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The 2016 Election

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Re: The 2016 Election

#511

Post by int_19h »

rtx wrote: post #507
int_19h wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't speak for "the rest of the world" - the rest of us didn't give you that prerogative. As a citizen of Russia, I would vastly prefer Clinton on foreign policy. For all her flaws, she can keep Putin in check. Trump is more likely to prop his regime and keep it from collapsing for a while longer.

Why not do it yourself. Millions have died due games that Russians and Americans like to play.

Because Putin has genuine widespread popular support in Russia. There's no viable way to check him from inside the country at this point.

Re: The 2016 Election

#512

Post by int_19h »

rtx wrote: post #509
int_19h wrote: post #493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump is the one who said that Russian war planes overflying American warships should be shot down to teach a lesson. I can't think of a better way to start WW3 in current climate.

Why would Russian planes fly over American ships.

You'll have to ask them why they do it.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/18/politics/russia-jets-buzz-u-s-...

Re: The 2016 Election

#513

Post by Aloha »

monk_e_boy wrote: post #370
michaelbuckbee wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article (and phrase) I found really helpful in understanding the split in support is: "The press takes him (Trump)literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally." http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/trump-ma...

I'm not from the US, so take this as an outsiders view. Clinton says different things in public than she does to her friends. She also flip flops. This is not trustworthy. Trump is unpleasant, but at least he talks straight. I think this could be the last election of its kind in the USA, a two party system that works to produce these two candidates? Someone (Facebook, google, twitter) will come up with a better way o…

Clinton talks like a professional politician, Trump says whatever comes to mind at the time. I'm not sure I like how professional politicians talk, but I'm a little nervous that "comes to mind at the time" might lead us into a very bad place.

Re: The 2016 Election

#514

Post by munificent »

the_watcher wrote: post #297
munificent wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is ot because they are unlikely to be elected? It's more than unlikely. There is effectively zero chance of a third party candidate getting elected president in 2016. Voting for one is throwing away your vote. Worse than that, it's throwing away an opportunity to indicate your second choice preference. The US's first-past-the-post electoral system is not great, but voting for a third-party candidate does not at all…

> Voting for one is throwing away your vote. No. It is not. The reason the two party system continues to exist is because so many people insist on there not being other options, despite there literally being other candidates on the ballot. There's a reason why Democrats have continued to spend money on turning Texas blue for years, despite the argument that they are "throwing money away." Momentum matters. Please don…

> The reason the two party system continues to exist is because so many people insist on there not being other options, despite there literally being other candidates on the ballot.

No, it's because the mechanics of the voting rules themselves lead to a stable two party system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger%27s_law

Re: The 2016 Election

#515

Post by moultano »

gizmo wrote: post #24

Except Thiel is saying many of the repugnant things that made Trump popular. - Thiel is passionately against all forms of political correctness, just like Trump. - Thiel believes that the 19th amendment destroyed democracy, because women vote in favor for anti-libertarian welfare measures. When faced with the choice between saving democracy and capitalism, Thiel chooses capitalism. Trump shares this antidemocratic se…

>>- Thiel believes that the 19th amendment destroyed democracy, because women vote in favor for anti-libertarian welfare measures. When faced with the choice between saving democracy and capitalism, Thiel chooses capitalism. Trump shares this antidemocratic sentiment.

This needs a citation, because whenever I've seen people say this, they cite this this essay https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio...

And frankly, if you think he opposes women's suffrage, you didn't read it. He clarifies further in an addition:

But the most intense response has been aimed not at cyberspace, seasteading, or libertarian politics, but at a commonplace statistical observation about voting patterns that is often called the gender gap.

It would be absurd to suggest that women’s votes will be taken away or that this would solve the political problems that vex us.

>>-Thiel is the (primary?) backer of Curtis Yarvin, the alt-right (read: white supremacist) thoughtleader about "human biodiversity" (read: why some races are biologically inferior).

Moldbug is explicitly not a white supremicist. You can read his explanation here: https://medium.com/@curtis.yarvin/why-you-should-come-to-lam...

