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Since you consider everything to be political, then everything is politics and there is no discussion without it. It's a tautological inevitability. However th

Since you consider everything to be political, then everything is politics and there is no discussion without it. It's a tautological inevitability. However there is a difference in that we don't discuss personal opinions on politics. We talk about changes, and whether those changes are good for the business. That's a pretty clear line that you seem to be refusing to accept even though our team understands it perfectly.

yunohn 6y ago
I don't think "everything" is meant to be taken so /literally/. It is your personal opinion on privacy that led to the founding of the company. It is most likely your employees' personal opinions that made them choose to work at your company vs Google or FB's ad divisions. But let's discuss a more relevant political topic. Your name, manigandham, implies you are of Asian origin. The /political/ immigration laws determine your/parents' existence in the USA. If the company you/they worked for was serving/assisting organisations that would invalidate your legal residence, would you not be concerned? Or would you help the project succeed & accept your fate once ICE came knocking?
- manigandham 6y ago
  And yet we don't discuss opinions in the workplace. I don't see why that is so difficult to understand. I caution against making this personal because it's a poor argument and unproductive. But since you asked: I was born in India, legally immigrated to the USA, and am now a naturalized US citizen. I have never feared ICE or any part of the US Government, and fully support legal immigration, strong borders, and proper law enforcement. Corporations do not affect my citizenship or residence, that's a matter of state and law. If I didn't like what a company was doing, I would simply not work for them. None of this requires discussing my political opinions at work. Speech and action are not the same, and nobody is forcing you to work anywhere you don't want to. If you don't like the rules of limited discussion or anything else the company does, then leave. This Coinbase policy is specifically designed to give you a very comfortable exit. What's the problem?
  - yunohn 6y ago
    This is a very personal topic, for the people that are being "political". Claiming you no longer care about this, after becoming a naturalized citizen, is a prime example of the "I have mine" philosophy. You would not be able to quit a company while on an immigrant visa, to protest your company's problematic workings. This is not a fair view, and you know that.
    - manigandham 6y ago
      1) The topic is political discussions at work. You made this thread personal by asking about my background instead of arguing the merits. What issues others are personally affected by has nothing to do with this. 2) What do you know about what I care about or my philosophy? I said I support strong borders and law enforcement. This does not stop others from becoming citizens, nor do I have any responsibility to anyone else. 3) You choose the company you work for, and you can always quit. That doesn't mean there are no consequences but that's life, and life isn't fair. You're conflating several topics with random tangents and have attempted to personally attack me with assumptions, strawman scenarios and mischaracterizations. Nothing you've said is a reason to break the rules of the workplace and discuss whatever you want, especially when you have the alternative of leaving (and the company is offering a generous package to do so). The entitlement that you stay employed and yet break the rules and create disturbance is the very epitome of the privilege you claim exists in those that choose to actually follow those rules. This is precisely the attitude that this company (and many others) are trying to avoid. I'll end this thread here as there's nothing more to discuss.
staz 6y ago
> Since you consider everything to be political, then everything is politics and there is no discussion without it. It's a tautological inevitability. but that's kind of the point. Pretty much any human discussion (or interaction for that matter) _can_ be viewed through a political lens by someone. Thus by declaring to forbid political discussion, you are just declaring a blanket right to ban any discussions that inconvenience you by judging them political.
- username90 6y ago
  Apolitical workplaces works just fine in practice, you are just fearmongering.
  - staz 6y ago
    I didn't intend to instill fear, sorry that there is a comprehensions. I don't believe that apolitical workplaces actually exist. That you can view workplaces as apolitical is either ignorance or privilege
    - username90 6y ago
      If people aren't proselyting their views on how the country should be run then it is apolitical. This is the norm. You must be very damaged if you think this is impossible.
      - staz 6y ago
        I will not do a repeat of the discussion on how supporting the status quo is in itself a political statement. But you must be very naive if you think how a company is run has no effect on how a country is run. Fifty year ago in the US whether your company had segregated bathroom or not was a proselyting of their views on how the country should be run. Now it whether trans should be allowed to use the bathroom they want. Why? Because they are political decision taken from the people working there.
- manigandham 6y ago

