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Shame on Y Combinator

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Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#931

Post by [deleted] »

dlss wrote: post #299
tptacek wrote: post #204

Earlier 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…

[deleted]

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#932

Post by knucklesandwich »

tptacek wrote: post #204
ThomPete wrote: post #127

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…

Any pushback from these people that starts with the fabrication that Trump voters are the working poor is basically not worth engaging with. They live in the same world as everyone else where it's reasonable to critique people who have deeply harmful or prejudiced views and it shows when that pushback is based on the assumption that classism is essential to the case against Trump, even when all the polling shows us that's a complete lie.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#933

Post by saalweachter »

phaus wrote: post #725
dlss wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Did we have a community? Was there a downfall? I'm an atheist and I know more people that are comfortable being openly atheist in 2016 than at any other time in my life.

As near as I can tell, this is referring to a minor scandal in what I usually think of as the skeptic community.

Long story short, Dawkins made some comments regarded as regressive which got him dis-invited from a couple of skeptical conferences.

It is a slightly different argument than the one we're having now, although it wouldn't surprise me if the sides people take are similar: given that in any large gathering of people (eg, a skeptical conference, an online forum, a corporation, a political party...) there will be some people whose behavior, actions, or speech is hostile, harming, or threatening to some other people, should we force some people to restrict their behavior or leave, or force other people to either accept it or leave?

Unsurprisingly, a majority of the skeptical community opted towards restriction, many skeptical conventions reiterated their policies with the goal of making convention-goers feel safe and welcome, and some individuals who prominently made statements against these changes were dis-invited (as speakers) from some conventions.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#934

Post by Nydhal »

knucklesandwich wrote: post #916
ThomPete wrote: post #127

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…

The implication here is that Trump voters are working class people who have been drawn to Trump by virtue of their economic anxiety, concern about loss of their jobs via globalization or immigration, etc. The image in mind is coal or steel workers or industrial factory workers in rust belt cities that have lost their jobs. It's a seductive narrative to Republicans to try to claim the working class, and to classist De…

Millenials don't make much money so your median income statistics are skewed toward younger people who tend more democrat.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#935

Post by poshli »

DigitalSea wrote: post #24
idlewords wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By Altman's own argument, there's a line Thiel could cross that would make YC sever ties with him. All it would take is for Thiel to repeat some of the things Trump said. So having a YC partner fund hate speech is okay, as long as it's by proxy. This is a baffling stance.

There is a difference between having an opinion or stance on something and repeating racist, ignorant and bigotry statements from a candidate. As far as I know, Thiel has done nothing but make a donation, he isn't forcing his views on anyone at YC nor publicly parroting/endorsing things Trump is saying. In this instance Thiel has done nothing more than make a donation to a political candidate many don't like.

> As far as I know, Thiel has done nothing but make a donation

He had the speaking slot right before Trump at the RNC convention, if I remember correctly.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#936

Post by knucklesandwich »

Nydhal wrote: post #934
knucklesandwich wrote: post #916

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implication here is that Trump voters are working class people who have been drawn to Trump by virtue of their economic anxiety, concern about loss of their jobs via globalization or immigration, etc. The image in mind is coal or steel workers or industrial factory workers in rust belt cities that have lost their jobs. It's a seductive narrative to Republicans to try to claim the working class, and to classist De…

Millenials don't make much money so your median income statistics are skewed toward younger people who tend more democrat.

That only (partially) explains the median income for Bernie voters, not Clinton voters: http://graphics.wsj.com/elections/2016/how-clinton-won/

Also I'm not sure why that's important, is your assumption that Millennials don't have legitemate economic anxiety?

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#937

Post by thescribe »

marbletiles wrote: post #781

Man alive this thread. When SV wonders why it has a diversity problem, just point 'em here. Where were all you Free Speech zealots when Thiel destroyed Gawker? Where were all you Political Choices Are Sacred crew when SOPA was being proposed? Where were all you "protect rich bigots" stans when it was Brendan Eich? Oh wait, that's right, you were on the wrong side there too, my bad. As for you "I guess there's a 'wron…

Ok how about this: Anyone who supports Hillary is on the wrong side of History and holds views so vile no American should hold them. I can advocate for Pao to be fired now right?

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#938

Post by mentat »

knz wrote: post #843
ThomPete wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. I'm 99% certain that the Republican party is as deeply entrenched in the foreign policy directly responsible for the War on Terror, the War on Drugs (and all of the "lovely" people in Central/South Americ…

Largely != solely. Did she actually do policy work as secretary of state? Did the work cause collateral damage at least in the thousands? Pretty sure the answer is yes.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#939

Post by dragonwriter »

thescribe wrote: post #937
marbletiles wrote: post #781

Man alive this thread. When SV wonders why it has a diversity problem, just point 'em here. Where were all you Free Speech zealots when Thiel destroyed Gawker? Where were all you Political Choices Are Sacred crew when SOPA was being proposed? Where were all you "protect rich bigots" stans when it was Brendan Eich? Oh wait, that's right, you were on the wrong side there too, my bad. As for you "I guess there's a 'wron…

Ok how about this: Anyone who supports Hillary is on the wrong side of History and holds views so vile no American should hold them. I can advocate for Pao to be fired now right?

Sure, you can advocate for it. Whether or not you believe that, in fact. People may question both your preferred action and the basis on which you advocate for it, however.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#940

Post by sctb »

hiringmanager wrote: post #929

You really need to stop confusing the opinion of a propaganda site for reality. Shame on you for being so completely patronizing and such an asshole as to imply that I haven't spent any time thinking about this. This issue affects me directly, so you can't possibly know how little regard I have for your anti-intellectualism (and you've been anti-intellectual for years here). You believe what you want to believe and y…

We've banned this account for these personal attacks on another user, which is just not OK on Hacker News. We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12738065.
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