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Shame on Y Combinator

marco.org

861–870 of 1001 posts

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#861
I personally respect, and am thankful for the fact that people exist that have opinions that differ, even a lot, from mine. Especially on moral issues. I find it pretty immoral to have too much faith in ones moral framework. I will do business with anyone especially those with different political or other opinions than mine, they are usually more interesting conversations.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#862
post #823
post #687

Another way to look at this is to apply a version of Jeff Bezos's Regret Minimization Framework: project yourself decades into the future and read about yourself in a history book. If you truly believe Trump is an unprecedented threat to democracy in the league of Stalin, how would you feel telling your children that "it was just business" when you kept on a partner who was part of his campaign apparatus? I don't thi…

Would one feel particularly good telling one's children that one joined in a rabid witch hunt driving people from their employment (Eich) and business associations (Thiel)?

I'll feel great telling my kids I encouraged people in my industry to stand up to a billionaire mouthpiece and financier of a prominent white nationalist trying to bring fascism to the United States.

In fact, I'd be ashamed to say I didn't.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#864

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Donald Trump is a monster. Such thoughtful discussion backed by so many supporting arguments.

You think this a damning argument. But no reasonable reader thinks we couldn't blow the thread up to 1000 more comments, each choc-a-bloc with vivid details, about the terrible flaws of Donald Trump. The reason I'm not taking the bait is that the debate on this thread isn't about Donald Trump, and I'm not going to help you muddy the waters. No, I mean what I've said repeatedly. If you support Donald Trump, or even ju…

By all means, vote for your clean-as-the-wind-driven-snow candidate Clinton.

Your willingness to stoke the red-vs-blue fires is why the US has ended up where we are. In other words, you're part of the problem.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#865
post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I think Marco’s point, which I strongly agree with, is that donating to Trump goes beyond just supporting a political candidate that you don’t happen to agree with. The fact that Trump has some valid policy ideas is completely besides the point. Amongst other things he is inciting racial and ethnic hatred, undermining trust in American democracy, encouraging violence and legitimising sexual assault. When…

So it's ok supporting Hillary even though she is largely responsible for huge parts of US foreign policy having sacrificed hundreds of thousands of innocent people as collateral damage for a bigger political goal. Yet somehow the very words of Trump is immoral. I guess I just don't get it.

> So it's ok supporting Hillary even though she is largely responsible for huge parts of US foreign policy having sacrificed hundreds of thousands of innocent people as collateral damage for a bigger political goal.

Is this conspiracy theorizing or a serious statement? Either way it seems to seriously sacrifice your credibility and the spirit of the reality-based analysis your first comment invoked.

Let's take a reality-based approach to Libya, for example, often cited as Hillary's fault. In reality, it's hard to blame Hillary when the decision to engage in Libya was Obama's. In reality, it's hard to blame Obama when it was France and Great Britain that instigated the mission from the beginning and begged the US' help. In reality, it's hard to blame France and Great Britain when the simple, uncontroversial fact is that Gaddafi was a dictator/torturer/human-rights-abuser of epic proportions that had systematically destroyed political and civil institutions in his country guaranteeing a power vacuum when he was deposed. With this chain of responsibility in mind which likely equally applies to other foreign policy decisions, it's ridiculous to claim that Hillary is "largely responsible for sacrificing innocents". That's the kind of hyperbole that lacks any basis in reality.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#866

This exemplifies a disturbing tactic of the left, demonizing anyone who holds differing political views, attempting to turn them into social pariahs, causing them whatever harm they're able to within the law. I happen to think that Hillary Clinton is a criminal who belongs in federal prison. I think the only reason she's not being prosecuted is that the current administration is corrupt, and views laws as weapons to…

This is exactly why as a former independent I am going with the Republicans this time around. Although I do tend to side with them on more issues, it's the way the Dems conduct themselves that has completely turned me off of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY

It's sentiments like this that still give Trump a serious shot at winning, even if more scandals about him are unveiled. I hate both but am voting for Clinton, but can very much understand your position.

