Untitled topic • Hacker News Board

Re: undefined

#281

Post by untog » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 8:57 AM UTC

tvural wrote: post #264

Thiel might have ulterior motives, but his support of Trump is not too surprising if you've listened to his other ideas. He feels that the political agenda has been overrun by distractions, like "who can use which bathroom", at the expense of real problems, like the stagnation of median wages over the last forty years. He prefers the days when the national conversation was about how to beat the Soviets, and sees the…

None of what you wrote answers "why Trump?", though. If Thiel thinks he can somehow control Trump and get him to pursue a Libertarian agenda (which Trump's platform bares no resemblance to) then he's an idiot.

If he wants Libertarianism he should donate to Gary Johnson. Anything else is just opportunism.

Re: undefined

#282

Post by _tpzm » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 8:58 AM UTC

tvural wrote: post #264

Thiel might have ulterior motives, but his support of Trump is not too surprising if you've listened to his other ideas. He feels that the political agenda has been overrun by distractions, like "who can use which bathroom", at the expense of real problems, like the stagnation of median wages over the last forty years. He prefers the days when the national conversation was about how to beat the Soviets, and sees the…

> He is a libertarian

I just find this impossible to reconcile with his support for Trump, the most authoritarian presidential candidate in a very long time and possibly ever.

I think many of his supporters would actually agree with that description, they like that about him, and they absolutely do not describe themselves as libertarian.

They describe themselves as "conservatives" who want a "strong" president to "take their country back". They talk about "getting tough".

--

I've lived in America my whole life, but I was born in Austria, and German is my first language. It pains me to see a fellow German-speaking immigrant support a right-wing populist who appeals pretty explicitly to white identity politics. We of all people should know better.

Re: undefined

#283

Post by madaxe_again » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:01 AM UTC

tvural wrote: post #264

Thiel might have ulterior motives, but his support of Trump is not too surprising if you've listened to his other ideas. He feels that the political agenda has been overrun by distractions, like "who can use which bathroom", at the expense of real problems, like the stagnation of median wages over the last forty years. He prefers the days when the national conversation was about how to beat the Soviets, and sees the…

Either that or he's shorting USD and looking to make a killing come November.

Also, trump is no libertarian, he's an extreme authoritarian.

Re: undefined

#284

Post by meirelles » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:02 AM UTC

Make sense to me for YC. Whatever who wins, they ensure a connection.

Re: undefined

#285

Post by jondubois » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:05 AM UTC

I agree with Thiel about Trump.

On the surface, individually, I think that Trump probably looks like a worse person than Hillary, but if you look at each candidate as the sum of their social connections - I think Hillary turns out to be much, much worse.

Hillary Clinton is heavily influenced by big finance. That's where the bulk of her friends and her connections come from. Even her son in law is an investment banker (not a very good one - He lost his clients 90% of their investment - But he still lives in a $10m apartment). At least Trump built houses and apartments for people. He didn't build his wealth by leveraging political power, insider information or asymmetrical reward structures.

I agree with Thiel that big finance is responsible for increasing costs of living. Big finance captures a lot of value from the economy but it doesn't create any real value on its own. Whenever I've spoken to someone who works/worked in finance, it's clear that a large portion of their profits come from 'grey area' insider trading.

I think that the main reason why most people aren't aware of this is because people like Hillary have been running the show and legitimizing the whole industry (and allowing them to get away with more and more stuff).

If Hillary gets elected, I'm going to quit software engineering and work in finance instead. If the world is getting worse, I'm going to have to adapt and become worse myself - I refuse to let myself become a loser. If you can't beat them, join them.

Re: undefined

#286

Post by oska » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:06 AM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #88

dlss wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's worth a lot more than $12.5M. Agreed. (Though FWIW $1.25M is the amount he invested)

I'm assuming 1/10 probability of Trump winning. Most poll aggregators are going 1/6; I actually suspect we'll see a bigger Clinton blowout than expected, but that's just MHO.

The Princeton Election Consortium currently has Clinton's win probability as: random drift 95%, Bayesian 98%. [1]

[1] http://election.princeton.edu/

Re: undefined

#287

Post by madaxe_again » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:07 AM UTC

_tpzm wrote: post #282

tvural wrote: post #264

Thiel might have ulterior motives, but his support of Trump is not too surprising if you've listened to his other ideas. He feels that the political agenda has been overrun by distractions, like "who can use which bathroom", at the expense of real problems, like the stagnation of median wages over the last forty years. He prefers the days when the national conversation was about how to beat the Soviets, and sees the…

> He is a libertarian I just find this impossible to reconcile with his support for Trump, the most authoritarian presidential candidate in a very long time and possibly ever. I think many of his supporters would actually agree with that description, they like that about him, and they absolutely do not describe themselves as libertarian. They describe themselves as "conservatives" who want a "strong" president to "ta…

Conversely, he could from a family like mine - my Omi is Austrian, along with a slew of cousins. Dinner table conversation still turns to how things would have been better had herr Hitler won. My uncle has to leave the room he so vociferously objects to his mother and his children.

So, that collective memory swings both ways. Maybe Thiel lacks education in history and pines for a glorious fictitious past, which is a core tenet of the trump campaign. And fascism.

He may be a decent technologist and business person, but that doesn't make him wise.

Re: undefined

#288

Post by matt4077 » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:08 AM UTC

bobsgame wrote: post #38

I'm not very political and I haven't decided who to vote for yet, but I don't understand why the tech industry is so anti-Trump. He seems like a relatively sincere and smart guy to me, and some of his policies seem to be better for business. Is it because of tougher immigration laws? Are there other reasons based on his policies, or is it mostly just emotional?

I don't believe you.

There is no way you're incapable of making the distinction between Trump and HC. I can get why people would vote for Trump. He's obviously a dangerous idiot, put we all knew there's a market for that (though the size is somewhat scary).

It's simply not possible to be undecided between these two for anyone who has spent more than five minutes on it.

Regarding your question why people hate Trump: he's openly stigmatizing minorities including calls for violence against African-Americans at his rally. He's threatening to use his power as president for criminal persecutions of his opponents. He advocates for laws making it illegal to criticize him in the media. He has a history of ventures peddling get-rich-quick-schemes to barely literate people for tens of thousands of dollars. There are now more women accusing him of sexual assault than Bill Cosby. He has recently spend a week calling some woman nobody knows fat on Twitter. Reading any of his interview transcripts makes me doubt he'd pass a Turing test.

Re: undefined

#289

Post by matt4077 » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:09 AM UTC

Trump now wants a drug test for him and HC before the next debate.

I wonder if there's a way to get him to take a Turing test.

Re: undefined

#290

Post by kchoudhu » Sun, Oct 16, 2016, 9:11 AM UTC

drpancake wrote: post #269

kchoudhu wrote: post #236

I've been watching pg complain about Trump on Twitter with some interest. It is mind blowing to me that he has said nothing about Thiel so far.

This recent exchange with DHH may give you some insights: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/787561745686618113

I used to work at a bank, which regularly required pre-clearance for employee donations to political parties and candidates to avoid conflict of interest issues.

If YC is saying Thiel can't be managed on that basis, he is a partner. And if he is a partner, YC can choose not to partner with him.