5 ms·

I morally judge (not condemn) people who work at Google. If you can get a job at Google, you can get a job almost anywhere. There is tons of great work out ther

• lostgame 8y ago
  >> People who work at Google are choosing to aid in the suppression of human freedom. The fact that there's a large number of employees who signed this document provides great evidence to contradict this claim. It's kind of a blanket statement - I'm sure a bunch of the folks here on HN work at Google and are trying to do exactly the opposite. Heck, some of the people who signed off on this document could be HN'ers! You can sometimes change a corrupt system from the inside. It takes a lot of work and dedication and it certainly doesn't always work out - but it's a choice some people make. It certainly isn't mine! :)
  • gfo 8y ago
    Agreed with all your points here. Clearly from this letter and the opposition other projects have received at Google there are those inside the company actively working to influence change.
    • jkaplowitz 8y ago
      It's definitely true that part of the reason Google+ dropped its real names policy was internal employee activism, alongside external pressure. Unfortunately, that reversal and Facebook's more weakly enforced continuation of the same old type of policy both went mostly unnoticed. (Yes, I realize G+ is going away for consumer accounts in August. This change was years ago.)
  • enraged_camel 8y ago
    >>The fact that there's a large number of employees who signed this document provides great evidence to contradict this claim. As the saying goes, talk is cheap. So is signing a document. What is not easy to do is putting your money where your mouth is and acting on your convictions, even if they cause you great discomfort.
    • kevmo 8y ago
      Exactly. You have to be willing to walk. It's not even a high-risk proposition, given how many other amazing opportunities are available to virtually every knowledge worker at Google.
  • bad_user 8y ago
    I would also like to add that companies encouraging freedom of speech internally to a level that makes such protests possible are exceedingly rare. In most companies employees have no freedom of speech unless unionized and not even then. And protesting against projects based on moral principles publicly is a sure way to get you fired.
    • TeMPOraL 8y ago
      Don't forget the Damore case. Regardless of people's views on content of his memo, this was a case of Google essentially baiting an employee to express their honest views on internal forum, and then firing them for not agreeing with the prescribed party line.
• jedberg 8y ago
  > If you can get a job at Google, you can get a job almost anywhere. Yes, but the job probably will pay less, at a smaller scale, with fewer perks, and be less interesting. Instead of judging them, perhaps you should support them in condemning their employer for this particular act.
  • ModernMech 8y ago
    > Yes, but the job probably will pay less, at a smaller scale, with fewer perks, and be less interesting. Tough moral choices always come with a cost.
  • kevmo 8y ago
    Great pay and larger-scale work are not good excuses for human oppression.
• cjustice 8y ago
  To some extent, I believe all tech companies are capable of moral failures like this. It's impossible for the profit motive to always align with ethics. It's all a question of scale, really.
• senderista 8y ago
  How about people who work at MSFT, which capitulated to Chinese censorship with nary a whimper (and hence no publicity)?
• geezerjay 8y ago
  > People who work at Google are choosing to aid in the suppression of human freedom. Taking a stand against collaboration with an oppressive totalitarian regime is much more effective than simply giving up and moving onward. Things change when people act, not when people move on.
• taobility 8y ago
  I assume you never buy any goods made in China, as that's also aid in the suppression of human freedom in your point.