<story><title>Apple&apos;s Texas-Sized Problem</title><url>https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/09/23/apple-texas-sized-problem</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>BitwiseFool</author><text>I know this is nowadays seen as a naive or counter-productive, but I like Unix Philosophy ideal of do one thing, and do it well. I want a business to focus on their business, not on social change or influencing policy. I&amp;#x27;m weary of how all these corporate giants are coming together and trying to influence state laws after they&amp;#x27;ve been passed. For two main reasons, one, I would like these companies to focus on what they actually provide, rather than this modern progressive &amp;#x27;everything is political, all the time&amp;#x27; mindset. Two, Apple isn&amp;#x27;t democratically elected and I don&amp;#x27;t know if any accountability structures exist for such activism. What gives Apple &lt;i&gt;more&lt;/i&gt; of a right to counter what the duly elected representatives of a state government have enacted, than the voters of that state themselves?&lt;p&gt;For all it&amp;#x27;s horrible flaws, this was something passed by the Texas government. I can at least understand the structural justification for the law. People voted for a state representative, state senator, and a governor who signed the bill. The authority and responsibility is clear. The feedback mechanism is also clear - vote. And, I do hope a lot of them lose their seats as a result of the backlash. But again, I think the power to address this Texas-Sized problem should primarily be in the hands of Texans, rather than giant multinationals like Apple.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nostrademons</author><text>The thing is that this isn&amp;#x27;t companies influencing state law.  This is companies deciding &lt;i&gt;who&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;where&lt;/i&gt; they do business.  In many cases valued employees are going to quit and join a company not in Texas if their employer does not give them the option of transferring to a non-Texas office, so the company has a vested economic interest in retaining them and locating their offices in some place where this will not be an issue.&lt;p&gt;You have every right to be an asshole, but you don&amp;#x27;t have a right to make other people put up with it.  If you&amp;#x27;re going to enact something that a large swath of your population finds deeply offensive, don&amp;#x27;t be surprised if they &lt;i&gt;leave&lt;/i&gt;, and don&amp;#x27;t be surprised if the economic activity they generate leaves with them.</text></comment>
<story><title>Apple&apos;s Texas-Sized Problem</title><url>https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/09/23/apple-texas-sized-problem</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>BitwiseFool</author><text>I know this is nowadays seen as a naive or counter-productive, but I like Unix Philosophy ideal of do one thing, and do it well. I want a business to focus on their business, not on social change or influencing policy. I&amp;#x27;m weary of how all these corporate giants are coming together and trying to influence state laws after they&amp;#x27;ve been passed. For two main reasons, one, I would like these companies to focus on what they actually provide, rather than this modern progressive &amp;#x27;everything is political, all the time&amp;#x27; mindset. Two, Apple isn&amp;#x27;t democratically elected and I don&amp;#x27;t know if any accountability structures exist for such activism. What gives Apple &lt;i&gt;more&lt;/i&gt; of a right to counter what the duly elected representatives of a state government have enacted, than the voters of that state themselves?&lt;p&gt;For all it&amp;#x27;s horrible flaws, this was something passed by the Texas government. I can at least understand the structural justification for the law. People voted for a state representative, state senator, and a governor who signed the bill. The authority and responsibility is clear. The feedback mechanism is also clear - vote. And, I do hope a lot of them lose their seats as a result of the backlash. But again, I think the power to address this Texas-Sized problem should primarily be in the hands of Texans, rather than giant multinationals like Apple.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jakelazaroff</author><text>Okay, but where is this energy when companies donate to politicians? Or spend millions lobbying for specific policies? Or contract with the police or military?&lt;p&gt;Why does the issue begin and end &lt;i&gt;here&lt;/i&gt; for so many people?</text></comment>