[FirmwareBurner]

Yes you can. Nobody's stopping you from engaging in politics outsider of work(go vote, write to your congressman, go protest, etc), and nobody'd forcing you to work at a company that does things you disagree with. But at work, you go to do work in exchange for money.

The publicly listed company must do what its shareholders want, it has no obligation to do what its employees want, and as long as the company doesn't break any local government laws and employment laws, then it's in the green. You disagreeing with the company's direction is your own matter to deal with, as in, you are free to walk since the company isn't forcing you to work there against your will.

You have no idea what authoritarianism actually means.

[ParetoOptimal]

They mean that politics and ideology are what your boss is going by to determine whether to give you or your coworker a raise. Or at the least it plays a large part.

Even if you dont talk about politics you are subject to the forces of it.

[FirmwareBurner]

But politics is changed at the voting booths or via engagement with your lawmakers, not wit your employer. Your employer will only follow the laws set by the state, not by the employees (unless we're talking about a cooperative which Google isn't)

[ParetoOptimal]

Employees or employers political views can be affected by others.

I realize you don't want to encourage people discussing politics in the workspace and it being 100% ineffective would improve your arguments.

[ParetoOptimal]

Also, consider the visibility of their protest after getting fired and discussions like this happening across the web.

And no, not all of those discussions end with "keep politics out of f work" and instead focus on how googlers are or arent complicit in powering genocide in t he e project presentation interrupted.

[FirmwareBurner]

> instead focus on how googlers are or arent complicit in powering genocide in t he e project presentation interrupted

Yes, and Googlers who are against that can put a stop that by quitting their jobs in protest. You can't go around and publicly slander your company calling them genocidal, while still being employed there, just because they don't do what you'd want them to do, without expecting repercussions when you don't follow your contractual agreement.

You are free to do that after you resign and no longer have the responsibility to follow your contract, which probably stated your job is to be a coding cog, not a PR public speaker for the company policies.

Even in Europe(the German speaking countries), if you publicly accuse your employer of causing genocide, you'd better bring some hard proof to back that up(other than your emotional feelings), otherwise you can not only get fired on the spot but also sued for libel/slander and have to pay defamation damages.

[truckerbill]

If you were to read a some critiques of neoliberalism you would understand how free market utopianism can lead to authoritarianism/is used as a cover for it. The idea of the absolute duty to shareholders is newer that you would think. It’s an ideological standpoint. So already you are quoting a political line

Regulatory capture and monopoly are both things shareholders might want but are bad for society.

‘Just doing your job’ doesn’t cut it, we’re are part of a community and should feel a civic duty. That’s what i mean

[int_19h]

And that is how you get a society that is effectively run by sociopaths.