I haven’t in general written about straight politics as it is generally taboo in the corporate world. However, I would skirt the issue, for example, when expressing my dislike of Facebook. And some of my posts might come across as Trump’s favourite target to bash: as advocating socialism in some form or another.
Well, I live in Quebec Canada which is a pretty socialistic place—with free healthcare for all, cheap prescription drugs and post-secondary schooling, robust public transportation, etc. And our tech companies manage to thrive none-the-less, especially in sectors I have worked in 3D and post-production, gaming, and arts & entertainment in general.
When I write about companies in the US, I am generally criticizing the surveillance predatory capitalism that I think companies like Google and Facebook practice to some extent, not to mention the Chinese. Funny, I got a call for a technical writing job from Google themselves a couple of months back, I think that’s definitely shot with this post!
I wonder though, can you be, in American vernacular, a Democratic Socialist, and still work for Big Tech. I think if not, there is something morally wrong with that.
And this is perhaps why I am such an advocate of open source, the open web, and open government and structures of power in general.
I am just now working for an environmental group who practise the concept of Holocracy. You’ll have to do some research on that one but my impression of it include tenets of decentralization and non-hierarchy. Well I have worked for several billion dollar companies and they are not holo-centric, believe you me. Anyhow, working with this environmental group already feels much more like the free open source software movement than I hoped for, considering I come from the software world and we are now dealing with something a bit different: the existential threat to our planet because of the climate crisis.
I think then, there is an imperative for one to think about politics, that is issues of power and decision making, even in a corporate environment. It shouldn’t be a taboo subject.
Only 100 companies are responsible for 70% of global emissions so it is evident these companies have to be refashioned—perhaps majorly; internal criticism of the corporate environment of say Amazon and Walmart should be encouraged, not poo pooed. Only when this is allowed to happen will democracy spread next to where it must: the workplace.
