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I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting t

by blck 6y ago

I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. Supporting the status quo is a political statement. And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on.

zepto 6y ago
Is it necessarily? Social media has amplified polarization. Is it really the case that everyone must support one or other of the poles?
- joshuamorton 6y ago
  Something being a political statement doesn't necessarily mean it is directly in support of one pole or the other. It's still political. Saying "my business supports whatever the current US government's stated opinion is on all issues" is a political stance. It may not be partisan, but it absolutely is political. Those aren't synonymous.
  - zepto 6y ago
    Saying ‘we don’t want to be an activist organization beyond our business goals, therefore we want to keep political discussions out of the workplace’ is not the same thing as saying ‘my business supports whatever the US government’s stated opinion is’. Nobody supports the status quo.
    - joshuamorton 6y ago
      Correct, but both are political statements. "We don't want to be involved in the political discussion" is just as political as "we want to be involved in the political discussion".
      - zepto 6y ago
        True, but your two statements in this comment aren’t really representative of anything being discussed here. The statements we were talking about upthread don’t reduce to these ones.
- RangerScience 6y ago
  IMO that's due more to first-past-the-post voting.
  - zepto 6y ago
    That’s another contributing factor, but social media is amplifying the extremes.
fullshark 6y ago
My cynical take on this is Coinbase is preparing for Democrats to take control of the US gov't in a few months and sees Republicans suddenly becoming very concerned about gov't / central bank failures and buying cryptocurrency as a hedge. Don't want to be seen a leftist company when your user growth will come from the right.
- blck 6y ago
  That is definitely an interesting take but I think any right-winger that goes that far is more likely to be caught up in a grift than going to Coinbase where they have to send in their government-issue ID and link their account to a US bank that reports to government if they notice suspicious activity.
potta_coffee 6y ago
Not using your business as a political platform is not the same as supporting the status quo. The "if you're not with us, you're against us" stance is definitely polarizing and is not making things better.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  But Coinbase is using their business as a political platform[1]. [1] https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=coinbase https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?...
  - slaymaker1907 6y ago
    I hope they get a lawsuit over this if they continue giving to candidates.
  - stronglikedan 6y ago
    Or they're just bribing, er lobbying, politicians to achieve the company's goals, regardless of the affiliation of said politicians.
  - newbie789 6y ago
    This is very interesting. The CEO said in his initial letter that Coinbase should only engage in politics that are relevant to their "core mission", but it's kind of interesting to reduce a candidate to "What can this candidate or party do specifically for our business?" and ignore other policies that a candidate or party may seek to enact. Pretending that you're unaware of or completely ambivalent about the consequences of shifts in political power (so long as it benefits you financially) doesn't really qualify you as "apolitical." You're still involved in the political process even if you stick your fingers in your ears and chant "nananana I can't hear you." I hate to sound incisive, but it kind of seems like the position that Coinbase's leadership has taken is "The board and CEO will decide what qualifies as 'apolitical' and as such will dictate the ongoing political activity of the company, which they have no desire to stop being involved in."
cltby 6y ago
You are correct in your "understatement" claim, though I suspect unintentionally so. Yes, "avoiding politics" cuts into time you could be spending advancing progressive politics. So does writing software. So does watching a movie with your spouse. So does sleeping. So does every single thing that isn't literally "advancing progressive politics." "No politics = politics" is an utterly vacuous statement.
- blck 6y ago
  He's not passively stating no politics he's actively discouraging any politics. There is a slight difference. If you become friendly with a person in the workplace you'll eventually learn their politics, right? Either through how they act or what they say. How do you limit how much a person reveals about themselves at work? The CEO is saying Coinbase won't take political stances. That's fine in theory but in practice it's not. The whole idea of cryptocurrency itself is political. There is a difference in being passively apolitical and actively apolitical for sure.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    The rules aren't as strict as you're thinking. As the article describes, Armstrong's made it clear that there's no rule requiring employees to just pretend politics don't exist, and employees are still free to discuss politics with each other or create political discussion Slack channels.
- Spivak 6y ago
  The stance "I am now and forever apolitical regardless of the state of the world or how political decisions affect me or others" is true no politics. The stance "I am avoiding politics because there's nothing worth my time to be an activist about but I would if that changed and political decisions started seriously affecting me, my family, or my friends" is "the status quo is fine." The stance "I'm avoiding politics because it's bad for my metal health or $any_criticism" is an act of protest! Super political. I have genuinely never met someone in the first camp.