He disagrees with you about factual matters of human population genetics, but not about the moral issue about how people with different genetics should be treated.

Re: The 2016 Election

#516

Post by rtx »

int_19h wrote: post #511
rtx wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not do it yourself. Millions have died due games that Russians and Americans like to play.

Because Putin has genuine widespread popular support in Russia. There's no viable way to check him from inside the country at this point.

Sorry about my previous comment it might have been edgy.

But when you see kids dying on beaches you become wary of America interventions. Which will only increase with Hillary. http://www.salon.com/2016/02/05/in_debate_hillary_clinton_bo...

Re: The 2016 Election

#517

Post by random_upvoter »

sparky_z wrote: post #427
sysk wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non American who would probably vote for neither of them, Hillary definitely ranks way higher on my internal psychopath detector. The constant fake smiling, cold and calculated question answering, passive aggressiveness, etc. In short, the traits of a great manipulator. Trump is guilty of some of that too but he is somewhat redeemed by the fact that he seems dumb/naive enough to believe whatever he preaches.

> The constant fake smiling, cold and calculated question answering, passive aggressiveness, etc. In short, the traits of a great manipulator. Aren't those, pretty much by definition, the traits of a poor manipulator? A great manipulator wouldn't seem so false. Let me put it this way: How natural do you think you would seem if you were spending hours of every day in front of dozens of cameras, knowing that the slight…

I've been thinking about what bothers me about Clinton and here's an example:

In 2008, Clinton declares she's opposed to gay marriage. Now it's 2016, and the majority of the American people are in favor of gay marriage. And guess what, Clinton is in favor of gay marriage. The battle has been won and now Mrs. Clinton proudly jumps on the barricade.

Now you may say this is just the reality of politics, but at some point you wonder what she really stands for except saying whatever it takes to maximize her vote count.

Re: The 2016 Election

#518

Post by Aloha »

wu-ikkyu wrote: post #214
kapitza wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's not how things are done in this country. Tocqueville, almost 200 years ago, begs to differ: "I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.... in America the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases; but woe to him if he goes beyond them." [1] What's changed…

>within these barriers an author may write what he pleases; but woe to him if he goes beyond them. This has been more recently termed as the "Overton Window" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

Yeah, I can see this - and the overton window for various parts to the political spectrum no longer match up.

Re: The 2016 Election

#519

Post by [deleted] »

zanny wrote: post #482
falsestprophet wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Except Thiel is saying many of the repugnant things that made Trump popular. - Thiel wants to restrict immigration to highly educated people. Just like Trump." Why is this repugnant? One would expect a country to institute immigration policy that benefited that country. If it is the case that some immigration restrictions are beneficial, isn't that a fair and reasonable policy? Is the only acceptable immigration sys…

> institute immigration policy that benefited that country This is implying that less educated immigrants are not beneficial? Almost any migration only happens because there are resources to be acquired on the other side. It is exactly like the drug war - you could ignore the causes of demand and try to somehow crush supply which has objectively failed (because supplies will arise to meet demands) or you implement po…

[deleted]

Re: The 2016 Election

#520

Post by slantedview »

zeveb wrote: post #436
holman wrote: post #177

I think a lot of the problems with the YC/Thiel discussion stems from the difference between how people view it: is it a political disagreement, or is it an ethical disagreement? In a "normal" election, this would be pretty cut-and-dry: it'd primarily be a political disagreement over taxes or something, and letting someone go because of their political beliefs would be viewed by many as being pretty extreme. Many peo…

> It's not political for many people who will see — and have seen throughout this election cycle — very real repercussions in terms of discrimination and hostility that affects them every day in their lives. Of course, if you fire people who are supporting your opponent, then you will have caused 'very real repercussions in terms of discrimination and hostility' that effects them. That's what creates the cycles of ra…

How about firing someone for damaging your brand and your business through their personal actions?

Billy Bush wasn't fired for the things Trump said, he was fired because his association with Trump during that incident caused real damage to his company's brand.

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