4 ms·

I don't think it's fair to try and nitpick people's ethical decisions like this. Imagine yes, this person would work for Amazon even though they're in China to

I don't think it's fair to try and nitpick people's ethical decisions like this. Imagine yes, this person would work for Amazon even though they're in China too. Does that make them not working for Google because they're in China a bad choice? I don't think so. Are we really prepared to tear everyone down who isn't absolute in their morality?

bduerst 8y ago
A moral inconsistency is not a nitpick when it's the entire industry. Their logic makes Google a better employer than Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and any other tech company currently operating in China. Saying they spurned Google because the company was considering going to China is disengenious, since the majority of the substitute employers are already in China.
- diminoten 8y ago
  You're saying his moral position is invalid because he doesn't apply it consistently, and that is not true, and also possibly harmful.
  - bduerst 8y ago
    I said the moral position is disingenuous because it is both inconsistent and opposite to what he is describing, when considering all things related.
    - diminoten 8y ago
      But each "related" decision is different, and there is no accurate generalization, by the very nature of what a generalization is.
- ardy42 8y ago
  > Saying they spurned Google...the majority of the substitute employers are already in China. There is life outside of the FAANG/GAFAM bubble. If you refuse to work at Google, it doesn't mean that you're then obligated to work at Amazon or Microsoft, etc.
  - bduerst 8y ago
    Of course there is, but when considering substitute employers, in the economic sense, working in a small-town software shop isn't quite the same as working at a multinational tech company. If we're looking at it in that lens, then GP's problem isn't with Google, but with large tech companies in general because that's the industry standard.
    - ardy42 8y ago
      > Of course there is, but when considering substitute employers, in the economic sense, working in a small-town software shop isn't quite the same as working at a multinational tech company. The life outside of the FAANG/GAFAM bubble isn't just "small-town software shop[s]." There's a lot more diversity than that, and to conceive of the industry in that way is too parochial.
      - bduerst 8y ago
        How many of those companies can be considered substitute employers to Google? That offer the same level of compensation? That is what an economic substitute is. SMB tech companies typically don't compare.

bduerst 8y ago

A moral inconsistency is not a nitpick when it's the entire industry. Their logic makes Google a better employer than Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and any other tech company currently operating in China. Saying they spurned Google because the company was considering going to China is disengenious, since the majority of the substitute employers are already in China.

diminoten 8y ago
You're saying his moral position is invalid because he doesn't apply it consistently, and that is not true, and also possibly harmful.
- bduerst 8y ago
  I said the moral position is disingenuous because it is both inconsistent and opposite to what he is describing, when considering all things related.
  - diminoten 8y ago
    But each "related" decision is different, and there is no accurate generalization, by the very nature of what a generalization is.
ardy42 8y ago
> Saying they spurned Google...the majority of the substitute employers are already in China. There is life outside of the FAANG/GAFAM bubble. If you refuse to work at Google, it doesn't mean that you're then obligated to work at Amazon or Microsoft, etc.
- bduerst 8y ago
  Of course there is, but when considering substitute employers, in the economic sense, working in a small-town software shop isn't quite the same as working at a multinational tech company. If we're looking at it in that lens, then GP's problem isn't with Google, but with large tech companies in general because that's the industry standard.
  - ardy42 8y ago
    > Of course there is, but when considering substitute employers, in the economic sense, working in a small-town software shop isn't quite the same as working at a multinational tech company. The life outside of the FAANG/GAFAM bubble isn't just "small-town software shop[s]." There's a lot more diversity than that, and to conceive of the industry in that way is too parochial.
    - bduerst 8y ago
      How many of those companies can be considered substitute employers to Google? That offer the same level of compensation? That is what an economic substitute is. SMB tech companies typically don't compare.