  - 6y ago
rjldev 6y ago
That’s a very paranoid way of looking at things. Signalling support for the status quo would involve something more active, eg “wooo, go status quo!!” on a banner. Maybe they have different priorities than you and just want to make money. Not everything is political.
- tehjoker 6y ago
  Just wanting to make money is political because it means the environment has been configured in such a way that you can do so. If you make money in the position of a manager or boss, it is even more strongly political as you are using the configuration of the political system to direct societal resources at your whim to make money.
  - cltby 6y ago
    Just playing the bongos is political because it means the environment has been configured in such a way that you can do so. If you play the bongos in the position of a manager or boss, it is even more strongly political as you are using the configuration of the political system to direct societal resources at your whim to play the bongos. You might be proving too much here.
    - tehjoker 6y ago
      Not at all. While there is a tiny bit of truth to your bongo example, money in particular is highly political though it has been rhetorically stripped in order to make it appear as though it is not so the wealthy can make money in peace. Controlling the distribution of resources in society is a highly political question. Who makes more money at work for example? The low level employee or the boss? Who controls what, why, and how things are produced? What the schedules are? These are smaller questions than national policy, but they are political in nature. Of course, the socialist movement sees all workplaces' workers united together as a national political project. When you swim in water all your life, you can't see it easily unless someone points it out. Another reason "just making money" is political is because so many people can't. In a society with levels of inequality that approximate ancient kingdoms, the lowest people in society have little opportunity to "just make money" and their invisibility is a political artifice. Put another way, what is political is the ability to _not care_ when others are suffering. People are being deported, attacked in the streets, dying of disease, etc. so keeping your head down _and make money_ during such a time is something won by virtue of class. Other people can't ignore it because politics is life and death. While exhaustion is a valid excuse to rest (I'm super tired myself), what is being asked is for solidarity and to exhibit positive humanity towards other people. A primary site of conflict and domination is the workplace -- it's just that so many of us are used to losing or out competing each other that we don't band together to win.
SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
Coinbase didn't say "no politics" or "we support the status quo". They just said that the company is focused on cryptocurrency, and won't engage in political causes other than supporting cryptocurrency.
- slaymaker1907 6y ago
  As someone else pointed out, they seem to have no problem in donating to political candidates as a corporation so this is the height of hypocrisy. Individual employees don't get to have a say in the direction of the company's politics.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    I don't see the hypocrisy. Like I said, the company's been quite open about the fact that they will continue to engage in cryptocurrency-related politics.
- CarelessExpert 6y ago
  Cryptocurrency is an explicitly political cause.
  - cltby 6y ago
    Bob grows chickens and Alice grows corn. They trade via barter. We'd probably agree this isn't political in any meaningful sense. One day, Alice has a clever idea: she can create a digital representation of money. Both Alice and Bob agree to accept these "tokens" in lieu of barter. Big mistake. CarelessExpert announces to Alice and Bob that their creation obligates them to join in bitter arguments about abortion, climate change, and LGBT rights.
    - CarelessExpert 6y ago
      So do you normally spend a lot of your time online standing up straw men and knocking them down? Or is today a special case? My point, since apparently I need to clarify it, is that Coinbase claiming to have an "apolitical" workplace while a) operating in a business that's driven by libertarian and anarchist philosophy and b) spending time and money lobbying politicians in Washington in support of said values is, at best demonstrative of a total lack of self-awareness, and at worst represents rank hypocrisy. I tend to suspect it's the latter.
devtul 6y ago
This idea of "everything is political" is why the discourse went to shit, now nobody can catch a break from politics, and if you had enough and don't want to take part then you instantly gets attacked for "supporting the status quo". I prefer to not be lectured on political issues by my orange juice brand. Their mission should be to sell high quality orange juice and make a profit.
- blck 6y ago
  I think in prior times when we didn't have all the information we have available at hand: sure that's fine. But what if your orange juice brand of choice was actively contributing to the destruction of the environment, lobbying politicians to make them exempt from environmental regulations, and destroying competition in nefarious ways? That's an extreme but if that's information you have and you still support that orange juice brand then you are supporting everything that is public knowledge about that brand.
  - defen 6y ago