yunohn 6y ago

I don't think "everything" is meant to be taken so /literally/. It is your personal opinion on privacy that led to the founding of the company. It is most likely your employees' personal opinions that made them choose to work at your company vs Google or FB's ad divisions. But let's discuss a more relevant political topic. Your name, manigandham, implies you are of Asian origin. The /political/ immigration laws determine your/parents' existence in the USA. If the company you/they worked for was serving/assisting organisations that would invalidate your legal residence, would you not be concerned? Or would you help the project succeed & accept your fate once ICE came knocking?

manigandham 6y ago
And yet we don't discuss opinions in the workplace. I don't see why that is so difficult to understand. I caution against making this personal because it's a poor argument and unproductive. But since you asked: I was born in India, legally immigrated to the USA, and am now a naturalized US citizen. I have never feared ICE or any part of the US Government, and fully support legal immigration, strong borders, and proper law enforcement. Corporations do not affect my citizenship or residence, that's a matter of state and law. If I didn't like what a company was doing, I would simply not work for them. None of this requires discussing my political opinions at work. Speech and action are not the same, and nobody is forcing you to work anywhere you don't want to. If you don't like the rules of limited discussion or anything else the company does, then leave. This Coinbase policy is specifically designed to give you a very comfortable exit. What's the problem?
- yunohn 6y ago
  This is a very personal topic, for the people that are being "political". Claiming you no longer care about this, after becoming a naturalized citizen, is a prime example of the "I have mine" philosophy. You would not be able to quit a company while on an immigrant visa, to protest your company's problematic workings. This is not a fair view, and you know that.
  - manigandham 6y ago
    1) The topic is political discussions at work. You made this thread personal by asking about my background instead of arguing the merits. What issues others are personally affected by has nothing to do with this. 2) What do you know about what I care about or my philosophy? I said I support strong borders and law enforcement. This does not stop others from becoming citizens, nor do I have any responsibility to anyone else. 3) You choose the company you work for, and you can always quit. That doesn't mean there are no consequences but that's life, and life isn't fair. You're conflating several topics with random tangents and have attempted to personally attack me with assumptions, strawman scenarios and mischaracterizations. Nothing you've said is a reason to break the rules of the workplace and discuss whatever you want, especially when you have the alternative of leaving (and the company is offering a generous package to do so). The entitlement that you stay employed and yet break the rules and create disturbance is the very epitome of the privilege you claim exists in those that choose to actually follow those rules. This is precisely the attitude that this company (and many others) are trying to avoid. I'll end this thread here as there's nothing more to discuss.

staz 6y ago

> Since you consider everything to be political, then everything is politics and there is no discussion without it. It's a tautological inevitability. but that's kind of the point. Pretty much any human discussion (or interaction for that matter) _can_ be viewed through a political lens by someone. Thus by declaring to forbid political discussion, you are just declaring a blanket right to ban any discussions that inconvenience you by judging them political.

username90 6y ago
Apolitical workplaces works just fine in practice, you are just fearmongering.
- staz 6y ago
  I didn't intend to instill fear, sorry that there is a comprehensions. I don't believe that apolitical workplaces actually exist. That you can view workplaces as apolitical is either ignorance or privilege
  - username90 6y ago
    If people aren't proselyting their views on how the country should be run then it is apolitical. This is the norm. You must be very damaged if you think this is impossible.
    - staz 6y ago
      I will not do a repeat of the discussion on how supporting the status quo is in itself a political statement. But you must be very naive if you think how a company is run has no effect on how a country is run. Fifty year ago in the US whether your company had segregated bathroom or not was a proselyting of their views on how the country should be run. Now it whether trans should be allowed to use the bathroom they want. Why? Because they are political decision taken from the people working there.
manigandham 6y ago