The Google Walkout

Last week there was an employee walkout at Google, ostensibly protesting the company's handling of sexual harassment claims. However the progressive-left demands of the protest organizers belie that claim. The demands were changing throughout the week but generally included: affirmative action, the creation of the Chief Diversity Officer, and an employee representative on the board. I disagree with those demands so I declined to join the walkout.

The walkout was a classic motte and bailey. If you disagree with the left-wing demands, the proponents fallback and claim you aren't against sexual harassment. If you choose to remain neutral they interpret that as being against the protest, which is a bullying technique to get employees to fall in line behind their left-wing demands. Google is such an ideological echo chamber that they don't even realize the demands are left-wing.

Furthermore the protest organizers want to parlay the walkout into a proto-union. There have been calls for unionization at Google—and tech in general—but nothing had sufficiently motivated the masses to join their call. The NYT sexual harassment article was the first thing to stir enough outrage for people to take action. The organizers jumped at the opportunity to push their agenda and sell it under the guise of stopping sexual harassment.

I refuse to be bullied into supporting demands that I oppose and used as a tool for unionization.