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I hate that we're still talking about this, but this is vastly different than the Eich incident. In Eich's case, what he did happened 6 years ago, and with no

I hate that we're still talking about this, but this is vastly different than the Eich incident. In Eich's case, what he did happened 6 years ago, and with no intention of making it public. In this case, he's openly telling juvenille jokes in an environment with a hightened intolerance to this kind of rhetoric and behavior. After enough of these cases happen, it just gets to the point where if you don't realize the need to censor yourself, then you are not a very smart person. I, for one, am encrypting all of my communication from here out, and only telling tasteless jokes with close, trusted friends. It's sad, but you have to ask yourself if it's more important to run a major company, or have the freedom to tell tasteless jokes. One of the reasons why running a startup sounds less attractive to me by the week.

erikpukinskis 12y ago
I don't understand why tasteless jokes are so important to you. I would much rather eat a nice sandwich or go for a hike, or tell a joke that makes light of some bullshit. Tasteless jokes are about just sort of reifying bullshit. I don't understand why people want so badly for that to be a key part of their professional lives, let alone their personal lives. There are other jokes. There are other people to date. There are other experiences in the world. Why cling to these few? Especially when other people are straight up telling you it's harming them.
polemic 12y ago
> "I hate that we're still talking about this..." Well me too, but I hate it because people are still shits to each other, and we need to keep talking about it so that we're not sending the message that it's ok to be shits to each other. Yeah, you probably should only tell tasteless jokes with close, trusted friends. I don't mean "as a CEO", I mean, in general, because your tasteless jokes are probably making people feel shitty, and you might as well restrict that as much as possible. > "if you don't realize the need to censor yourself, then you are not a very smart person" Or you're not that interested in being a good person.
- natural219 12y ago
  I see no problem in exchanging harmless humor between two friends in the context of a long history of friendship and understanding that no party has any ill will towards each other or the outside world. I don't believe it's any of your business what I talk about with my friends in the privacy of my home. In fact, I find your attitude ignorant, dangerous and a little scary. I'm not saying the Rapgenius guy's joke was any funny or appropriate it at all. It honestly didn't seem that funny to me. But I don't think "making bad jokes in private" and "being a good person" correlate very well. There are other things I prioritize, like doing actual good.
justin 12y ago
While I have no particular comment on the Rapgenius case, I think starting a startup in general gives you much more freedom to express your opinion (tasteless or otherwise). Generally, you can say much more than you could working in the corporate world and you will only be punished by the market if it was so extreme that your vendors or customers would actively boycott you, which is a pretty high (or maybe low) bar.

erikpukinskis 12y ago

I don't understand why tasteless jokes are so important to you. I would much rather eat a nice sandwich or go for a hike, or tell a joke that makes light of some bullshit. Tasteless jokes are about just sort of reifying bullshit. I don't understand why people want so badly for that to be a key part of their professional lives, let alone their personal lives. There are other jokes. There are other people to date. There are other experiences in the world. Why cling to these few? Especially when other people are straight up telling you it's harming them.

polemic 12y ago

> "I hate that we're still talking about this..." Well me too, but I hate it because people are still shits to each other, and we need to keep talking about it so that we're not sending the message that it's ok to be shits to each other. Yeah, you probably should only tell tasteless jokes with close, trusted friends. I don't mean "as a CEO", I mean, in general, because your tasteless jokes are probably making people feel shitty, and you might as well restrict that as much as possible. > "if you don't realize the need to censor yourself, then you are not a very smart person" Or you're not that interested in being a good person.

natural219 12y ago
I see no problem in exchanging harmless humor between two friends in the context of a long history of friendship and understanding that no party has any ill will towards each other or the outside world. I don't believe it's any of your business what I talk about with my friends in the privacy of my home. In fact, I find your attitude ignorant, dangerous and a little scary. I'm not saying the Rapgenius guy's joke was any funny or appropriate it at all. It honestly didn't seem that funny to me. But I don't think "making bad jokes in private" and "being a good person" correlate very well. There are other things I prioritize, like doing actual good.

justin 12y ago

While I have no particular comment on the Rapgenius case, I think starting a startup in general gives you much more freedom to express your opinion (tasteless or otherwise). Generally, you can say much more than you could working in the corporate world and you will only be punished by the market if it was so extreme that your vendors or customers would actively boycott you, which is a pretty high (or maybe low) bar.