    If 95% of the people at the company don't care, but you're the person who won't stop bringing up the need to change orange juice vendors, to the point that it's disruptive and annoying to the 95%, maybe they don't want to work with you any more. And maybe it's not the right company for you, either. Why would you want to work with a bunch of people who are indifferent to environmental destruction when there are literally thousands of companies out there who actively embrace your orange juice opinions?
    - lazyasciiart 6y ago
      If 95% of the company doesn't care then you should change orange juice vendors. Making it turn into an ongoing issue would be a very strong sign that people at the company care very strongly about keeping the current vendor. Which means that perhaps you should leave, but you should leave because people are actively opposing your politics and not because that 95% is not political.
Negitivefrags 6y ago
I really dislike this argument. Anyone using it is just saying “If you are not with us, your against us”. It’s simply a way to force a divide of the world into black and white and that sucks.
aksss 6y ago
"you must become a member of the Party" is a horrible situation for any country to be in. Full stop. There are too many examples in history of where that leads to claim naiveté or propose that their consistent outcomes won't apply here.
stronglikedan 6y ago
It's no so strange. A lot of people are perfectly happy with the status quo, while recognizing that there's always room for improvement.
twmahna 6y ago
> I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. I disagree, and I think you're grossly overstating it. I can see how you could characterize their stance as "supporting the status quo". But, there are varying degrees of "support", and this is pretty much the lowest degree of "support" imaginable. Put another way, you're painting this as "with us or against us" when in reality there's a spectrum of support. Coinbase is standing just SLIGHTLY off center in one direction. > And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on. Why do you think it's strange? The vast majority of employees prefer a work environment that is stripped of political conversation. And, such an environment is more conducive to focus and productivity.
- Pils 6y ago
  > The vast majority of employees prefer a work environment that is stripped of political conversation While I generally agree, I think there is a tacit assumption that Armstrong's actions will work exactly as intended. 5-8% of workforce is...honestly I don't know if it's high or low, but is certainly non-trivial. These weren't strategic layoffs or restructurings, so certain business-critical projects might be delayed due to headcount issues/loss of senior staff. If we hear about another walkout at Coinbase 6 months from now, this might just look like a catastrophic management blunder. Literally firing the walkout organizers would probably have led to a worse media cycle, but likely fewer staff quitting in protest (Google firing the walkout organizers seemed to have little to no effect).
ccleve 6y ago
If by "status quo" you mean "Donald Trump is President", does your view change if Biden wins? Will the status quo be ok, and will it therefore be ok to ban political activity in the workplace? The problem with the view that activism is ok if the current administration is objectionable is that the "status quo" changes from cycle to cycle. Presidential politics is only a very small part of political activity in the US (though it is the most visible). What if your frame of reference is state and local politics? Is political activism in the workplace ok if you don't like the local school board?
manfredo 6y ago
No, it's possible to support changes to the status quo while simultaneously maintaining an apolitical workplace. I most certainly support changes to the status quo, and I would simultaneously take the same stance as Coinbase with regards to politics in the workplace. I've never seen a workplace embrace political activism without creating a hostile workplace environment for a significant segment of workers. This is kind of the same kind of fallacy as people who try to say that atheism is a religion. No, it's the absence of religion. In the same vein, an apolitical workplace isn't support for the status quo. It's the absence of any political, either for or against the status quo.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
heimatau 6y ago
All businesses that want to survive are political. Whether they admit it or not. How many defense contractors are there? These people do have a vested interest to vote for candidates that increase govt contracts with the private sector. This is a massive industry. Now that govt is getting more involved in health care, we're seeing that too. These are trillions of dollars we're talking about. This is also valid for small businesses too. How taxes are done in a given community. Etc. I can't emphasize enough the vested interest a business has to be selfish. I'm indifferent on if this is a drawback. I just wish there was more competition/choices for everyone and like you, I wish people would be more upfront (or self aware) of what they're doing. P.S. When it comes to Coinbase. What stops them from backing a racist KKK member whom backs Bitcoin/crypto? What stops them from backing an anarchist whom backs Bitcoin/crypto? Etc...etc... This silencing of discussion...it a bit disgusting.
gambler 6y ago
>I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. This is often presented as obvious self-contradiction, but in fact the definition of "politics" here changes from first use to the second. In other words, this is a cheap rhetorical trick to make something sound irrational and self-contradictory, while int fact it isn't.
tofuahdude 6y ago
There is a difference between explicitly supporting the status quo and simply saying we aren't going to actively work to change the status quo within this organization.
BurningFrog 6y ago
> I don't think it can be understated ... I'm sure you meant "overstated".

