I understand why Basecamp have made the decisions they have on this.<p>As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I would be frankly terrified of hiring a woke SJW who wanted our business and all of our employees to become wholly dedicated to solving their pet causes.<p>Solving large scale societal injustice would be great, but it’s a long way down my list of priorities when logging on in the morning.<p>It’s even worse with the ever present threat they would then breach NDAs and bring the raging Twitter mob to the door when they don’t get their own way.<p>There are a million injustices in the world, but engaging and supporting them should be a personal decision. Keep that stuff away from the office.
So it seems the overriding tide right now is for workplaces to be more woke-aware? Increase tensions by discussing more politically hot topics at work.<p>At least that's what I'm getting from the Silicon Valley type folks I follow on twitter. I think it's a mistake, they'll end up eating themselves in the long run. You may be a woke-leader now, but let's see what the next generation thinks of you in a decade.<p>Why do you want to "out" your coworkers? Force compliant thought control of the people you have to see every-day. Seems like it's destined for huge amounts of resentment. Fearing for employment because of your opinions, yikes.
Regardless of one's personal opinion in this instance, the trend (if it is that) of companies explicitly stating their internal policies on politics in the workplace strikes me as a positive one. Clearly, some people want their work to be more than "just work". In a world where companies are explicit about their policies, those folks can find workplaces which better align with their values. And people who want work just to be work can do the same. After an initial period of adjustment, this seems like it could result in better outcomes for everyone involved.
"A time comes when silence is betrayal."<p>This is classical us vs them rhetoric, and I don't like to be dragged into this trap, especially at a company level.
Author sounds like a complete nightmare to work with.<p>I think all parties would be happier to part ways; no need to stay in a toxic relationship like that.
>...Basecamp already represents a diversity of experiences and we want the company’s software and policies to do the same ...<p>I think this is precisely the issue that guarantees we will forever have these discussions, whether or not a company bans political conversations. The software industry is simply much more left than the general population [1]. But rank and file employees ignore this, and assumes everyone else should hold the standard opinions on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. So they pressure their company leaders, but the company leaders are obviously running a business, rinse and repeat.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/charts-show-the-political-bias-of-each-profession-2014-11" rel="nofollow">https://www.businessinsider.com/charts-show-the-political-bi...</a>
"Whether I will remain on medical leave after publishing this letter is entirely up to you".<p>The statement is framed in sarcasm, but if this is really the case, don't leave it up to the employer -- when the workplace gets toxic to you, find the door.
So she admitted that political climate at work contributed to her emotional/medical leave?<p>Sounds like she would be more fulfilled at a non-profit.<p>Sounds like she was spinning her wheels doing things that don’t necessarily make the company money, was bound to have conflict with management.
The political leanings of the author should not surprise anyone.<p>From <a href="https://janeyang.org/resisting/" rel="nofollow">https://janeyang.org/resisting/</a><p>> Racist capitalism is poison that has weakened every facet of society and been used to “justify” horrific crimes against humanity while destroying our planet. We need massive power and wealth distribution enshrined in national and international policies.<p>From <a href="https://janeyang.org/2021/04/13/im-getting-some-feedback/" rel="nofollow">https://janeyang.org/2021/04/13/im-getting-some-feedback/</a><p>> Guess who tends to beta spray? Men. White men, in particular.<p>From <a href="https://janeyang.org/2021/03/18/live-forward/" rel="nofollow">https://janeyang.org/2021/03/18/live-forward/</a><p>> If you are white or a man, especially a cis-gendered heterosexual able-bodied white man, do the fucking work. Learn about the characteristics of white supremacy, push through your discomfort, and reflect on how you show up in the spaces you have power. Be ready to apologize when you screw up (we all do!) and then do better. And whatever you do: do not demand that your friends or colleagues or employees or neighbors or acquaintances who belong to historically marginalized groups explain to you all the ways you perpetuate harm and how society got here. Pay an anti-oppression professional for training and coaching; don’t expect us to get you up to speed for free.<p>I understand why she's unhappy, but I bet most of her coworkers are thankful that Basecamp now discourages such discussions at work. I speak from experience when I say that dogmas (such as politics and religion) are <i>poison</i> for workplace productivity and happiness.
