After reading about how Basecamp's founders no longer want Basecamp workers to talk about politics on company channels, I've decided to delete my Basecamp account and cancel my hey.com subscription.
I don't like to talk about politics at work myself. I don't like to talk about anything that isn't work-related at work, because I'm only in it for the money. I do the job, and then I get paid. As such I have no interest in participating in corporate cultural events and remain skeptical of all workplace DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives.
Nevertheless, I believe that people who want to talk politics at work and participate in DEI activities should be able to do so. I also believe that what people in the tech industry work on is inherently political since the entire industry arose out of the military-industrial complex; you may recall that computers were made to calculate artillery trajectories and decrypt enemy communications, and the computer industry has not yet had a meaningful reckoning with its warlike origins.
These opinions place me in opposition to Basecamp's founders and leadership. Since I am not on Basecamp's payroll I am not answerable to them, and they are likewise not answerable to me just because I used to pay eighty bucks a year for a fancy webmail service.
But I will not be seen as one who consents to efforts by corporate leadership to silence worker dissent. We should not have to leave our human rights in the car when we show up at the office.
I don't like to talk about politics at work myself. I don't like to talk about anything that isn't work-related at work, because I'm only in it for the money. I do the job, and then I get paid. As such I have no interest in participating in corporate cultural events and remain skeptical of all workplace DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives.
Nevertheless, I believe that people who want to talk politics at work and participate in DEI activities should be able to do so. I also believe that what people in the tech industry work on is inherently political since the entire industry arose out of the military-industrial complex; you may recall that computers were made to calculate artillery trajectories and decrypt enemy communications, and the computer industry has not yet had a meaningful reckoning with its warlike origins.
These opinions place me in opposition to Basecamp's founders and leadership. Since I am not on Basecamp's payroll I am not answerable to them, and they are likewise not answerable to me just because I used to pay eighty bucks a year for a fancy webmail service.
But I will not be seen as one who consents to efforts by corporate leadership to silence worker dissent. We should not have to leave our human rights in the car when we show up at the office.