The whole "basket of deplorables", virtue signalling, moral superiority thing turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#867

Marcos 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…

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…

Both of them compare Trump to a dictator. Paul Graham compared him to Stalin. Both Altman and Graham believe, like I do, that Trump is an existential threat to our democracy.

If they truly believe Trump is "Literally Hitler" (as has been said about every Republican candidate since it could be said (Dewey), modulo I assume Eisenhower since it would be so ludicrous, and of course Stalin was far worse), then their behavior is indeed hard to explain.

Which suggests to me that they don't actually believe he's "an existential threat to our democracy" (cue Adam Smith's "There's a great deal of ruin in a nation" upon news of the defeat at Saratoga).

Or they're trimming their sails so they can still play a role in the possible coming Neo-Fourth Reich, i.e. they're cowards, doubly so since they're wealthy enough to relocate to some other 1st World country like Switzerland (last time I checked, which was long ago, some French cantons would allow you to sign a private tax treaty for 50,000 Swiss francs a year).

Although I suppose a counter to that accusation is that they're not about to abandon "their people" to the tender mercies of Stalin Mark II.

My advice, as a designated deplorable "irredeemable", if you're truly worried about this? Buy yourself a fricking rifle of military utility (a turn of the previous century clip fed bolt action rifle and modest supply of ammo is cheap, a few hundred bucks, and allowed pretty much everywhere except NYC) and learn how to shoot it well, don't bow your head as you're herded to the camps, follow this bit from Alexander Solzhenitsyn in The GULAG Archipelago (remember, we are, per Graham, talking "Literally Stalin", who was at the top when this happened):

And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?

Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?

After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you’d be cracking the skull of a cutthroat. Or what about the Black Maria [Government limo] sitting out there on the street with one lonely chauffeur — what if it had been driven off or its tires spiked.

The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt!

"They", whichever you think is the they, can't take on a mass of people without using artillery or worse (see "Hama Rules"), and if things get that bad, well, you're already at war, you might as well be useful to your side.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#868

I see the divide in this country growing every day. We aren't electing a king or queen. It's a single political position that's checked by the House and Senate. And yet because of the media, because of the Republicans, because of the Democrats, we're no longer Americans. We're a people who are being played against each other for revenue in a popularity contest. I've never seen people act so terribly to each other on…

“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” (Benjamin Franklin)

The only thing that separates us from other countries is our Constitution.

When you have the federal government doing things outside the Constitution that should be legally left to the states, you end up with some really polarizing things that are applied to the whole country. That gets nasty.

I'm a states right supporter in a left leaning state. Not saying the right doesn't do this either, but the left gets very emotional if you disagree. They try to shut you down, gang up, think you're a bad person or an idiot if you disagree. When I disagree, it's usually because it's a state issue that they want to ram down the whole country. They often have a complete disdain for the Constitution and have no idea what a republic is.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#870
American politics have become radioactive. Intelligent people stay as far away from it as possible. Because getting involved and becoming visible can mean the end of you in more than one form.

We will never have a good government if good people fear the process and the media so much so that they move-on and devote their lives to more productive pursuits.

Imagine you are not perfect, decide to run for office and are subjected to the kind of media attacks we see escalate to lower lows every election? Who in their right mind wants a part of that?

To some degree one has to admire Trump for enduring the massive campaign against him. A lesser person would have imploded a long time ago. This isn't an endorsement as much as it is recognition of a fact.

What is happening in this election is despicable. The two main candidates are hardly the best this country can produce. And it is our fault. Entirely our fault. Not theirs.

My guess is it will have to get far worst before people wake up and realize we have been in an "emperor has no clothes" environment for decades.

This isn't about Democrats or Republicans. This is about a government taken over by some of the most despicable self-serving people around. Ambulance chasers who would not amount to much had they not gone into government.

Not sure how this will fix itself, if ever.

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