This post proves exactly why you don't bring politics into your workplace.<p>Even just mentioning banning politics in that letter brought tons of negative PR.
It's not anti-woke to say that, as a hosting/SaaS company, you don't censor/ban any legal content that your customers put through the service.<p>If you personally have a problem
with the boundary between legal and illegal content, it seems that that should be taken up in your individual capacity with the existing democratic political process, not via pressure to your boss/manager/CEO.
Previous discussion of the post this is responding to: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26944192" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26944192</a>
> The whispers of how you had handled a prior company discussion when someone raised the able-ist language in the title of a recently published company book<p>Anyone happen to know what book?
There are many vague accusations in this article, but the core issue seems to be this:<p>> Keen followers will recall that when our Use Restrictions Policy was first officially rolled out, neither hate speech nor harassment were included. One of my colleagues (who comes from a marginalized background) and I (an Asian American woman child of immigrants who had grown up poor) had debated vigorously for their inclusion, with David in writing while Jason gazed from the sidelines, intellectually making our case before ultimately being told: no. We won’t include them yet. Let them stay in the grey area. Let us stay silent.<p>TL;DR: Basecamp decided not to explicitly include hate speech nor harassment in their use restrictions policy.<p>It's not clear if there were specific customers using Basecamp to (project manage?) hate speech or harassment, though I suspect any specific cases would be alluded to if they existed.<p>The author does suggest that they received customer questions asking if Basecamp supported "free speech":<p>> we began seeing more customer support cases asking about whether Basecamp “discriminated” against its customers. Whether it supported “free speech”. Another Moral Quandaries case came up, one that proved to be the most challenging professional experience of my life — and I’ve worked in refugee camps before!<p>The author managed to get hate speech and harassment added to the use restrictions policy eventually by sharing their personal experience of harassment:<p>> Over the course of that 10-day Moral Quandaries case investigation and discussion, it became clear to me that the only way to move you two was to prostrate myself. To violate my own sense of personal privacy and list out in excruciating detail example after example of how I have experienced hate and harassment. So I did, and at the end, hate speech and harassment were added to the list.<p>I have to say, after reading this rebuttal, I'm inclined to side with Basecamp. The amount of loathing this employee has for their employer is staggering, though it's not clear if the issues being debated actually related to real-world issues or were simply matters of principle. I can now see why Basecamp would take the steps they did.
A tangential (but actually very relevant) question, "reading the room" here, I gather that many folks in tech responding to 'the open letter' referenced here are actually either libertarian, conservative, class-based progressive or just progressive but maybe critical of woke-ness/cancel culture. How do you guys deal with coworkers, friends and family who are (for a lack of a better word) very very woke or MAGA for that matter?<p>I mean the obv. answer is just not engage or placate. But I've found doing so is intellectually dishonest and the implied feedback given to the activist (left or right) that their opinion is the prevailing opinion. I try to challenge their opinions logically and on their possible emotional biases; but as politics (along with sex and religion) is the third-rail of American polite conversations, I find it hit-or-miss. Would love to hear everybody else's $0.02! (And if you disagree with me if you a wokist or magaist, I'd love to hear your takes too!)
> Keen followers will recall that when our Use Restrictions Policy was first officially rolled out, neither hate speech nor harassment were included.<p>That's a huge red flag.
> As you know, I am writing this while on medical leave from Basecamp, a condition that was necessary in large part because of the extreme emotional duress I have experienced as an employee at the company.<p>Author, you aren’t an indentured servant to Basecamp. If you don’t enjoy the environment then take a little personal responsibility and find a place that makes you happy.
From the post she linked:<p>> Basecamp should be a place where employees can come to work with colleagues of all backgrounds and political convictions without having to deal with heavy political or societal debates unconnected to that work.<p>I completely agree with this and it’s the kind of environment that I would prefer to work in.
>Then the January 6, 2021 insurrection occurred and we began seeing more customer support cases asking about whether Basecamp “discriminated” against its customers. Whether it supported “free speech”.<p>/r/suspiciousquotes
Thanks for posting. I saw this happen on twitter, but the comments immediately derailed into the predictable culture war and never really drilled down to the specifics of why Basecamp choose to put this policy into effect. This makes it very clear.