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What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

washingtonpost.com

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Re: What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

#3
A related article that does a good job of explaining why Thiel supports Trump:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/21/peter-thi...

EDIT: (to explain why)

No other analysis I've seen anywhere of Thiel at the RNC takes into account this very, very important attempt at explaining Thiel's reasons:

""" Now, in 2016, Thiel has finally found a politician capable of seizing that opportunity: a disruptor-in-chief who will destroy a dying system and build a better one in its place. Trump isn’t just a flamethrower for torching a rotten establishment, however – he’s the fulfillment of Thiel’s desire to build a successful political movement for less democracy. """

Thiel doesn't want less government, but he does want less democracy, because he can achieve his aims more easily if this is the case (or so he believes).

Lest anyone read the above and somehow believe I'm a Trump or Thiel supporter/advocate/etc, I'm solidly NOT.

Re: What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

#4
post #2

This article fails to address the growing divide between east coast and west coast technologist and entrepreneurs. Many of us in New York are ashamed and embarrassed by the valley, and are looking to change it via negation.

I'm not a member of either community - can you expand on the difference you see between the two?

Re: What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

#5
post #2

This article fails to address the growing divide between east coast and west coast technologist and entrepreneurs. Many of us in New York are ashamed and embarrassed by the valley, and are looking to change it via negation.

Absolutely. I'm in NYC for HOPE this weekend. Coming from Silicon Valley where 1% of the workers are black, I was so happy to see such a huge diverse crowd at the conference, all there for the shared love of exploring technology and hacker culture. SV has some incredibly smart people but, in my experience, all they care about is making money. Feels like the hacker spirit has absolutely vanished

Re: What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

#6

A related article that does a good job of explaining why Thiel supports Trump: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/21/peter-thi... EDIT: (to explain why) No other analysis I've seen anywhere of Thiel at the RNC takes into account this very, very important attempt at explaining Thiel's reasons: """ Now, in 2016, Thiel has finally found a politician capable of seizing that opportunity: a disruptor-in-chief…

I found it a relatively poor article actually. It's longer than the speech itself yet says less:

http://time.com/4417679/republican-convention-peter-thiel-tr...

From the man's own words, it seems to be a combination of:

• A shared feeling that America was once great, and it can be again, but currently is in decline. No other politician except Trump says this.

• Dislike of foreign wars, a feeling that only Trump says "end foreign wars" and really believes it.

And that's it. I'm not sure it really needs more analysis than that: Thiel feels America doesn't work as well as it used to, and like many libertarian types, is against foreign military intervention. If these two things are much more important to you than other things, it makes logical sense to support Trump.

Re: What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

#7

A related article that does a good job of explaining why Thiel supports Trump: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/21/peter-thi... EDIT: (to explain why) No other analysis I've seen anywhere of Thiel at the RNC takes into account this very, very important attempt at explaining Thiel's reasons: """ Now, in 2016, Thiel has finally found a politician capable of seizing that opportunity: a disruptor-in-chief…

I found it a relatively poor article actually. It's longer than the speech itself yet says less: http://time.com/4417679/republican-convention-peter-thiel-tr... From the man's own words, it seems to be a combination of: • A shared feeling that America was once great, and it can be again, but currently is in decline. No other politician except Trump says this. • Dislike of foreign wars, a feeling that only Trump says…

I didn't walk away with anywhere near the analysis you did, so I added an edit to my original post.

You can't simply hear Thiel's speech and directly get what he wants, because saying it would cause too much backlash.

He wants to use the government's massive resources to carry out projects that he's aligned with -- perhaps even that he has control over.

Re: What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

#8

A related article that does a good job of explaining why Thiel supports Trump: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/21/peter-thi... EDIT: (to explain why) No other analysis I've seen anywhere of Thiel at the RNC takes into account this very, very important attempt at explaining Thiel's reasons: """ Now, in 2016, Thiel has finally found a politician capable of seizing that opportunity: a disruptor-in-chief…

I found it a relatively poor article actually. It's longer than the speech itself yet says less: http://time.com/4417679/republican-convention-peter-thiel-tr... From the man's own words, it seems to be a combination of: • A shared feeling that America was once great, and it can be again, but currently is in decline. No other politician except Trump says this. • Dislike of foreign wars, a feeling that only Trump says…

I understand trump over Clinton, but I don't understand why trump over Gary Johnson. He is a self proclaimed libertarian and the libertarian party is polling the highest in their history. Other than being anti war trump is the furthest from being a libertarian in Republican presidential history.

Re: What Silicon Valley Insiders Think of Peter Thiel’s Speech at RNC

#10
post #4
post #2

This article fails to address the growing divide between east coast and west coast technologist and entrepreneurs. Many of us in New York are ashamed and embarrassed by the valley, and are looking to change it via negation.

I'm not a member of either community - can you expand on the difference you see between the two?

Some people are building toys for children, some people are building tools for humans. Both are fine, in moderation.

I think we see more and more the NYC tech culture feels like they are trying to build real things, the valley is stuck in consumerism and has lost the ability to push the needle, much of this is due to poorly considered greed and linear thinking. :(

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