Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 223 posts

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#51

Post by noobermin »

carsongross wrote: post #35
dforrestwilson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not more Gary Johnson supporters?

Because there has been a collapse in right-leaning libertarianism in the post Ron Paul era. Libertarianism has shifted to the left and there has been an exodus of right-libertarians to various flavors of nationalism. I think this is one of the major intellectual stories of the last decade, largely uncovered by the media.

>exodus of right-libertarians to various flavors of nationalism.

How does a libertarian become a nationalist? Trump sure seems to facillitate "USA pride" but his politics and economics are not that libertarian at all. How can nationalistic pride win over what I thought was the center of the libertarian philosophy?

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#52

Post by seany »

josephlord wrote: post #31
seany wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't even think we're that rare. The more left leaning folks around here are just _really_ left though, so staying quiet makes more sense most of the time.

What do you like about him?

Honestly, Trump and Hillary aren't that different. He's a little less of a warhawk, speaks his mind, and is pro-2A. The last one is almost enough on its own for me, given Hillarys stance on that issue.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#53

Post by goodcitizen147 »

api wrote: post #26
goodcitizen147 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decreased regulation, meritocratic systems, and property rights Why is this being downvoted?

When he says things like "I will force company X to do Y" I find it hard to take him seriously as a small government or pro-property-rights candidate. My personal prediction is that if elected he will grow the size of government dramatically, quite likely more than Sanders would have if elected and certainly more than Clinton (who is the "conservative" candidate in this election if that means status quo). He will als…

Are you referring to the tariffs he wants to impose to prevent companies from exploiting cheap labor in Mexico or the national security concerns he expressed wrt Apple or something else I'm not aware of?

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#54

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

when will the world learn that the man is a liability (Thiel not Trump). Speaking of blaming the 1% this guy (compared to other influencers like E Musk) is a serious threat to world peace.

Palantir is to the US what Volkswagen was to the Nazis. Let's remember drones, Palantir and Thiel every time we speak of neocon cunts like Thiel: https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#55

Post by MarkPNeyer »

jbooth wrote: post #14
intopieces wrote: post #7

Given the libertarian/Randian streak that runs through silicon valley, support for Trump doesn't seem too outlandish. Especially when you consider his non-dedication to the typical right-wing 'family values' that aren't really popular in that region of California.

You'd think any actual libertarian would be jumping at the chance to get Johnson over the 5% threshold.

He's polled as high as 12, but they made it 15% after perot.

And yes, many of us are.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#56

Post by fweespeech »

dforrestwilson wrote: post #18
carsongross wrote: post #4

There are quite a few Trump supporters in the Valley, but they simply stay quiet because they will get 'racist' yelled at them and it will potentially hurt their careers.

Why not more Gary Johnson supporters?

> Why not more Gary Johnson supporters?

Because Peter Thiel, among others, are largely operating on a hybrid ideology with the pillars of Nativism/Nationalism & Libertarianism.

Gary Johnson is pretty much a pure in the middle of the right/left axis among the range that is called "Libertarian". He is too left-leaning for many of the people that call themselves Libertarian but want to be able to enforce their beliefs on other people.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#58

Post by stcredzero »

dforrestwilson wrote: post #25
harryh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perot got 18.9% of the popular vote in 1992. Gonna be tough to beat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...

That was before the Republican party ran completely off the rails, and embraced the old white scared vote.

I think you underestimate the size of the "precariat" that feels it's on a trajectory towards becoming economically and culturally disenfranchised. The educated elites are quite disconnected with the population from the lower half of the "middle class" and downward. Look at what's happening in the Internet driven media of today. The lion's share of the volume online is outrage politics.

It's the young and economically squeezed vote you need to keep track of, both on the right and left. Trump and Sanders both knew this.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#59

Post by 3princip »

carsongross wrote: post #4

There are quite a few Trump supporters in the Valley, but they simply stay quiet because they will get 'racist' yelled at them and it will potentially hurt their careers.

Ones career being affected by a political opinion is very dangerous, especially since the goal-posts are constantly being moved by the thought-police.

It's understandable how political opinions can affect how we view our peers, sometimes I question how a rational person could, for example, vote for Hillary Clinton. That does not change that persons professional proficiency nor would I hinder their career in any way because of it. It's a shame some people don't feel it inappropriate to cause harm because someone does not subscribe to their world view.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Embrace of Trump Has Silicon Valley Squirming

#60

Post by saboot »

sevenless wrote: post #10
intopieces wrote: post #7

Given the libertarian/Randian streak that runs through silicon valley, support for Trump doesn't seem too outlandish. Especially when you consider his non-dedication to the typical right-wing 'family values' that aren't really popular in that region of California.

Isn't a libertarian just what Republicans call themselves in Northern California?

Depends if by Northern California you mean SV. Travel further north to the foothills and it's pretty traditional. As someone who grew up in Placer County and now lives in the bible belt the main difference in political culture is that conservatives here are much more into the religious fire and brimstone narratives.
Post reply on HN