7 ms·

I find the Google/Chinese search engine troubling, but I do think people are playing this up to be a lot more than it should be. I think one fact is that Google

I find the Google/Chinese search engine troubling, but I do think people are playing this up to be a lot more than it should be. I think one fact is that Google is in an area and recruits people that are hyper liberal individuals. For example: not wanting to work with the U.S. military on projects, having AI use gender neutral writing, random PC things, little diversity in political thought etc. I don't think Google has so much changed as their employees have changed. Look, I am a huge Google critic, you can view my past posts, but a lot of what employees are complaining about seems pretty laughable, unattainable and shows a lack of maturity. In my estimation, Google's power struggle between making money and its employees creeping political stances is and has been unsustainable. I think censoring results in China is one thing, but there are so many other cultural problems at Google that honestly just don't belong in a corporate environment. Google has long been seen as a playhouse, and has let employees be too dramatic and vocal about politics as well. In a normal company, it is -not- normal to have a sit down after an election to baby sit staff members, and offer grief counseling. So while, yes Google certainly has some problems with "values," I think there are two problems, not just one. It's not so much that leadership has moved to drive profits no matter the cost (Google has long done that!) it's that while that is still happening there has been a shift in the company's politics. Again, I'm not talking about the Chinese censorship itself, I want Google/Microsoft/Facebook etc to not empower Xi. But it's all the other stuff going on that just seem so counter productive, not only to culture but to profits.

sabas123 8y ago
Can you name a single example of something that you seem problematic?
- _Tev 8y ago
  I smell flamebait. But parent is baiting too, with great points. Ok I'll bite: Situation around firing of James Damore. Not even the firing itself as the (imo!) manufactured outrage that caused it. From (not only) my PoV it was quite extreme, and quite disconcerting. And I consider myself a very left-leaning person.
vowelless 8y ago
> I don't think Google has so much changed as their employees have changed. This is exactly it. A lot of people who genuinely loved technology, programming, were nerdy, etc long left the company. Could just be an arrogant of becoming big, and selecting for physical attribute diversity.
crispinb 8y ago
> recruits people that are hyper liberal individuals Only from the very narrow perspective of current US politics - just normal in the mainstream West.
- qaq 8y ago
  ??? Define mainstream West
  - crispinb 8y ago
    Western Europe, NZ, Australia, Canada. The US has always been an outlier amongst the rich nations: more religious, more violent, etc. None of the attitudes referred to by the parent would be 'hyper-' anything in most of these nations.
    - _Tev 8y ago
      Social liberalism California edition is quite extreme even for (Western) Europe.
      - TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
        As a Western European, it really isn't.
        _Tev 8y ago
        So how did the Brexit happen? Le Pen? There is clear shift away from extreme social liberalism, and denying that just convinces people that shift is necessary. Even when it might have disastrous consequences for the economy ...
        TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
        If you're defining extreme by the shifting Overton window of European politics then suddenly fascism is not going to be extreme and mild post-war social democracy looks like Stalinist communism. California isn't that progressive.
PunchTornado 8y ago
> don't belong in a corporate environment why not? not all companies should be money over everything. And google is still doing fine and turning on huge profits based on the work of these "liberal babies".
sneak 8y ago
Declining to work with paid murderers is not a partisan position. Opposing sexism is not a partisan position. Attempting to reframe these sorts of things as “lefty silliness” and paint them with the same brush as being sad and disappointed that a rapist won the election is simply subterfuge.
- YetAnotherNick 8y ago
  > Declining to work with paid murderers is not a partisan position. Calling military paid murderers is definitely a partisan thing. What else do you propose? Someone has to do the dirty work to keep the citizens safe. > Opposing sexism is not a partisan position. Are you talking about harassment cases. Have you been to Google or talked about it to a Googler? It generally is swift and works without any proof. What they are asking is anonymous complaint system and things like that, which can definitely have two thoughts. What about Google giving huge advantage to women in hiring. Just one verified anecdote, in kickstart, which google uses to hire in Asia Pacific, men do get a call for interview within rank 50, many time lesser than that. And they have definitely called women if they got rank 1000, likely even more.
  - ionised 8y ago
    > Calling military paid murderers is definitely a partisan thing. What else do you propose? Someone has to do the dirty work to keep the citizens safe. How exactly did US operations in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Nicaragua etc. keep you 'safe'?
    - partiallypro 8y ago
      As someone that worked to get someone asylum from Afghanistan, there are many many many citizens in Afghanistan that long to have the US back with a significant presence. It's not easy sleeping when a car bomb just went off outside your house and it was targeted at you for not being a religious hardliner.. The US isn't always about keeping its own citizens safe, it often steps in when there is genocide, etc.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

