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I currently work at Google, but I am a newbie, i.e less than 5 years at Google. I frequently run in to people who are: 1) always been at Google and enjoyed the

I currently work at Google, but I am a newbie, i.e less than 5 years at Google. I frequently run in to people who are: 1) always been at Google and enjoyed the fruits of its rise or at another similar environment 2) never had to deal with frugality or lack of funding for anything 3) see themselves are superior to everyone else - in terms of how enlightened they are, how they know whats best for everyone 4) feel that they have an absolute say in anything Google does These people do not know the realities of the world. Plain and simple. They had a good life and think that is it. One thing they dont seem to realize is that almost everyone else has had to deal with growth challenges, lack of capital and access to resources. No one exists to only make the world better. Contrary to their disbelief, most people and organizations, including themselves and Google, have the first priority to survive, to grow, to flourish and to abide by all applicable laws. Once this is satisfied, they move on to grander things like charity, investing in the well being of others etc. The very reason these people have the capability to leave their jobs for whatever reason is that they already took care of the first priority - to survive and thrive, courtesy Google. Google is a business, and as a business it has the fiduciary duty to serve itself and its interests first. If these people have any conscience that they claim to have, they need to stop pointing at Google, stop riding in their luxury SUVs, stop eating in insanely expensive restaurants, stop vacationing in luxury resorts, stop purchasing multi million dollar homes, and first go try to serve in the government to change the laws and society in which we all live and abide by. Stop trying to tell a large corporation to stop doing business and make profits, go change the society in which it operates. Then we will talk. Enough of the BS. You dont like working here, move on. Let us have the opportunity to contribute and grow and be successful.

