I would also argue that Basecamp's "internal disputes" very much reflect the current broader political climate.
I didn’t meant that my employer is exemplary or representative, just that it’s a literal order of magnitude larger and you’ve likely never heard of it; and as a result, I’m surprised that this drama is so high-profile. It seems disproportionate to its scope.
On the one hand, this could be because basecamp is an effective stand-in for broader trends. On the other, it could be that basecamp has done an incredible job marketing itself as an effective role model for other companies, and people are enjoying a bit of schadenfraude at its expense.
I think the second explanation fits better. This looks like a feeding frenzy to me.
Basecamp has made an impact on software and startups. They created Ruby on Rails. Their founders are outspoken.
In that a large contingent on either side of any discussion feels that they can do anything they like out of moral righteousness?
I had no idea we were talking about such a small company (the company I work for is 10X as large and has a much smaller profile). This has clearly touched a nerve with HN (and twitter [0]), but we are talking about one very particular group's culture-internal disputes. I don't assume that any lessons drawn about it will generalize well.
[0] https://twitter.com/CaseyNewton/status/1388212468510380034