by blck 6y ago

zepto 6y ago

Is it necessarily? Social media has amplified polarization. Is it really the case that everyone must support one or other of the poles?

joshuamorton 6y ago
Something being a political statement doesn't necessarily mean it is directly in support of one pole or the other. It's still political. Saying "my business supports whatever the current US government's stated opinion is on all issues" is a political stance. It may not be partisan, but it absolutely is political. Those aren't synonymous.
- zepto 6y ago
  Saying ‘we don’t want to be an activist organization beyond our business goals, therefore we want to keep political discussions out of the workplace’ is not the same thing as saying ‘my business supports whatever the US government’s stated opinion is’. Nobody supports the status quo.
  - joshuamorton 6y ago
    Correct, but both are political statements. "We don't want to be involved in the political discussion" is just as political as "we want to be involved in the political discussion".
    - zepto 6y ago
      True, but your two statements in this comment aren’t really representative of anything being discussed here. The statements we were talking about upthread don’t reduce to these ones.
RangerScience 6y ago
IMO that's due more to first-past-the-post voting.
- zepto 6y ago
  That’s another contributing factor, but social media is amplifying the extremes.

fullshark 6y ago

My cynical take on this is Coinbase is preparing for Democrats to take control of the US gov't in a few months and sees Republicans suddenly becoming very concerned about gov't / central bank failures and buying cryptocurrency as a hedge. Don't want to be seen a leftist company when your user growth will come from the right.

blck 6y ago
That is definitely an interesting take but I think any right-winger that goes that far is more likely to be caught up in a grift than going to Coinbase where they have to send in their government-issue ID and link their account to a US bank that reports to government if they notice suspicious activity.

potta_coffee 6y ago

Not using your business as a political platform is not the same as supporting the status quo. The "if you're not with us, you're against us" stance is definitely polarizing and is not making things better.

heavyset_go 6y ago
But Coinbase is using their business as a political platform[1]. [1] https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=coinbase https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?...
- slaymaker1907 6y ago
  I hope they get a lawsuit over this if they continue giving to candidates.
- stronglikedan 6y ago
  Or they're just bribing, er lobbying, politicians to achieve the company's goals, regardless of the affiliation of said politicians.
- newbie789 6y ago
  This is very interesting. The CEO said in his initial letter that Coinbase should only engage in politics that are relevant to their "core mission", but it's kind of interesting to reduce a candidate to "What can this candidate or party do specifically for our business?" and ignore other policies that a candidate or party may seek to enact. Pretending that you're unaware of or completely ambivalent about the consequences of shifts in political power (so long as it benefits you financially) doesn't really qualify you as "apolitical." You're still involved in the political process even if you stick your fingers in your ears and chant "nananana I can't hear you." I hate to sound incisive, but it kind of seems like the position that Coinbase's leadership has taken is "The board and CEO will decide what qualifies as 'apolitical' and as such will dictate the ongoing political activity of the company, which they have no desire to stop being involved in."

cltby 6y ago

You are correct in your "understatement" claim, though I suspect unintentionally so. Yes, "avoiding politics" cuts into time you could be spending advancing progressive politics. So does writing software. So does watching a movie with your spouse. So does sleeping. So does every single thing that isn't literally "advancing progressive politics." "No politics = politics" is an utterly vacuous statement.

blck 6y ago
He's not passively stating no politics he's actively discouraging any politics. There is a slight difference. If you become friendly with a person in the workplace you'll eventually learn their politics, right? Either through how they act or what they say. How do you limit how much a person reveals about themselves at work? The CEO is saying Coinbase won't take political stances. That's fine in theory but in practice it's not. The whole idea of cryptocurrency itself is political. There is a difference in being passively apolitical and actively apolitical for sure.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  The rules aren't as strict as you're thinking. As the article describes, Armstrong's made it clear that there's no rule requiring employees to just pretend politics don't exist, and employees are still free to discuss politics with each other or create political discussion Slack channels.
Spivak 6y ago
The stance "I am now and forever apolitical regardless of the state of the world or how political decisions affect me or others" is true no politics. The stance "I am avoiding politics because there's nothing worth my time to be an activist about but I would if that changed and political decisions started seriously affecting me, my family, or my friends" is "the status quo is fine." The stance "I'm avoiding politics because it's bad for my metal health or $any_criticism" is an act of protest! Super political. I have genuinely never met someone in the first camp.
- 6y ago

rjldev 6y ago

That’s a very paranoid way of looking at things. Signalling support for the status quo would involve something more active, eg “wooo, go status quo!!” on a banner. Maybe they have different priorities than you and just want to make money. Not everything is political.

