Daniel Rothschild on the politicisation of everything: "the politicization of everything.. is unhealthy to our civic fabric" - [ENJOY] [PEACE]

Zenaan Harkness zen at freedbms.net
Mon Oct 26 17:33:02 PDT 2020


A very grounded, and very timely public letter on the hyper partisanship that one or two of us have noticed is doing the rounds these days:

   One Client Responds To "Vain, Narcissistic" CEO Of Expensify After Unsolicited Political Email
   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/one-client-responds-vain-narcissistic-ceo-expensity-after-unsolicited-political-email

      Over the weekend we wrote about the CEO of San Francisco-based
      tech company Expensify - one of the world's largest providers of
      expense account software - and his decision to email the company's
      10 million clients pleading with them to vote for Vice President
      Joe Biden.
      https://www.zerohedge.com/political/san-francisco-tech-ceo-emails-10-million-customers-urging-them-vote-biden

      ...
         Hi David,
         I'm writing about the unsolicited email that you sent last
         night to many of my colleagues - and, I gather, millions more
         users around the globe.

         Let me start by saying that I have no objection to you having
         strong feelings about politics. Those strong feelings are
         shared by many at the moment among partisans of all stripes.
         Supporters of President Trump and Vice President shared by many
         at the moment among partisans of all stripes. Supporters of
         President Trump and Vice President Biden both cast this
         election in apocalyptic terms, the result no doubt of strongly
         held feelings.

         My feelings on politics aren't as strong as yours. But I do
         have strong feelings about another matter: trust. For a variety
         of reasons, America is becoming a low-trust society. Conspiracy
         theories abound, relationships are breaking down on partisan
         lines, and the institutions that are critical to a free and
         open society are being undermined in many cases by their own
         actions that destroy trust.

         Your email contributes to this breakdown in social trust.
         David, we selected Expensify as a vendor based on trust - after
         all, you have financial information for us organizationally as
         well as the personal information of hundreds of my colleagues.
         You also have our email addresses. We trusted you with our
         private information. You have violated that trust.

         I also have strong feelings about another matter of public
         interest: the politicization of everything. A healthy society
         cannot exist if its political tribalism invades every aspect of
         commercial, civic, and community life. Team Red and Team Blue
         have gone from being who we vote for to, in many cases,
         lifestyle determinants. That is unhealthy to our civic fabric.

         And again, your email has exacerbated this. Until last night, I
         saw Expensify as a pioneering company that made my life a lot
         easier. Now, I see Expensify as a Team Blue company.

         To be clear, I'm not writing this as a member of Team Red. I'm
         not on that team. I'm not on any team. Millions of Americans
         are in the same boat.

         Frankly, we're sick and tired of partisans on both sides
         telling us that we need to ally ourselves with one team or
         another. And if I may be more blunt, we're especially tired of
         being told this by people who have built an app or look good on
         camera. You have no special insights on public policy or
         politics, and the fact you think we need to have your opinions
         placed in our inboxes is vain and narcissistic.

         David, last night you chose to violate the trust your company
         has built up and politicize your company. That is, I suppose,
         your right. But this country cannot endure without trust and
         apolitical spaces. And fixing these underlying issues is a far
         deeper and more important issue than the next election.

         Sincerely,

         Daniel Rothschild


      Well said Daniel! However, we suspect all David can think of are
      the stack of virtue-signaling points he achieved in the new
      social-credit-scoring system after The Great Reset.



More information about the cypherpunks mailing list