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[Reposting my comment shared on the earlier thread, I guess this one wasn’t marked as dupe] “In June, more than 100 students at Stanford, M.I.T. and other top
by mindgam3 8y ago
[Reposting my comment shared on the earlier thread, I guess this one wasn’t marked as dupe]
“In June, more than 100 students at Stanford, M.I.T. and other top colleges signed a pledge saying they would turn down job interviews with Google unless the company dropped its Project Maven contract. (Google said that month that it would not renew the contract once it expired.) “We are students opposed to the weaponization of technology by companies like Google and Microsoft,” the pledge stated. “Our dream is to be a positive force in the world. We refuse to be complicit in this gross misuse of power.”
This is an incredibly powerful statement. A bunch of students getting together brought Google to its knees.
Now these brave students might consider standing up en masse to Facebook and its rapidly shrinking signing bonuses before FB moves too fast and breaks reality again.
- intended 8y agoKnees is overselling it.
- mindgam3 8y agoYeah, I’m probably being a little dramatic. They didn’t cripple GOOG or their business model. But still, getting Google to back down on a significant product direction is noteworthy.
- jiveturkey 8y agoI'm confused on both of your points. 1. How is this powerful, in the slightest? 100 students is less than a rounding error. 2. How are these students in any way brave?
- mindgam3 8y ago1. Powerful in terms of impact. Google discontinued the project, no doubt due in some part to the protest. 2. Brave in turning down lucrative job offers for moral reasons. Many, many engineers currently work at Big Tech co’s with similar doubts and fears. But to risk your salary and job security on ethical grounds, that’s what I call brave.
- dx87 8y agoWhat you posted doesn't say they turned down job offers, it says they weren't going to interview at Google. Realistically, the only risk to them is if a company goes out of their way to look for that pledge during the hiring process, then decides not to hire them. They didn't lose a job or any income from what they did.
- mindgam3 8y agoThat’s a fair distinction. Still, choosing not to interview at one of the top 2 highest-paying employers does indicate some sacrifice. I’m not saying we should nominate these guys for the Nobel peace prize, but their stance does merit some respect.