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The 2016 Election

blog.samaltman.com

81–90 of 646 posts

Re: The 2016 Election

#81
post #28

I already made this point today but Hillary Clinton, whom sama is endorsing, has directly contributed to starting two wars (in Syria and Libya). While Trump threatened to ban Muslims from entering the US, her actions have already led to thousands of Muslims being killed. Isn't that strictly worse?

It's funny to me that sama says "try to understand the other people" and yet this comment is downvoted.

Sometimes I think saying that is really an empty platitude.

Re: The 2016 Election

#82
Nice statement, to the point and a reasonable call for civility. It will be nice to see if / when a return to a more 'traditional' US political discourse can gain momentum; history is repeating itself in watching a party tear itself apart. Boehner rage-quitting opened my eyes quite a bit.

As Katy Tur has frequently reported - and others as well - a significant portion of Trump supporters firmly refute easily provable facts (re: Birtherism) or outright believe lies (re: Actual Border Wall). It's unfortunate to sit back and reflect on this segment of the population, because, unlike the level-headed, rational post by Sam, such tactics are ineffective. These people are walking Poe's Law conundrums, and as nice as the intention is to include them in the big picture, that's a genuinely problematic proposition. It's why Donald Trump is such a ridiculous candidate - he's like a child, and his immaturity doesn't allow adults to have adult conversations.

Fortunately, I'm quite able to sleep easily at night knowing that the mistakes of the political and journalistic mainstays (GOP in primaries, media enabling Trump) are quickly being rectified - the cannons are melting with how much ammunition is being shot his way and hitting over and over. It's a deluge, and I don't think it's over even as of this writing. This will be a lopsided outcome due to an extremely motivated voting populace by 2XXX standards. Glenn Beck and Michael Moore voting for the same person? I, um, didn't see that coming, but hey, here we are.

What's wonderful about the US, as I learned from extensive study of both Hunter S. Thompson and Mark Twain, is that freedom of speech is great: People are free to speak their minds and show the world if there's anything inside of worth.

Re: The 2016 Election

#84
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am always skeptical when somebody takes his personal opinion as the metric to tell the world what right and wrong is.

Except that he made the case for why he thinks Trump is the wrong candidate. Keep in mind, he wrote a blog post earlier giving credit to Trump on topics that he is correct on.

Didn't the the other post. Thanks for pointing that out!

Re: The 2016 Election

#85
One thing the author seems do not understand is that people could be non-racist but also refuse their own country be occupied by more and more illegal immigrants and people of different religion. They do not hate those people, but they just do not want this country to be taken over by a group of people very different from themselves. Is this OK to the author?

Re: The 2016 Election

#86

> if Peter said some of the things Trump says himself, he would no longer be part of Y Combinator That could be scary to employees of Y Combinator... what things fall on the blacklist? To me it's obvious that you will fire someone for saying racist or sexist remarks but it's not clear exactly what I can or cannot say to avoid being fired.

then let me clarify for you: don't say things that literally any HR department would summarily fire you for, don't make a public position of condoning sexual assault

Re: The 2016 Election

#87
Castigating/firing people for their opinions is illegal under the constitution. Even if Thiel said the things Trump did, it's his right to free speech, and YC, as an employer, cannot fire him on any constitutional ground.

Disclaimer - before HN goes on a witch hunt, I do find Trump repugnant. But I'll defend his constitutional right to say it.

Re: The 2016 Election

#88
I'm glad he addressed this... I'm also a big Peter Thiel fan, but struggling to understand how he can possibly support Trump. I think there is an important distinction between "contrarian and right" and "contrarian and wrong", which supporting Trump doesn't seem to acknowledge.

And I wondered what Thiel's peers thought of his support, so this clarified it a bit for me.

But I also agree that the anti-Trump crowd should recognize that people in this country are angry, and Trump says what they want to say. Trump's not the solution but he's calling out the problems in a way that resonates with people.

(Of course, even if he had the right solutions, to me it seems clear he wouldn't be able to execute... but that's a political argument.)

Re: The 2016 Election

#89

Bravo to Sam for the endorsement and for calling Trump out for what he is. On the issue of Peter Thiel, for those of you that believe it's wrong to fire someone based on their political actions, is there any limit? If David Duke ran for office, or the Ku Klux Klan fielded a candidate for president, and someone gave a high profile speech endorsing them and supported their campaign with a million dollars, would it stil…

The difference is that people who support Trump can't be punished like this precisely because there are so many of them. This kind of social shunning doesn't make sense when 43% of the population would need to be shunned. Shunning people creates exactly the kind of political environment where a dangerous minority like this can continue to exist. When people are angry, they want to be heard. If you deny Trump supporters the chance to be heard, they will stay angry (or worse).

Re: The 2016 Election

#90
post #47
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am always skeptical when somebody takes his personal opinion as the metric to tell the world what right and wrong is.

He explained pretty clearly in the article why Trump is objectively wrong.

No, "subjectively" wrong. Trump is wrong from Altman's standpoint, not from an absolute "good" or "evil" standpoint.

Except if you do believe the latter, and in that case any discussion is moot.

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