5 ms·

> Google and most SV companies are somewhere between left to far-left. 1) Completely contradicts what you said earlier above 2) How? When does it stop being p

> Google and most SV companies are somewhere between left to far-left. 1) Completely contradicts what you said earlier above 2) How? When does it stop being people and start being a corp? Aren't the decisions made by employees? 3) So? You just linked 'diversity' to left and far-left, isn't that the same thing that started this side thread? How is that site linked with activism or left politics? You mentioned a "pretty clear" connection.

manigandham 7y ago
Obviously nothing is absolute, that doesn't make anything contradictory. The majority political stance is left/far-left. The company is massive and sometimes will do things people consider right-wing, but usually those things are not actually "right-wing" but just normal behavior of a giant corporation seeking to maximize profit and shareholder value. Corporations and capitalism are not antithetical to left-wing politics.
- reroute1 7y ago
  You just linked 'diversity' to left and far-left, isn't that the same thing that started this side thread? How is that site linked with activism or left politics? You mentioned a "pretty clear" connection. I could just as easily say it's a decision for the economics of the company and you're projecting your own politics into that, confusing capitalism with left/right? But you know your example is a political decision pushed by the company? The same company that sometimes pushes the opposite political message? You're assertions are lacking consistency
  - manigandham 7y ago
    "Diversity" based on identity politics and physical characteristics (race, gender, skin color) is a left-wing position. Hiring the best people for the job is a universal capitalistic non-political position. Is your counter argument that this "diversity" is also part of the right-wing party?
    - dragonwriter 7y ago
      > "Diversity" based on identity politics and physical characteristics (race, gender, skin color) is a left-wing position. It's actually a centrist neoliberal capitalist position; the left-wing positions sees neoliberal identity politics and checklist-diversity catering to it as a tool of the capitalist class to distract from economic justice issues. (There are left-wing identity politics, but they aren't focussed on diversity, they are focussed on addressing the unique economic and social justice issues facing particular identity communities as well as the more general cross-cutting issues facing the working and under class as a whole.) In the US neoliberal identity politics might seem like a relatively left-wing position only because the two major political parties consist of one that ranges from Right to Far Right and one that ranges from Center-Right neoliberal capitalist to the moderate Left of Democratic socialism, with the dominant faction being (clearly until the current election cycle, and by all indications still though less solidly now) firmly planted in the center-right neoliberal capitalist camp.
    - reroute1 7y ago
      No my counter is that the Google site posted above which started this has very little in common with "radical left identity politics"
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
- nlfwhulsdhouv 7y ago
  > Corporations and capitalism are not antithetical to left-wing politics. Fuck I didn't realize I actually like capitalism whoops. Wikipedia: > The term was later applied to a number of movements, ... socialism, communism, anarchism and social democracy in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is the funniest thing I've read all week thanks.
  - dang 7y ago
    Would you please not post ideological battle-style comments that take HN threads further into flamewar? Those lead to scorched earth, and we're trying for something different than that here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Your account has also posted thoughtful comments that have contributed to good conversation. That is good.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  If Google were calling for the nationalization of major industries and a radical leveling of wealth, then I might call them "far-left." But being vaguely LGBT-friendly or talking about diversity is pretty centrist, maybe a bit socially liberal.

manigandham 7y ago

Obviously nothing is absolute, that doesn't make anything contradictory. The majority political stance is left/far-left. The company is massive and sometimes will do things people consider right-wing, but usually those things are not actually "right-wing" but just normal behavior of a giant corporation seeking to maximize profit and shareholder value. Corporations and capitalism are not antithetical to left-wing politics.

reroute1 7y ago
You just linked 'diversity' to left and far-left, isn't that the same thing that started this side thread? How is that site linked with activism or left politics? You mentioned a "pretty clear" connection. I could just as easily say it's a decision for the economics of the company and you're projecting your own politics into that, confusing capitalism with left/right? But you know your example is a political decision pushed by the company? The same company that sometimes pushes the opposite political message? You're assertions are lacking consistency
- manigandham 7y ago
  "Diversity" based on identity politics and physical characteristics (race, gender, skin color) is a left-wing position. Hiring the best people for the job is a universal capitalistic non-political position. Is your counter argument that this "diversity" is also part of the right-wing party?
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    > "Diversity" based on identity politics and physical characteristics (race, gender, skin color) is a left-wing position. It's actually a centrist neoliberal capitalist position; the left-wing positions sees neoliberal identity politics and checklist-diversity catering to it as a tool of the capitalist class to distract from economic justice issues. (There are left-wing identity politics, but they aren't focussed on diversity, they are focussed on addressing the unique economic and social justice issues facing particular identity communities as well as the more general cross-cutting issues facing the working and under class as a whole.) In the US neoliberal identity politics might seem like a relatively left-wing position only because the two major political parties consist of one that ranges from Right to Far Right and one that ranges from Center-Right neoliberal capitalist to the moderate Left of Democratic socialism, with the dominant faction being (clearly until the current election cycle, and by all indications still though less solidly now) firmly planted in the center-right neoliberal capitalist camp.
  - reroute1 7y ago
    No my counter is that the Google site posted above which started this has very little in common with "radical left identity politics"
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
nlfwhulsdhouv 7y ago
> Corporations and capitalism are not antithetical to left-wing politics. Fuck I didn't realize I actually like capitalism whoops. Wikipedia: > The term was later applied to a number of movements, ... socialism, communism, anarchism and social democracy in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is the funniest thing I've read all week thanks.
- dang 7y ago
  Would you please not post ideological battle-style comments that take HN threads further into flamewar? Those lead to scorched earth, and we're trying for something different than that here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Your account has also posted thoughtful comments that have contributed to good conversation. That is good.
DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
If Google were calling for the nationalization of major industries and a radical leveling of wealth, then I might call them "far-left." But being vaguely LGBT-friendly or talking about diversity is pretty centrist, maybe a bit socially liberal.