Has Ellen Pao (and Project Include) spoken out against her husbands alleged Ponzi scheme? His alleged actions seems to be in direct conflict with the values of any wholesome tech company.
Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
51–60 of 414 posts
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#52There are some exceptionally toxic comments below.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#53> but we draw a line at individuals who fund violence and hate. (removing video as valid concerns were raised) Although, isn't there evidence that more violence has occurred against trump supporters than anyone else? I am not a supporter by any measure (for one, I'm form the middle east), but I'm trying to understand Paos quote.
>Due to his videos of ACORN workers allegedly aiding a couple in criminal planning, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national scandal resulted in the non-profit also losing most private funding before investigations were completed. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close most of its offices.[1] Shortly after, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers and that the workers had not committed illegal actions. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately.[2][3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_O%27Keefe
Let's be a little more skeptical this time around, shall we?
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#54> His attacks on Black, Mexican, Asian, Muslim, and Jewish people, on women, and on others are more than just political speech; fueled by hate and encouraging violence, they make each of us feel unsafe. Let's assume that not only is Trump a rapist, but that he's keeping a few women tied up in his basement. Even in this scenario, is this worse than Hillary dramatically increasing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and Qata…
To generalise your point, as a non-USian looking in I'm baffled by the horror that many express towards Mr Trump as a potential President as if he is so much very different from anyone else operating in that stratum.
I don't think that anyone able to rise to the top-tier of politics, in any large country, is going to be a 'nice' person. Perhaps not even a 'decent' person. They've had to fight and claw and backstab their way up there, throwing plenty of people under the bus. All driven by personal ambition and a lust for power and control. And once they're there, they'll do everything they can to stay there.
Perhaps anyone who wants to be President should be immediately disqualified.
[ Edit: removed the gladiatorial section as it was a tangent ]
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#55Based on the awful things Trump has said and (apparently) done, it should be blatantly clear to anyone remotely following the election that isn't your usual political rivalry. Pao is right: "this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence." Quite literally at times! (I might give a pass to the people following the party line or acting on incomplete information, but Thiel knows exactly…
There is literally a photo of Putin in the top-right header of that page. Insanely conspiratorial and reminiscent of the cold war.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#56> His attacks on Black, Mexican, Asian, Muslim, and Jewish people, on women, and on others are more than just political speech; fueled by hate and encouraging violence, they make each of us feel unsafe. Let's assume that not only is Trump a rapist, but that he's keeping a few women tied up in his basement. Even in this scenario, is this worse than Hillary dramatically increasing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and Qata…
>is this worse than Hillary dramatically increasing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and Qatar Your premise is bogus. There's no reason to think Hillary Clinton is personally responsible for an increase in weapons sales, especially considering that such sales increased across the board under Obama. >Hillary voting to invade Iraq Her own floor speech before her vote said she was voting yes precisely to give Bush leverage…
> There's no reason to think Hillary Clinton is personally responsible for an increase in weapons sales, especially considering that such sales increased across the board under Obama.
"In late 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State Department was formally clearing the sale, asserting that it was in the national interest. At press conferences in Washington to announce the department’s approval, an assistant secretary of state, Andrew Shapiro, declared that the deal had been 'a top priority' for Clinton personally."
http://www.ibtimes.com/clinton-foundation-donors-got-weapons...
> The point is that geopolitics is complicated, and judging it in the same way as judging someone's private behavior is plainly absurd.
Absolutely, but as a society I'm not comfortable with just writing off a million deaths under the guise of "it's complicated." In my personal opinion, making the comparison and deciding that Hillary is less bad is completely reasonable, but not making the comparison at all is what's absurd.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#57> His attacks on Black, Mexican, Asian, Muslim, and Jewish people, on women, and on others are more than just political speech; fueled by hate and encouraging violence, they make each of us feel unsafe. Let's assume that not only is Trump a rapist, but that he's keeping a few women tied up in his basement. Even in this scenario, is this worse than Hillary dramatically increasing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and Qata…
I agree. The key here is: Trump says mean things, Hillary does mean things (and has been doing so for nearly 30 years) Also, the external links in that sentence you quoted are not hard facts. They are up for interpretation. Especially the one about his speech being anti-semitic is nothing but pure nonsense. /edit: downvote me all you want. I'm not even voting for Trump, but the media bias towards Trump is real.
The "mean things" Trump has said are largely confessions of doing "mean things", and things for which there is considerable additional evidence of him doing them. Whether it's sexual assault, or quid pro quo bribery.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#58Based on the awful things Trump has said and (apparently) done, it should be blatantly clear to anyone remotely following the election that isn't your usual political rivalry. Pao is right: "this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence." Quite literally at times! (I might give a pass to the people following the party line or acting on incomplete information, but Thiel knows exactly…
> "this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence."
Also to this point: Trump has been attempting to delegitimize the election. This is very dangerous. If he has evidence of "rigged polling places", he should share that evidence. But inciting myths is dangerous for our democracy.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#59Cleaving off 40% of America is not a recipe for progress. When Trump shows his people how they're getting blacklisted from the economy, that isn't going to make them want to riot less . Our culture of progress has become entirely about excluding dissenters until they submit, and it's not working anymore . We've given up on convincing the people who have all the weapons, and now we're going to start hurting them econo…
>Cleaving off 40% of America
I'm going to be a bit pedantic; that's 40% of eligible, who intend to vote, and self select into responding to polling. That is nowhere near 40% of Americans. Its important not to conflate relative support of political candidates with American sentiment at large, sometimes they diverge strongly.
But I more or less agree with your general point. But I would counter that while we are at the height of political fractiousness, it may not be worthwhile to spend a lot of time trying to convince people. It may be more effective to succeed with good ideas, like trade and liberal immigration, and pluralism then invite your former opponents to enjoy the benefits later. Maybe...
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#60Based on the awful things Trump has said and (apparently) done, it should be blatantly clear to anyone remotely following the election that isn't your usual political rivalry. Pao is right: "this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence." Quite literally at times! (I might give a pass to the people following the party line or acting on incomplete information, but Thiel knows exactly…
Should political contributions made in private be grounds for demoting or firing someone?