There is clear precedent for YC taking a political stand by uninviting investors. Only five years ago, Paul Graham was willing to uninvite investors from Demo Day based on their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). https://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/paul-graham-sopa-supportin... Paul asked, "If these companies are so clueless about technology that they think SOPA is a good idea, how could they be good invest…
I agree with the thrust of your point - that organizations like YC should be allowed to uninvite or refuse to collaborate with people they are diametrically opposed to for political reasons. However, I do not agree that it's fair to call an investor's competency into question due to their political views. I agree organizations have every right to not affiliate themselves with those investors, but in the real world th…
Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
301–310 of 414 posts
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#302Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
Strom Thurmond also repudiated his earlier racism, but that didn't stop the OP from using him as a litmus test. Why is that?
When was it that he repudiated his racism? Because he said in a 1998 interview when asked if he wanted to apologize for running as a Dixiecrat. He said "I don't have anything to apologize for," and "I don't have any regrets." He was also asked if he thought the Dixiecrats were right and said "Yes, I do." Presumably the OP thought Strom Thurmond was still a racist, which, as those quotes prove, is clearly true.
Why do you believe Byrd and not him?
Edit: given that they've both been dead for quite a while, I doubt that either Thurmond or Byrd is involved in much racist activity today.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#304Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, consider the outrage if conservative would fire someone on political viewpoints. All this alleged 'Trump is racist and hates x' is complete BS. If you read the wikileaks emails there is a major media & Clinton collusion going on. That should pause everybody. The way Democrats are running this campaign is really worrying as show in todays leaks 'CLINTON CAMP HIRES AGITATORS TO INSTIGATE VIOLENCE'[0]. Edit: I'm be…
The difference is that conservatives are wrong and liberals are right, so YC is doing the right thing.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the first election where you were concerned about violence on e day? I guess you don't remember the odds on Obama surviving his first month in office. Not only were assassination attempts expected, they were probable enough to have betting odds at Paddy Power. You probably don't remember Bush Jr's 2004 victory, either, where literally millions of people took to the streets. Also notable that it looks like the…
I remember being slightly worried during Obama's election, but at least during that election one of the presidential candidates wasn't outright advocating aggression at the polling stations .
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#306Wow, the world is getting way too fractured between left and right. Reading that, the YC folks make out that Trump is a monster and any affiliation with him is evil. Come on, try to understand why people are supporting him. I don't think it's racism and sexism that's driving this, it's the wedge between left and right. Combine that with the two party system and people find themselves with little choice. When you vili…
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#307Based 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
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
Strom Thurmond also repudiated his earlier racism, but that didn't stop the OP from using him as a litmus test. Why is that?
You'll need to source that. Despite some evidence in his later actions, Strom never vocally repudiated his earlier racism. I couldn't find any sources on it. His filibuster against the Civil Rights Act put him in this position. Had he succeeded, his impact would have been far more detrimental to the rights of those protected under the act today then anything Byrd had/has done. Both are disagreeable sorts, but Strom's…
"His"? Singular?
Both Byrd and Thurmond attempted to filibuster the Civil Rights Act, so I don't know where you're getting "anything Byrd had done" from.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#309Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As an outsider looking in, isn't Hillary's history in advocating hatred and violence? Not really, no. Hillary has made some questionable choices, but I don't think that makes her any more or less "systematically immoral" than Trump - she just has a longer record, because she actually has political experience. For example, both Trump and Clinton were in favor of the Iraq war. Trump got to backpedal and pretend other…
Aylan Kurdi is dead because of Hillary.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Get off your high horse, Thiel is not going to be destroyed if YC distances itself from him This isn't just about Thiel. It's about everyone else too. If you create those sorts of standards, they'll apply to everyone. How would you like it if your boss read your comment and then decided to fire you as a result? That's the kind of society you're creating. > So you're perfectly fine tolerating intolerance but you can…
> This isn't just about Thiel. It is specifically and precisely about Thiel. As others have noted, YC has distanced itself from relationships for political reasons in the past. > How would you like it if your boss read your comment and then decided to fire you as a result? That's the kind of society you're creating. Yeah except no, see there are two issues with your assertions: 1. Thiel is not employed by YC and not…
No, it isn't. As your mentality takes root, there is nothing stopping others from doing it to absolutely everyone.
> I live in a country where you can't just tell employees to get fucked
You live in a country where more and more people aren't employees at all.
> Only repugnant views are worth expressing and defending?
Whatever views you want to express, feel free to express them. However, only repugnant views need to be tolerated by definition.
If I say the sky is blue, nobody is going to persecute me for that. However, if I say something that isn't popular or is repugnant, it is at that point that I would need to be tolerated. That's the definition of tolerance. Withstanding something you don't like.