[alex-wallish]

I wonder if the many commenters here saying things like "If you being employed loses the company money you should be fired" would say the same thing in the case of Colin Kaepernick. Not passing judgement either way, just curious.

[igetspam]

Did Kaepernick taking a knee lose (insert team here) a measurable amount of money? Was Kaepernick the head of the organization? I think those are the critical metrics. If whatever team he was on started hurting financially, then let him go. If he was the boss and therefore, even acting independently, his words were associated with the organization because of the potential influence his personal ethics could have AND it was a divisive issue AND he was in the minority then... yeah. Dump him.

[lmz]

I can think of plenty of things that would "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" and cost companies a lot of money. I hope you have the same opinion about that. (e.g. the Houston Rockets controversy https://www.businessinsider.com/nba-china-feud-timeline-dary... )

[igetspam]

Was this intended for me? I don't know almost anything about any sports controversies. I do my best to not follow sports news. I find it mostly boring. But I do support people fighting against oppression, especially when it comes with physical abuse by those in power.

[tablespoon]

>> I can think of plenty of things that would "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" and cost companies a lot of money. I hope you have the same opinion about that. (e.g. the Houston Rockets controversy https://www.businessinsider.com/nba-china-feud-timeline-dary...)

> Was this intended for me? I don't know almost anything about any sports controversies. I do my best to not follow sports news. I find it mostly boring. But I do support people fighting against oppression, especially when it comes with physical abuse by those in power.

That isn't a sports controversy. If you care about "fighting against oppression" how did you not get the reference? A link was provided to explain what you're apparently unaware of.

tl;dr: the authoritarian PRC government uses the exact same tactics you are approving of to stifle criticism and opposition to its oppression. You might feel differently about those tactics if the context was this guy getting fired for saying it's wrong of the PRC to ship Muslims in Xinjiang off to reeducation camps to crush their culture.

[tablespoon]

> Did Kaepernick taking a knee lose (insert team here) a measurable amount of money?

Did this guy lose the company a measurable amount of money?

Given that this law is like a week old and how little attention customers pay to CEO twitter, I'm almost certain that's a no.

[void_mint]

Did he? Probably not, as he made the tweet two days ago.

Would he have lost them money? Yes, definitely, without question.

[nomoreplease]

> Would he have lost them money? Yes, definitely, without question

I question it. You’re too confident here. How much money would he lose? Is it measurable? A blip?

And how much increased revenue would be gained by his supporters? Does it even out?

How many people doing the canceling have never bought from the company, nor would ever?

[void_mint]

> How many people doing the canceling have never bought from the company, nor would ever?

No one was cancelled.

> I question it. You’re too confident here. How much money would he lose? Is it measurable? A blip?

Do you think he would've been fired if his superiors thought otherwise?

[tablespoon]

> Would he have lost them money? Yes, definitely, without question.

So would it be right to fire Kaepernick at the first hint of controversy, since it would be reasonable to predict that would cause at least some loss of revenue?

[void_mint]

I don't think the role of quarterback on a football team is comparable to the role of CEO of a tech company.

[tablespoon]

> I don't think the role of quarterback on a football team is comparable to the role of CEO of a tech company.

Yeah, an NFL quarterback has much higher profile. Given how well known quarterbacks are to the public, statements they make (especially on TV during games) have much higher impact than a tweet from some no-name CEO.

I think the focus on revenue, etc. have an element of bad faith to them. The real metric seems to be you agree with A and disagree with B, so it's wrong to punish A and fine to punish B. What to choose as a publicly offered "critical metric" can usually be gerrymandered to get whatever result one desires.

Personally, I don't think anyone should be fired for expressing an opinion, especially not one that's well within the Overton Window of the country as a whole. To do otherwise invites polarization and extremism.