One Tech Company Is Done With Woke

This could be a trend.

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Basecamp is a company in Silicon Valley that has never really embraced Silicon Valley culture. Google set the standard for Silicon Valley companies in that Google did not pay as much as other companies but offered impressive stock options that made it possible for you to become a millionaire through stock growth. They also gave extraordinary benefits including gym access, gourmet food, car service, and living arrangements. Google was essentially saying if you work at Google and bring your whole self, they will provide for you as if they were your parents and only ask that you pour your whole self into the company. If they're pouring their whole self into their company, they're pouring their political opinions into the company, and Google over time became hyper woke.

If you're giving your all to Google, you want Google to look like you. This is human nature. The result is Google hired a bunch of people that turned out to be progressive, secular, hyper-liberals who continued to turn the company to the left. Over time the company became extremely unwelcoming to people who dissented. To this day Google is a hyper woke company that is simply not very receptive to conservatives. Google employees openly say they can shape the algorithm to provide information that reflects them and they don't want it to reflect conservatives.

Basecamp

Another tech company in Silicon Valley has had enough. Basecamp has essentially said work is work and we are a part of your life but we don't want to be all of your life. They have pushed their team to leave their political views at the door and simply focus on the product without leaving “their” mark on it. One of the owners of the company tweeted this out last year, "Stop looking to work to fulfill every human emotional need. The reason you're so desperate to cast the company as a family is probably because you've been spending far too much time there. Get away from the office, diversify your life, let work just be one part of it."

Of course, Basecamp is getting excoriated. Even some of their employees have announced they're leaving.

If these employees are not allowed to air their political views at the office, they don't want to be in the office. They don’t feel it’s a family anymore. Here’s the thing, it was never supposed to be a family. Google and other major Silicon Valley companies essentially moved people from their college campus to their corporate campus and left a lot of the amenities attached to these people who thought they were still at college. Instead of going to class, they were going to work, and Basecamp is essentially saying, they are not going to baby their employees, but more importantly, they are not going to let their employees dictate who can use their products based on personal political preferences. More of this, please.

Ben Thompson writes for Stratechery and had this to say:

"One reason why the story's interesting," he writes, "Is that it is one of the most extreme examples I've seen of a complete bifurcation between public chatter on Twitter and private chatter and messages. The former is nearly universally critical, while the latter is nearly universally positive. In fact, the founders of the company say 95% of emails have been positive, and 95% of tweets have been negative. Basecamp has defined itself in opposition to the Silicon Valley mindset, and one of its missions is to make it clear that startup culture becomes all-encompassing and people pour themselves into the business, including their political views, and it disrupts their work-life balance and their work becomes their life, and therefore it must reflect their political views and everything else. And it is alienating and marginalizing to people."

He’s right. I wonder if we are seeing the beginning of a trend. Basecamp is a relatively small company that you've probably never heard of despite being quite influential in the tech community. By saying they are done with woke and wanting employees to act like grownups, will other companies follow? Google probably never will. Facebook is a possibility among others. Pay attention to this. This could be a trend and it would be a really good trend if it happened.