdom/market, the tendency to drift to rent seeking, etc.
Instead of Normans organizing a raiding party for lands, you have Normans renamed as Capitalists organizing a raiding party for a target market, just now in the modern world they also get to offload the burdens of population governance, risk, infrastructure, housing, healthcare, retirement security, training, and social stability.
The Capitalists even named their raiding party using the military term 'Company' and organize its power structure in the same militaristic way, with the leader accountable to them and not the people under/the workers.
> Capitalist companies are just the modern day evolution of feudal lords with the mandate of maximum value extraction with zero care for the impacts on your fiefdom/market, the tendency to drift to rent seeking, etc.
Actually, I'd argue capitalist companies are often worse, because at least feudal lord has more interest in ensuring the long-term viability of their fief. In capitalism its not uncommon for some investor to come in, wreck the place's long-term viability for short-term profit, then sell before the other shoe drops.
> Contrast eg Norway, where businesses operate inside of a formal 3-way agreement (Trepartssamarbeidet) between the government, employers associations, and trade unions.
> It's going to take probably a few rounds of fascism and many millions dead before Americans widely decide to change the fundamental nature of business.
I don't agree. I think what's needed is to break the delusion that every American is a capitalist-lord-in-waiting, so they delusionally think and vote in ways that harm their interests (see, software engineers excited about AI and advocating for its adoption).
Also cut down the noise. The "culture wars" (from both sides) are very effective at distracting people from more fundamental issues. I really think one party needs to drop all that, and focus narrowly on representing the common people as workers.
what's most disturbing rn is the number of comments implying that there's nothing political about work :?
Excellent! A company is a place to work, not do politics. I've left jobs due to overly woke colleagues who made every single meeting into a crusade against white men.
In my current company, political discussion is forbidden, and I am very happy about that.
People who love politics should go into politics, and leave their jobs. Plenty of public sector organizations who only talk politics for them, and peace of mind for me at a company.
> People who love politics should go into politics, and leave their jobs.
"If you love talking about professional sports you should leave your job and play professional sports." See how genius that sounds? People can be interested in- or passionate about things and not do it as a day job.
You can advocate for a politics-free workplace. Or a distractions-free workplace. But you have to realize that from its early days Google was supposed to be less a job and more a lifestyle. Partly because it attracted talent, mostly because it would keep people in the office slinging code. You can't push developers to spend 14 hours a day in the cube (or beanbag chair or whatever) and also expect them to remain hermetically sealed from the outside world.
And you'd be happily working at IBM building "resource management" software and hardware for the Nazis because "what they do with this software is not your responsibility".
It ain't so black-and-white, and people with this kind of mentality are what enable the atrocities we've seen in the past and are seeing today.
"It ain't so black-and-white" - uses the word Nazi to describe the entirety of the Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency.
I think they were referring to the actual Nazis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
wtf I had no idea IBM was that old.
“Sir, this is a Wendy’s.”
Good
This getting flagged is kinda ironic
Google are not unionized at all are they? Seems like they keep trying to pull stuff like this, but its really hard to do without proper organization and representatives.