sabas123 8y ago

Can you name a single example of something that you seem problematic?

_Tev 8y ago
I smell flamebait. But parent is baiting too, with great points. Ok I'll bite: Situation around firing of James Damore. Not even the firing itself as the (imo!) manufactured outrage that caused it. From (not only) my PoV it was quite extreme, and quite disconcerting. And I consider myself a very left-leaning person.

vowelless 8y ago

> I don't think Google has so much changed as their employees have changed. This is exactly it. A lot of people who genuinely loved technology, programming, were nerdy, etc long left the company. Could just be an arrogant of becoming big, and selecting for physical attribute diversity.

crispinb 8y ago

> recruits people that are hyper liberal individuals Only from the very narrow perspective of current US politics - just normal in the mainstream West.

qaq 8y ago
??? Define mainstream West
- crispinb 8y ago
  Western Europe, NZ, Australia, Canada. The US has always been an outlier amongst the rich nations: more religious, more violent, etc. None of the attitudes referred to by the parent would be 'hyper-' anything in most of these nations.
  - _Tev 8y ago
    Social liberalism California edition is quite extreme even for (Western) Europe.
    - TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
      As a Western European, it really isn't.
      - _Tev 8y ago
        So how did the Brexit happen? Le Pen? There is clear shift away from extreme social liberalism, and denying that just convinces people that shift is necessary. Even when it might have disastrous consequences for the economy ...
        TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
        If you're defining extreme by the shifting Overton window of European politics then suddenly fascism is not going to be extreme and mild post-war social democracy looks like Stalinist communism. California isn't that progressive.

PunchTornado 8y ago

> don't belong in a corporate environment why not? not all companies should be money over everything. And google is still doing fine and turning on huge profits based on the work of these "liberal babies".

sneak 8y ago

Declining to work with paid murderers is not a partisan position. Opposing sexism is not a partisan position. Attempting to reframe these sorts of things as “lefty silliness” and paint them with the same brush as being sad and disappointed that a rapist won the election is simply subterfuge.

YetAnotherNick 8y ago
> Declining to work with paid murderers is not a partisan position. Calling military paid murderers is definitely a partisan thing. What else do you propose? Someone has to do the dirty work to keep the citizens safe. > Opposing sexism is not a partisan position. Are you talking about harassment cases. Have you been to Google or talked about it to a Googler? It generally is swift and works without any proof. What they are asking is anonymous complaint system and things like that, which can definitely have two thoughts. What about Google giving huge advantage to women in hiring. Just one verified anecdote, in kickstart, which google uses to hire in Asia Pacific, men do get a call for interview within rank 50, many time lesser than that. And they have definitely called women if they got rank 1000, likely even more.
- ionised 8y ago
  > Calling military paid murderers is definitely a partisan thing. What else do you propose? Someone has to do the dirty work to keep the citizens safe. How exactly did US operations in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Nicaragua etc. keep you 'safe'?
  - partiallypro 8y ago
    As someone that worked to get someone asylum from Afghanistan, there are many many many citizens in Afghanistan that long to have the US back with a significant presence. It's not easy sleeping when a car bomb just went off outside your house and it was targeted at you for not being a religious hardliner.. The US isn't always about keeping its own citizens safe, it often steps in when there is genocide, etc.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]