The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter • Hacker News Board

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#71

Post by winter_blue » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:07 PM UTC

randothrowaway wrote: post #58

winter_blue wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, most people don't realize that the U.S. actually has a super low 0.38% immigrate rate. It's truly extreme xenophobia and racism that these liars who falsely claim "mass immigration" can't tolerate the tiny 0.38% that comes to the U.S. every year. They see a few immigrants in their neighborhoods, and their blood immediately starts to boil, and they get filled up with loathing and hatred. They are total hypocrites…

>They are total hypocrites Maybe they are angry because people are coming illegally.

You are being dishonest if you think it's about legality. It's not about that. It's about the race of the immigrants.

If all our illegal immigrants were from Germany and Ireland, I am certain that there would be far less complaining.

In fact most of the angry people today would not be fighting to keep them out -- they'd be fighting for visas for them.

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#72

Post by jedberg » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:08 PM UTC

My favorite quote from this article (and slightly off topic): "On July 14 a group of 140 or so tech industry figures including Slack’s Stewart Butterfield, EBay founder Pierre Omidyar, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, and, for some reason, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, released an open letter decrying Trump’s candidacy."

Does anyone know why Jesse Jackson was included in that open letter?

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#73

Post by wmil » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:08 PM UTC

bko wrote: post #27

falsestprophet wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thiel has opposed mass [1] immigration to the United States which should not be mistaken with opposition to all immigration. For context, only 15% of new lawful permanent residents in 2014 were selected for education or skill (the employment-preference category). [1] like (but not limited to) anyone who likes strolling over the border or overstaying visas

> The billionaire tech investor has been a staunch opponent of immigration. Back in 2008, Gawker found that Thiel had donated $1 million to NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration group that has consistently been labelled racist and a firm fan of active population control. ... > He then invested in the SeaSteading Institute which wanted to turn Thiel’s dream into a reality. The reason? He felt the government wasn’t doing eno…

"In February 2009, NumbersUSA was called a nativist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center's report 'The Nativist Lobby', though the SPLC also stated that there is no evidence of racism on behalf of Roy Beck or his organization."[1]

There are plenty of people in the press who consider all discussion of immigration reduction or control racist. That doesn't make it so.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NumbersUSA

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#74

Post by defen » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:08 PM UTC

mturmon wrote: post #42

GuiA wrote: post #34

The Diversity Myth, a 1995 book [Thiel] co-wrote with David O. Sacks, railed against multiculturalism, which, they wrote, “exists to destroy Western culture.” What is up with all these people lately thinking that Western culture is some form of homogeneous block that's been unadultered for millennia and has recently come under "multiculturalist" attack? Especially coming from the US, a country that didn't exist when…

Or that "Western culture" is so fragile that it needs work to "defend" it -- against something so bland as multiculturalism? My culture is already an amalgam of many components, as you point out. Surely, whatever it is, it can expand or adapt to reckon with other cultures.

There are different levels of culture. The "happy nice version" of multiculturalism involves surface-displays of culture - different groups of people have different kinds of food, different styles of dress, different accents/languages, different skin tones, but are otherwise nice friendly liberal people who believe in the core values of Western culture, such as the rule of law, equality before the law, relatively high trust in civic institutions, etc.

Except, there are literally billions of people who don't believe in those things. There is not "magic dirt" in the USA or "The West" that gives us those things - it's a function of the people who live there. If you were to import millions upon millions of people who don't share the values, while simultaneously teaching the youngest generation that white people are responsible for all the evils of the world, and encouraging minorities to nurse racial grievances, you're going to end up with problems. But it's impossible to talk about because you have unhinged racists on one side, and people who are prepared to see unhinged racists everywhere on the other.

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#75

Post by vasilipupkin » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:11 PM UTC

Why is everyone surprised that Peter Thiel said this or said that? Is that because we expect Peter Thiel to be a genius, when he is just a person with probably a boatload of baggage, some brilliance and plenty of idiocy - similar to anybody else ?

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#76

Post by nommm-nommm » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:12 PM UTC

GuiA wrote: post #34

The Diversity Myth, a 1995 book [Thiel] co-wrote with David O. Sacks, railed against multiculturalism, which, they wrote, “exists to destroy Western culture.” What is up with all these people lately thinking that Western culture is some form of homogeneous block that's been unadultered for millennia and has recently come under "multiculturalist" attack? Especially coming from the US, a country that didn't exist when…

Western culture isn't even close to homogeneous. Really bizarre.

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#77

Post by maxxxxx » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:13 PM UTC

toss1941 wrote: post #30

maxxxxx wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He makes up a lot of facts on the fly and then claims that he has been misinterpreted. The whole wall to Mexico thing and have Mexico pay for it is ridiculous. Now he questions the NATO treaties. I haven't heard anything from him that indicates deep thinking about an issue.

I'll be honest I haven't been following a lot of his positions on things other than what spills over into the tech/security folks I follow on twitter and various other sites. I didn't know about the NATO comments but here's what I learned about him just today [0]: (edit: talking about whether Trump would defend Turkey if Russia invaded unprovoked): Trump said he would have to think about whether those countries “have…

This is not some business deal where you can change terms later on and let the courts decide. Turkey needs to know if NATO will be there for them or not. He can call for larger contributions of course and tell them upfront that NATO won't help them until conditions are met. But he can't decide at the time Russia invades. Then he may as well leave NATO.

Trump was also a "birther". That alone shows to me that he doesn't take politics seriously.

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#78

Post by meira » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:14 PM UTC

Unlikely? Lol.

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#79

Post by maxxxxx » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:15 PM UTC

refurb wrote: post #7

maxxxxx wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how somebody who claims to be fact-driven and rational like Thiel can end up supporting Trump. If anything, he should be disgusted with the whole system and try to change it.

This is only my opinion, and could very well be off-base, but politics is all about compromise. You'll never find the perfect candidate to represent your beliefs. I'm guessing Thiel is thinking Trump is the best candidate to support the kind of changes he's looking for. Of course, you're free to disagree with that sentiment.

I think Thiel is fine with crony capitalism under the guise of libertarianism. That's where things will probably go with Trump. There is a lot of money to be made.

Re: The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter

#80

Post by colmvp » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 5:16 PM UTC

refurb wrote: post #7

maxxxxx wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how somebody who claims to be fact-driven and rational like Thiel can end up supporting Trump. If anything, he should be disgusted with the whole system and try to change it.

This is only my opinion, and could very well be off-base, but politics is all about compromise. You'll never find the perfect candidate to represent your beliefs. I'm guessing Thiel is thinking Trump is the best candidate to support the kind of changes he's looking for. Of course, you're free to disagree with that sentiment.

Exactly. As a counterpoint, I know many people who are against Hillary's voting records, flip-floppy history, and aggressive foreign policy doctrine, yet are going to vote for her because well... they'd rather have her than Trump.