aaomidi 7y ago
Hiding behind "it's a business" isn't an argument acceptable to most people. Sure "it's a business" but does that give it a green card to act how it pleases? We're getting into the philosophy of what we want businesses to be in our society. More and more people are realizing that the inhumane structure a business operates in isn't acceptable to them, and would like to have a say in what they're doing. This person left Google because Google was getting into the business of killing people - sure you might be comfortable with that. But your opinion isn't any more valid than someone who doesn't work in Google. So please, stop telling people how to behave and act and protest. We're not putting in 100 hour weeks because someone before you had the audacity to go say the current system is inhumane. You don't have to be that person, but you also don't have to be the person who stands in their way.
- scardycat 7y ago
  > Sure "it's a business" but does that give it a green card to act how it pleases? of course, yes! As long as it stays within the boundaries set by the law. Do you not act as you please? Do you not eat a $40 meal while a homeless person is lying outside in the cold? DO you not send your kid to a private school at $100k/year while the kid down the street (down the highway) struggles for school supplies? > So please, stop telling people how to behave and act and protest. We're not putting in 100 hour weeks because someone before you had the audacity to go say the current system is inhumane. I am not tell you how to behave, I am tell you to not tell the company how to behave. You are free to leave and go do what you think is right.
  - aaomidi 7y ago
    You're telling me to accept the status quo and be fine with it. That's telling me how to behave. The company is just an entity that needs to follow the set of guidelines set by people living in that society.
    - privateSFacct 7y ago
      Please - quit your overpaid tech job and actually work to change the status quo. No one is saying you have to accept the status quo. But your lectures while driving past the homeless in a $100K tesla on your way to swank vacations are tiresome - particularly as you build that money off the status quo you are so eager to say is terrible.
      - aaomidi 7y ago
        There's two ways to change the current system: 1. Work in the current system and try to slowly impact it and change how it behaves. 2. Start a violent revolution and start a civil war which will end in millions dead. Which one do you prefer I do? I also HAVE to participate in this system if I want to live. That's one of the reasons I want to change the system. My participation in this system isn't consensual.
      - 7y ago
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
the_common_man 7y ago
> Once this is satisfied, they move on to grander things like charity, investing in the well being of others etc This is true for the author as well. He worked at google for 15 years, he is probably a multi-millionaire. It's easy to take a stance once they money has been raked in.
- munificent 7y ago
  True, but it's still better to rake the money in and take the stance than to rake the money in and not take that stance.
jaydouken 7y ago
That same argument justifies slavery because it was legal, since slavery makes profits. Your argument is also subject to the ad-hominem logical fallacy [1], and does not actually counter the idea that Google is harming society and that employees should contribute their efforts elsewhere. Additionally, this appears to be the author's attempt to change society, to the greatest extent they can do that is unique to them. They do however, volunteer extensively, in their "Beyond Google" section, weakening a significant part of your ad-hominem argument. Overall, the author is right in trying to promote people to leave Google, as remaining quiet weakens the whole point of them leaving. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
johnmarcus 7y ago
I font work at Google, but it was exactly my thought when I read >”I’m not switching to another employer – instead, I hope to spend my time working on justice issues, and on growing and strengthening the nascent tech labor movement." Basically, Google paid them enough to retire early, and they cashed all those checks and now want to bite the hand that fed them. Must be nice.
- Twixes 7y ago
  No company is a benevolent hand feeding you – it's a machine for making the owners and decision-makers as much money as possible. If you get something out of it in the process, that's just luck. So biting is the correct reaction to the company's bullshit.
markarichards 7y ago
Google presented pitches to customers and employees alike that it cares about things like sustainability https://sustainability.google/ https://sustainability.google/, along with a breadth of other commitments https://about.google/commitments/ https://about.google/commitments/ and I'm sure you'll find more examples if you Google Google. All employees, contractors and business partners who are working with or for Google have had those or similar pitches thrown at them. They are hopefully part of the reasons why they chose Google and each has a right to complain when they don't get what they signed up for. If people apply their conscience anywhere then great, but surely one step at a time, maybe the author will run for president one day, fix homelessness and buy everyone SUVs, but we can only do one battle at a time and it seems like he's got some good domain knowledge about Google to tackle this one.
akhilcacharya 7y ago
Honestly, Im inclined to agree with their general worldview but their arrogance and elitism disgusts me, especially as someone valued at a fraction by the fair labor market.
- mav3rick 7y ago
  Your inferiority complex on every Google post is quite disgusting too. No one from Google has said anything to you or done anything to detriment your career. If you don't like your current job move to a more "elite" place instead of projecting.
  - akhilcacharya 7y ago
    > No one from Google has said anything I mean, I think you have...on literally every post I make...saying people like me aren't smart so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ > If you don't like your current job I like it fine, I just don't like people implying I'm lesser.
    - mav3rick 7y ago
      What is your plan here ? Go around the globe convincing everyone. Go to any bar in Europe and say you work for Google vs say you work for Amazon. See what reactions you get. Google has a higher reputation among the masses. Doesn't matter if it's warranted or not. You can't really win this fight.
      - akhilcacharya 7y ago
        Check your privilege dude, I can't go to "any bar in Europe" and ask. Ha, as if I can afford that!
        mav3rick 7y ago
        If Amazon is a top tier employer + payer (on par with F&G) as you claim, you should definitely be able to. Whether you wish to do so is your prerogative.

aaomidi 7y ago

Hiding behind "it's a business" isn't an argument acceptable to most people. Sure "it's a business" but does that give it a green card to act how it pleases? We're getting into the philosophy of what we want businesses to be in our society. More and more people are realizing that the inhumane structure a business operates in isn't acceptable to them, and would like to have a say in what they're doing. This person left Google because Google was getting into the business of killing people - sure you might be comfortable with that. But your opinion isn't any more valid than someone who doesn't work in Google. So please, stop telling people how to behave and act and protest. We're not putting in 100 hour weeks because someone before you had the audacity to go say the current system is inhumane. You don't have to be that person, but you also don't have to be the person who stands in their way.

