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Comment by grecy | Hacker News Reader

> Pretty bold

It's interesting you would label this as such.

In what is ostensibly the best country in the world, and a massive proponent of free speech and human rights, you think it's bold to write a letter on the internet to your extraordinarily famous employer?

If it's considered bold in the USA involving Google, I shudder to think about anyone else doing this anywhere else.

In the year 2018 I would hope it's very much not bold to do so.

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Publicly calling out your employer is bold anywhere. Perhaps less so in countries like the US where that sort of speech is protected, and in sectors like tech where the speakers are likely to be well-off and not fungible, but doing this sort of thing publicly always puts you at risk of losing your job (for "unrelated performance reasons") and of being quietly blacklisted by future employers (for "poor culture fit" or any other easy excuse).

> In what is ostensibly the best country in the world, and a massive proponent of free speech and human rights, you think it's bold to write a letter on the internet to your extraordinarily famous employer?

Free speech only applies to the government though? Your employer is still free to fire you.

Sure you won't be put in jail but for most people losing their job still certainly affects their livelihood.

Free speech is a value, not just a legal right.

Corporations are explicitly tyrannies. Check out Corporate Confidential for a flavor of what a typical corporate employee could expect for signing a letter like this.

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