tehjoker 6y ago
Just wanting to make money is political because it means the environment has been configured in such a way that you can do so. If you make money in the position of a manager or boss, it is even more strongly political as you are using the configuration of the political system to direct societal resources at your whim to make money.
- cltby 6y ago
  Just playing the bongos is political because it means the environment has been configured in such a way that you can do so. If you play the bongos in the position of a manager or boss, it is even more strongly political as you are using the configuration of the political system to direct societal resources at your whim to play the bongos. You might be proving too much here.
  - tehjoker 6y ago
    Not at all. While there is a tiny bit of truth to your bongo example, money in particular is highly political though it has been rhetorically stripped in order to make it appear as though it is not so the wealthy can make money in peace. Controlling the distribution of resources in society is a highly political question. Who makes more money at work for example? The low level employee or the boss? Who controls what, why, and how things are produced? What the schedules are? These are smaller questions than national policy, but they are political in nature. Of course, the socialist movement sees all workplaces' workers united together as a national political project. When you swim in water all your life, you can't see it easily unless someone points it out. Another reason "just making money" is political is because so many people can't. In a society with levels of inequality that approximate ancient kingdoms, the lowest people in society have little opportunity to "just make money" and their invisibility is a political artifice. Put another way, what is political is the ability to _not care_ when others are suffering. People are being deported, attacked in the streets, dying of disease, etc. so keeping your head down _and make money_ during such a time is something won by virtue of class. Other people can't ignore it because politics is life and death. While exhaustion is a valid excuse to rest (I'm super tired myself), what is being asked is for solidarity and to exhibit positive humanity towards other people. A primary site of conflict and domination is the workplace -- it's just that so many of us are used to losing or out competing each other that we don't band together to win.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago

Coinbase didn't say "no politics" or "we support the status quo". They just said that the company is focused on cryptocurrency, and won't engage in political causes other than supporting cryptocurrency.

slaymaker1907 6y ago
As someone else pointed out, they seem to have no problem in donating to political candidates as a corporation so this is the height of hypocrisy. Individual employees don't get to have a say in the direction of the company's politics.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  I don't see the hypocrisy. Like I said, the company's been quite open about the fact that they will continue to engage in cryptocurrency-related politics.
CarelessExpert 6y ago
Cryptocurrency is an explicitly political cause.
- cltby 6y ago
  Bob grows chickens and Alice grows corn. They trade via barter. We'd probably agree this isn't political in any meaningful sense. One day, Alice has a clever idea: she can create a digital representation of money. Both Alice and Bob agree to accept these "tokens" in lieu of barter. Big mistake. CarelessExpert announces to Alice and Bob that their creation obligates them to join in bitter arguments about abortion, climate change, and LGBT rights.
  - CarelessExpert 6y ago
    So do you normally spend a lot of your time online standing up straw men and knocking them down? Or is today a special case? My point, since apparently I need to clarify it, is that Coinbase claiming to have an "apolitical" workplace while a) operating in a business that's driven by libertarian and anarchist philosophy and b) spending time and money lobbying politicians in Washington in support of said values is, at best demonstrative of a total lack of self-awareness, and at worst represents rank hypocrisy. I tend to suspect it's the latter.

devtul 6y ago

This idea of "everything is political" is why the discourse went to shit, now nobody can catch a break from politics, and if you had enough and don't want to take part then you instantly gets attacked for "supporting the status quo". I prefer to not be lectured on political issues by my orange juice brand. Their mission should be to sell high quality orange juice and make a profit.

blck 6y ago
I think in prior times when we didn't have all the information we have available at hand: sure that's fine. But what if your orange juice brand of choice was actively contributing to the destruction of the environment, lobbying politicians to make them exempt from environmental regulations, and destroying competition in nefarious ways? That's an extreme but if that's information you have and you still support that orange juice brand then you are supporting everything that is public knowledge about that brand.
- defen 6y ago
  If 95% of the people at the company don't care, but you're the person who won't stop bringing up the need to change orange juice vendors, to the point that it's disruptive and annoying to the 95%, maybe they don't want to work with you any more. And maybe it's not the right company for you, either. Why would you want to work with a bunch of people who are indifferent to environmental destruction when there are literally thousands of companies out there who actively embrace your orange juice opinions?
  - lazyasciiart 6y ago
    If 95% of the company doesn't care then you should change orange juice vendors. Making it turn into an ongoing issue would be a very strong sign that people at the company care very strongly about keeping the current vendor. Which means that perhaps you should leave, but you should leave because people are actively opposing your politics and not because that 95% is not political.

