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I have to preface this by saying I'm not defending Uber - I haven't followed the debate around this proposition. But...lots of people in tech, and on this site

I have to preface this by saying I'm not defending Uber - I haven't followed the debate around this proposition. But...lots of people in tech, and on this site, have long been pushing companies to hold and voice political opinions. To those of you who have - did you really, honestly think that these companies would not also become vocally active in their own political interests? Did you really think they'd only speak up when it was your own opinions that needed boosting?

zestyping 6y ago
Can you say more about what you mean? "Pushing companies to hold and voice political opinions" is not how I would characterize it — at least for my part, I conceive of it as "Pushing companies to behave ethically."
- Swizec 6y ago
  There’s a lot of “No bystanders, you’re with us or you’re against us” among the woke elite these days. On every issue. Pushing companies to hire diversely is good. Makes them more ethical and less biased. Pushing companies to add “black lives matter” banners on their corporate landing pages ... eh that’s got nothing to do with ethics.
- kxrm 6y ago
  I think it is far too complicated to define what ethical behaviors a company should be pushed into. This particular situation has multiple sides so defining one side as ethical implies that the other sides of the debate are not.
- tenaciousDaniel 6y ago
  People hold political opinions because they believe they are ethical. I'm sure you can find outliers, but they're an edge case.
Fordec 6y ago
I'm sorry, I'm clearly missing something. When were companies last not engaged in political lobbying for their own interests?
- mantap 6y ago
  I believe their point is that we should all call out political campaigning by corporations even if it is for a cause we agree with. Because it is a grave threat to democracy to have trillion dollar entities running campaigns of any sort.

zestyping 6y ago

Can you say more about what you mean? "Pushing companies to hold and voice political opinions" is not how I would characterize it — at least for my part, I conceive of it as "Pushing companies to behave ethically."

Swizec 6y ago
There’s a lot of “No bystanders, you’re with us or you’re against us” among the woke elite these days. On every issue. Pushing companies to hire diversely is good. Makes them more ethical and less biased. Pushing companies to add “black lives matter” banners on their corporate landing pages ... eh that’s got nothing to do with ethics.
kxrm 6y ago
I think it is far too complicated to define what ethical behaviors a company should be pushed into. This particular situation has multiple sides so defining one side as ethical implies that the other sides of the debate are not.
tenaciousDaniel 6y ago
People hold political opinions because they believe they are ethical. I'm sure you can find outliers, but they're an edge case.

Fordec 6y ago

I'm sorry, I'm clearly missing something. When were companies last not engaged in political lobbying for their own interests?

mantap 6y ago
I believe their point is that we should all call out political campaigning by corporations even if it is for a cause we agree with. Because it is a grave threat to democracy to have trillion dollar entities running campaigns of any sort.