Google staff call for firm to cut ties with ICE
bbc.com
bbc.com
I applaud the initiative but it’s naive to think this’ll change anything. And when push comes to shove these people wont quit their comfy job in this economic climate.
One other issue I've had when I have tried to do this is that largely the "big" horrible issues with things are systematic rather than interpersonal- it doesn't matter who is operating the "baby seal blender", its operation is both the harm being done and the reason why "baby-seal-smoothies-r-us" operates so unless you cease the very profitable baby-seal-smoothy business the harm isn't going to stop.
Not to say that those issues are universally applicable, but rather to note that when you dance with the devil you need to observe how the devil is dancing with you; if you're going to go that way you need to be really careful in ways you don't need to be careful if you, say, just go work in a situation where the harm you create is less obvious and immediate.
Yes, the technical problems are interesting, the pay is good, but what society are you building?
The fifth estate is now, also, all but extinguished. Machine-driven psyops, in the form of algorithmic engagement, and AI-generated sentiment, mean that social fabric is no longer woven by people, but synthesized by corporations in service of their paperclip-maxxing agendas.
The recent case of Rob Pike, and today’s post by Brenden Gregg, only serve to remind me that the only thing one can depend on is the human mind to delude itself.
What else can explain the flagging of this submission? Google is the tech company of the internet age. That these goings on within it are worthy of being brushed aside by some members of this forum is indicative of a deep malaise in this community, an inability to see reality as it is.
I should end by saying, in my view, the only appropriate employee activism is handing in your resignation. Tech can’t unionize, as the workers don’t see themselves as equals, as disposable cogs in the service of corporations.
Good luck, everyone.
> 900 former Google employees
I can't believe Google chose the 1 billion dollar IDF contract over the wishes of 50 (ex-)employees.
They could be nationalized in times of war, but that hasn't happened since WW2 I think.
The antitrust case and other regulatory arm twisting is more to worry about.
This era is evidence for why we cannot continue allowing individuals or mega corps to accumulate the kind of money and power they have. It is too easy to corrupt them.
This seems like a very white-centric categorization to assume that a Tamil Brahmin should necessarily see himself as in the same racial solidarity group as a Somali, Haitian, or Venezuelan as opposed to a European.
What matters is how Trump and ICE see him.
And all they really notice is the color of the skin.
When the deportation push shifts from illegal immigrants to legal ones - which it has to because their stated goal of deporting 100 million Americans is not possible otherwise - it’ll come for Indians too. In fact I would say Indians are perhaps the most hated group on the far right.
As for those Indians still ignoring what the administration stands for and where it’s going, such as the ones working for Trump, they’re useful idiots. Doing the dirty work that will come for them in the future.
What tech companies actually have is rapacious sociopaths for leaders. They have purposely brought about the current state of affairs through intensive lobbying, spending, and direct action.
For the most part, they don't believe that they should be held accountable for their behavior. They don't fundamentally believe in democracy, and many of them don't really believe humans and human life are more important than some other abstract concept that they have in their heads. At root, they all believe in rule by the elite.
This may seem like an argumentative distinction, but I would counter that it's crucial to understanding what we have to do next, which is not to try to convince them, but rather to take back the power that they've accumulated over us, against their best efforts to stop us.
It sure would be nice if so many smart technologists hadn't spent the last two decades poo-pooing distributed p2p software in favor of centralizing https and javascript webcrapps because "they have nothing to hide" and can always "vote with their wallet".
Amen.
I have a buddy who has very strong attitude about how "companies / your employer are not your friends" and I understand that to an extent. At the same time he also thinks that most companies are there to just extract what they can from you and discard you. Some sure, and at a high level yeah feels that way.
His approach is to behave similarly. He is there to extract every $ he can from his employer, and he does make a lot of money.
But the result is that he ends up working for those same companies he hates, they pay a lot so they expect a lot and the method of getting more is to do more and ... it seems more like a cycle where he gets the whole dynamic that he thinks is everywhere.
Personally I'm sure I could (well in the past) have made a lot more money, but I like working for places that give me flexibility, care if I'm happy there, and have good people around me. They're smaller places, but the lifestyle is better.
Yes, for sure.
However, the evil keeps escalating. We've passed some pretty scary rubicons already.
Ffs HN. It's awful sad watching the site be killed like this.