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Comment by lmpostor | Hacker News Reader

> How much arrogance does it take for a bunch of Googlers to assume the belief that they know what is "just" for the rest of the world?

That of a regular human being with rationalized opinions through the lens available to them? For some reason only because Google has a lot of power to control the dialogue you ask them to bury their head in the sand? Or are we going to pretend that there hasn't been an arms race of sorts to game search results across nearly every topic and as such one might consider removal of what one considers to either be harmful, false, or manipulative to be a part of doing the "right" job?

What's the quote again, " The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing " -- Edmund Burke

And as far as Google goes, I think it would be easy to rationalize that (if I was a Google member) I have access to better tools than most to make a decision (more information).

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Let me clarify:

- A non-decision by Google management to not place limits on its internal culture is a decision in itself, and has consequences that we are currently experiencing.

- "Justice" is not something for a profit-seeking company to have influence or power over. This is my personal belief. I believe there are other channels that are better designed to address those issues.

- My belief on this subject is limited to the above.

All opinions can be rationalized through a particular lens can they not?

Are you asking Google to be a voice of reason in the debate over global labor markets and liberalization of SE Asian economies for example?

Doesn't that give you a wolf-and-lamb problem, to reference Aesop?

Everybody thinks they have better tools than everybody else to know what's right and what's wrong. In most cases, they are mistaken. The cost of being mistaken for a company that has power to control significant amount of information available to humanity is enormous. That's why in the US there are direct prohibitions on government suppressing points of view. You could think - why should there be one? Of course, if the government would suppress normal people, like you and me, it would be bad. But why not bad people? Why don't we elect a very good government, an excellent one, with the best tools and information we have, and then let it do whatever it wants, no limits? Except we know it won't work. The power corrupts, and what we'd get would be the worst tyranny, regardless of how pure were the initial intentions. Why would we delude themselves into thinking if we call it "Google" and replace elections with technical interview it would go any better?

> I have access to better tools than most to make a decision (more information).

That does Not mean that Your Opinion would be a correct one--actually the opposite could just as easily be true.

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