Negitivefrags 6y ago

I really dislike this argument. Anyone using it is just saying “If you are not with us, your against us”. It’s simply a way to force a divide of the world into black and white and that sucks.

aksss 6y ago

"you must become a member of the Party" is a horrible situation for any country to be in. Full stop. There are too many examples in history of where that leads to claim naiveté or propose that their consistent outcomes won't apply here.

stronglikedan 6y ago

It's no so strange. A lot of people are perfectly happy with the status quo, while recognizing that there's always room for improvement.

twmahna 6y ago

> I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. I disagree, and I think you're grossly overstating it. I can see how you could characterize their stance as "supporting the status quo". But, there are varying degrees of "support", and this is pretty much the lowest degree of "support" imaginable. Put another way, you're painting this as "with us or against us" when in reality there's a spectrum of support. Coinbase is standing just SLIGHTLY off center in one direction. > And supporting the status quo in this political climate is a strange hill to plant your flag on. Why do you think it's strange? The vast majority of employees prefer a work environment that is stripped of political conversation. And, such an environment is more conducive to focus and productivity.

Pils 6y ago
> The vast majority of employees prefer a work environment that is stripped of political conversation While I generally agree, I think there is a tacit assumption that Armstrong's actions will work exactly as intended. 5-8% of workforce is...honestly I don't know if it's high or low, but is certainly non-trivial. These weren't strategic layoffs or restructurings, so certain business-critical projects might be delayed due to headcount issues/loss of senior staff. If we hear about another walkout at Coinbase 6 months from now, this might just look like a catastrophic management blunder. Literally firing the walkout organizers would probably have led to a worse media cycle, but likely fewer staff quitting in protest (Google firing the walkout organizers seemed to have little to no effect).

ccleve 6y ago

If by "status quo" you mean "Donald Trump is President", does your view change if Biden wins? Will the status quo be ok, and will it therefore be ok to ban political activity in the workplace? The problem with the view that activism is ok if the current administration is objectionable is that the "status quo" changes from cycle to cycle. Presidential politics is only a very small part of political activity in the US (though it is the most visible). What if your frame of reference is state and local politics? Is political activism in the workplace ok if you don't like the local school board?

manfredo 6y ago

No, it's possible to support changes to the status quo while simultaneously maintaining an apolitical workplace. I most certainly support changes to the status quo, and I would simultaneously take the same stance as Coinbase with regards to politics in the workplace. I've never seen a workplace embrace political activism without creating a hostile workplace environment for a significant segment of workers. This is kind of the same kind of fallacy as people who try to say that atheism is a religion. No, it's the absence of religion. In the same vein, an apolitical workplace isn't support for the status quo. It's the absence of any political, either for or against the status quo.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

heimatau 6y ago

All businesses that want to survive are political. Whether they admit it or not. How many defense contractors are there? These people do have a vested interest to vote for candidates that increase govt contracts with the private sector. This is a massive industry. Now that govt is getting more involved in health care, we're seeing that too. These are trillions of dollars we're talking about. This is also valid for small businesses too. How taxes are done in a given community. Etc. I can't emphasize enough the vested interest a business has to be selfish. I'm indifferent on if this is a drawback. I just wish there was more competition/choices for everyone and like you, I wish people would be more upfront (or self aware) of what they're doing. P.S. When it comes to Coinbase. What stops them from backing a racist KKK member whom backs Bitcoin/crypto? What stops them from backing an anarchist whom backs Bitcoin/crypto? Etc...etc... This silencing of discussion...it a bit disgusting.

gambler 6y ago

>I don't think it can be understated how much saying 'no politics' is a political statement. This is often presented as obvious self-contradiction, but in fact the definition of "politics" here changes from first use to the second. In other words, this is a cheap rhetorical trick to make something sound irrational and self-contradictory, while int fact it isn't.

tofuahdude 6y ago

There is a difference between explicitly supporting the status quo and simply saying we aren't going to actively work to change the status quo within this organization.

BurningFrog 6y ago

> I don't think it can be understated ... I'm sure you meant "overstated".