Maybe YC is worried that if they boot Thiel, and Trump wins, he'll be vindictive enough and powerful enough to crush YC. Like, it would be a real shame if the Attorney General started looking into Fair Housing violations by AirBnB, or if Dropbox suddenly lost the government connections it's been cultivating by putting Condi Rice on their board.
Shame on Y Combinator
381–390 of 1001 posts
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#382Shame on you for blaming Y Combinator. If it was 1.25 million for Clinton you would probably praise Y Combinator, no? This feels more like a clash between your personal political preferences and Mr Thiels's. You are just blaming Y Combinator to inflate this story, trying to get more people on the Clinton side. Shame on you!
Because they are both the same, right? Just opposite, right?
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#383Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is in fact not a fundamental principle of democracy. There is no work of political philosophy anywhere that suggests we should be able to say whatever we'd like "without fear of repercussions". What is a principle of liberal philosophy, though, is that we should be tolerant of the beliefs of others (in the sense of not intervening to suppress them), including intolerant beliefs, until those intolerant beliefs th…
I don't know if you followed what happened to the Atheist community in the US, but its downfall was essentially the kind of witch hunt you're trying to incite. The level of virtue signaling demanded gradually increases until no one is left in the community. This invariably happens because the question you're asking ("does intolerant belief X threaten society?") has no absolute answer, so there is always a higher leve…
> I don't know if you followed what happened to the Atheist community in the US, but its downfall was essentially the kind of witch hunt you're trying to incite.
Personally I must have missed this. How did the downfall of the Atheist community in the US happen and who was hunting witches?
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#384Marcos understanding of this situation is extremely telling for a fundamental problem with many americans relationship with politics. Most only get involved around election. After that their political interest is non existing. It's easy to get lured into the idea that politics is a simple choice between the moral good and the moral bad, that the choice is simple and that there is a one to one relationship between wha…
> For all the crazy things Trump says, for all is egoism he has some very important points which needs to be addressed and discussed and he represents a group of people who haven't been represented for the last 40 years. Is there a line that Trump could cross where you would start to say he's dangerous and doesn't deserve his spot at the table?
> doesn't deserve his spot at the table?
No one gets to decide who gets a spot at the table. It doesn't really matter if you think Trump is "dangerous", the idea that if you think the "right" way you're entitled to shape the dialogue by censorship if needed is exactly what people who are anti-anti-Trump are trying to fight.
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#385Earlier quoted context omitted.
as long as no one have actually formulated an argument based on facts how Trump is a threat to democracy I dont see how he is more dangerous than Hillary, Bush or Obama. And i am pretty sure a large portion of people outide the US see those three as bigger threats to their lives than Trump given US foreign policy. So until someone show how the us system can be destroyed by Trump I stand by my position that Trump is n…
It's a simple comparison really: Trump - (paraphased) Muslims are evil, they should be registered and have special restrictions placed on them. He singled out a single religious group. Made them the target of a group of people that are disposed to hating them. It goes against the very spirit of modern western democracy. To many it represents a clear and unforseen threat to our country. Even Bush who was clearly the m…
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Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#386Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, I would not like to get rid of anonymous voting. Ask a simple question, get a simple answer.
But you would like to punish people who are publicly backing a candidate. Not very consistent.
You'll have to do a better job of connecting those dots for me, because I do not see the connection between criticizing someone for endorsing a member of the Trump campaign and working to eliminate the anonymous vote.
Incidentally? Elimination of the anonymous vote? That's something Peter Thiel probably actually believes in. He believes democracy is a failed experiment, and the extension of the franchise to women harmed society. He believes, in general, that more voting worsens outcomes.
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#387We cannot deny the overwhelming amount of value P. Thiel and M. Arment has brought to this world.
Politics is ugly and divides people instead of bringing them together. The Hacker News community is all about technological progress, which is based on science, and as such, do not let your subjectivity cloud your judgment.
Do you think the world would be a better place by removing Thiel because of his political position? Asking to fire Thiel is as insane as asking to fire the 40% of Americans backing Trump (based on latest poll results: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/latest-polls-show-tr...)
I wish you guys would put all your vigorous efforts on revamping the political system than pointing fingers at invaluable people.
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#388Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a simple comparison really: Trump - (paraphased) Muslims are evil, they should be registered and have special restrictions placed on them. He singled out a single religious group. Made them the target of a group of people that are disposed to hating them. It goes against the very spirit of modern western democracy. To many it represents a clear and unforseen threat to our country. Even Bush who was clearly the m…
There’s a major problem with Muslim refugees in Europe right now. My girlfriend used to love visiting Paris, now it’s basically a no-go zone even in daytime. What he’s saying is based on reality, even if it makes you feel all bad inside when you hear it. Even in the US, where the refugee problem doesn’t exist, you still learn after terrorist attacks that, f.e. the family knew, or that the attacker had bomb equipment…
> My girlfriend used to love visiting Paris, now it’s basically a no-go zone even in daytime.
What are you talking about. I've lived in Paris for 40+ years, there is no special problems. We had terrorists attacks, we may have more, but basically nobody cares much about it or talks about it, and life is the same as it's always been (lots of traffic, lots of people in the subway, weather not great).
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#389Earlier quoted context omitted.
> he represents a group of people who haven't been represented for the last 40 years. http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/15/13286498/d... > the fundamental principle that no matter what in a democracy everyone have the right to say and mean what they want without having to fear the repercussions This is not a principle, let alone a fundamental one, in any democracy or any other kind of society.
Read this: https://baselinescenario.com/2016/10/17/you-cant-get-there-f... The very same Gallup study which that Vox article relied on to argue that Trump support was correlated with higher, not lower income also found that blue collar and less educated workers were disproportionately likely to vote for Trump, and Vox intentionally omitted that fact. This is particularly dishonest of Vox because the result they did q…
Very interesting. I actually read this as a more nuanced take on the Vox article (which I'd read more as saying "it's not economic anxiety" rather than "it's this other thing than economic anxiety"). The verdict seems to be, we cannot tell whether it's economic anxiety or something else. Anyway, interesting blog, which I've now added to my subscriptions, so thanks for that!
Re: Shame on Y Combinator
#390Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The entire Trump ideology is based on a belief that "real Americans" are being oppressed by a sinister "global elite". Yes there is in fact a campaign of elites against Trump, in case you don't believe that I suggest taking a look at the recent wikileaks.
What are Trump and Thiel if not "elites"? So it seems the elites are campaigning against each other.
The socialist tradition has a suitable term: "class traitor".
The ruling class is ruling, in substantial parts because they are better at cooperating than other classes (and are good at seeding discord in other classes). One aspect of ruling class cooperation is ruthlessly punishing their own class traitors.
I suspect that is part of what the whole saga is about.