Hacker News Reader

Comment by davidreiss | Hacker News Reader

> You're conflating a political movement with a company doing PR damage control. Google management didn't "call him names".

Google is heavily invested in the political movement. Lets not pretend google is an objective observer in this.

> They are actively trying to hire the best engineers in the world and this memo just put a dent in their hiring process for 50% of their potential hiring candidates.

Can you point to anything specific that was written that would scare 50% of potential hires? That is quite an assertion and I would love to here the rationale for it.

> Now that the shoe is on the other foot, both political poles are shown to be hypocrites.

That's the point. Why are you defending one foot and not the other?

View on HN

>Google is heavily invested in the political movement.

What "political movement" did the guy they fired represent? "All men are created equal" is a political statement, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" is a political statement, "Half the world's population is unsuitable for technical work because of their gender" is bigoted nonsense. That he tried to use discredited pseudo-science to back up his statement doesn't make it any more valid than bigoted nonsense from less educated people.

If he had kept his nonsense to himself, it wouldn't have been a major issue for Google. But because he chose to share it with his coworkers, who then leaked it, they were put in a position where if they kept him on, they would be seen as endorsing the nonsense, but if they fired him, they were seeing as joining in some kind of political crusade.

Bottom line: the core thesis of the "manifesto" was on par with eugenics, anti-vaxxer propaganda, or anti-climate FUD. If someone in their HR department was seen as embracing those ideas and encouraging their coworkers to put them into practice, Google would probably fire them as well.

>Bottom line: the core thesis of the "manifesto" was on par with eugenics, anti-vaxxer propaganda, or anti-climate FUD.

Awesome strawman!

Don't agree with someone? Equate their argument with something significantly worse..

> What "political movement" did the guy they fired represent?

Extreme liberalism. The same condition sadly afflicting much of media.

> "Half the world's population is unsuitable for technical work because of their gender" is bigoted nonsense.

Where did he say that? You are quoting it as if he wrote it, so please point out where he wrote those exact words. The fact you are making things up and misattributing it to him is rather disturbing.

>Bottom line: the core thesis of the "manifesto" was on par with eugenics, anti-vaxxer propaganda, or anti-climate FUD

So point it out.

You make outlandish claims but provide no specifics. It's almost as if you are making things up to further your agenda.

Also, feminists claim half the world's population is not fit enough to compete with men in baseball, football, soccer, hockey, tennis, etc and therefore need their own leagues/tournaments. Are these feminists sexists?

> "Half the world's population is unsuitable for technical work because of their gender"

Much more than half the world's population is unsuitable for technical work because of their lack of skills or interest. Is that bigoted nonsense? The guy wasn't making a blanket affirmation that women aren't suited for tech - just why there is a different level of interest for this field between genders.

> "Half the world's population is unsuitable for technical work because of their gender"

These kind of lies is the core of the problem. You even put quotes around it, yet the guy never wrote anything like that. You just made it up.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com