[mikestew]

Ya know, your comment might leave something to discuss had you left out the “clickbait” part. Instead it leaves me impulsively want to downvote. But, hey, happens to the best of us, so let’s move on. I suppose it depends on one’s gender to some degree. Musk is the epitome of “boys and their toys”, because nothing he’s done has had any impact on my life yet (well, except the oodles of dosh made off TSLA). Bezos? Eh, modern day Sam Walton that impacts the lives of more than a few, but in the end a retailer. But if you’re female, I could see how one might view the Fowler situation as “good, maybe I’ll have to put up with creepy men just a little less than I did last year.”

[ghostcluster]

OP's comment is exactly right, and I've noticed a trend in the Financial Times over the past several years to jump increasingly on social activism bandwagons. The way they've lionized Ellen Pao, for example, a figure who has turned exploitation of these bandwagons into a personal brand, has been incredibly frustrating to watch.

[fred_is_fred]

What Susan did and the other women and men who have come forward this year will have a massive impact on the business world and the types of people who read FT need to know about it. It will affect HR policies, compensation, career paths, job assignments, and the manager/employee relationship in general. Having your business outed as an "Uber" will destroy billions in shareholder value and may end up with you, the C-suite guy, getting canned, even if you're a "nice guy". You can be damned sure that all these C-level guys are reviewing policies and having internal discussions about this and making sure that they're not going to be next.

New rockets and computer products come every year and have been since 1969. Wholesale cultural shifts in business are more rare, more impactful, and more complex.

[ghostcluster]

I would say that there is a social activist moral panic that we are in the midst of, some of which has been spurred by social media mobs and deliberate narrative reinforcement. Fowler is just one example of it, along with Pao.

Another example would be the horrible way Denise Young Smith was fired from Apple, and James Damore from Google.

This pick signals more of the wagons circling, fanning the flames by the Financial Times.

[jubalfh]

ah, a Damore stan; that explains it

[ghostcluster]

"speaking honestly is only acceptable if it fits the narrative"

[jubalfh]

…and your shitty attitude, shared by too many, is a huge part of the problem; you contribute to already bad situation

do you really think that shining the light on the fucked-up situation in tech world is something people do for fun and profit?

[birksherty]

Everytime sexual harassment by comes up from women, they are demonised in HN. And this is the reason these issues are coming up. What's wrong with Ellen Pao taking about it? You very skilfully changed it into her "personal brand". Past presidents make it their brand to give speeches and earn millions just for that.

Rape and sexual harassments are most under-reported crimes. Everyone who faced these issues should talk about it. And HN being mostly men's place, it's obvious they don't like it.