scardycat 7y ago
> Sure "it's a business" but does that give it a green card to act how it pleases? of course, yes! As long as it stays within the boundaries set by the law. Do you not act as you please? Do you not eat a $40 meal while a homeless person is lying outside in the cold? DO you not send your kid to a private school at $100k/year while the kid down the street (down the highway) struggles for school supplies? > So please, stop telling people how to behave and act and protest. We're not putting in 100 hour weeks because someone before you had the audacity to go say the current system is inhumane. I am not tell you how to behave, I am tell you to not tell the company how to behave. You are free to leave and go do what you think is right.
- aaomidi 7y ago
  You're telling me to accept the status quo and be fine with it. That's telling me how to behave. The company is just an entity that needs to follow the set of guidelines set by people living in that society.
  - privateSFacct 7y ago
    Please - quit your overpaid tech job and actually work to change the status quo. No one is saying you have to accept the status quo. But your lectures while driving past the homeless in a $100K tesla on your way to swank vacations are tiresome - particularly as you build that money off the status quo you are so eager to say is terrible.
    - aaomidi 7y ago
      There's two ways to change the current system: 1. Work in the current system and try to slowly impact it and change how it behaves. 2. Start a violent revolution and start a civil war which will end in millions dead. Which one do you prefer I do? I also HAVE to participate in this system if I want to live. That's one of the reasons I want to change the system. My participation in this system isn't consensual.
    - 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

the_common_man 7y ago

> Once this is satisfied, they move on to grander things like charity, investing in the well being of others etc This is true for the author as well. He worked at google for 15 years, he is probably a multi-millionaire. It's easy to take a stance once they money has been raked in.

munificent 7y ago
True, but it's still better to rake the money in and take the stance than to rake the money in and not take that stance.

jaydouken 7y ago

That same argument justifies slavery because it was legal, since slavery makes profits. Your argument is also subject to the ad-hominem logical fallacy [1], and does not actually counter the idea that Google is harming society and that employees should contribute their efforts elsewhere. Additionally, this appears to be the author's attempt to change society, to the greatest extent they can do that is unique to them. They do however, volunteer extensively, in their "Beyond Google" section, weakening a significant part of your ad-hominem argument. Overall, the author is right in trying to promote people to leave Google, as remaining quiet weakens the whole point of them leaving. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

johnmarcus 7y ago

I font work at Google, but it was exactly my thought when I read >”I’m not switching to another employer – instead, I hope to spend my time working on justice issues, and on growing and strengthening the nascent tech labor movement." Basically, Google paid them enough to retire early, and they cashed all those checks and now want to bite the hand that fed them. Must be nice.

Twixes 7y ago
No company is a benevolent hand feeding you – it's a machine for making the owners and decision-makers as much money as possible. If you get something out of it in the process, that's just luck. So biting is the correct reaction to the company's bullshit.

markarichards 7y ago

Google presented pitches to customers and employees alike that it cares about things like sustainability https://sustainability.google/ https://sustainability.google/, along with a breadth of other commitments https://about.google/commitments/ https://about.google/commitments/ and I'm sure you'll find more examples if you Google Google. All employees, contractors and business partners who are working with or for Google have had those or similar pitches thrown at them. They are hopefully part of the reasons why they chose Google and each has a right to complain when they don't get what they signed up for. If people apply their conscience anywhere then great, but surely one step at a time, maybe the author will run for president one day, fix homelessness and buy everyone SUVs, but we can only do one battle at a time and it seems like he's got some good domain knowledge about Google to tackle this one.

akhilcacharya 7y ago

Honestly, Im inclined to agree with their general worldview but their arrogance and elitism disgusts me, especially as someone valued at a fraction by the fair labor market.

mav3rick 7y ago
Your inferiority complex on every Google post is quite disgusting too. No one from Google has said anything to you or done anything to detriment your career. If you don't like your current job move to a more "elite" place instead of projecting.
- akhilcacharya 7y ago
  > No one from Google has said anything I mean, I think you have...on literally every post I make...saying people like me aren't smart so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ > If you don't like your current job I like it fine, I just don't like people implying I'm lesser.
  - mav3rick 7y ago
    What is your plan here ? Go around the globe convincing everyone. Go to any bar in Europe and say you work for Google vs say you work for Amazon. See what reactions you get. Google has a higher reputation among the masses. Doesn't matter if it's warranted or not. You can't really win this fight.
    - akhilcacharya 7y ago
      Check your privilege dude, I can't go to "any bar in Europe" and ask. Ha, as if I can afford that!
      - mav3rick 7y ago
        If Amazon is a top tier employer + payer (on par with F&G) as you claim, you should definitely be able to. Whether you wish to do so is your prerogative.