Today's post is the final installment of a four part series on the Google memo and the various issues it's raised regarding our cultural capacity for intelligent debate. I've also touched upon the very serious issue of Google's expanding position as an integral and willing tool of U.S. imperial foreign policy, as well as its defense of oligarchy and status quo thinking at home.
Here are the first three parts, in case you missed them:
Part 1 -- Why the Google Memo Brings Forward an Overdue Conversation
Part 2 -- ‘The Firing’
Part 3 -- Google: Search Engine or Deep State Organ?
Before I get started, I want to make something clear. I am entirely sympathetic to the fact that the Google memo justifiably made many women who work in the tech industry feel uncomfortable and anxious. While I've never worked in that field, I worked in the highly aggressive and male-dominated environment of Wall Street for a decade. That sort of culture can definitely make women feel left-out, awkward or worse. I do not deny that such problems exist in an industry dominated by one gender. Unfortunately, that very legitimate issue has become totally swamped in the public mind due to the hysterical, dishonest and illogical reactions by many to the Google memo.
Irrespective of what you think of the memo, it's dangerous and counterproductive to start calling people names rather than engage in calm, intelligent debate. Certainly, James Damore could've done some things differently in the composition of his memo, but anyone who reads it can see he was trying to be fair and open-minded. I have no doubt that he was genuinely trying to have a conversation about an issue he identified at Google and feels passionately about. He wasn't trying to make his colleagues feel anxious or uncomfortable. For that transgression he was demonized and fired. Are we already back to burning witches?
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