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Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

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Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#21

Post by random_upvoter »

ashark wrote: post #12
MBCook wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a big difference between a different political view and the words and actions of Donald Trump. If it was Romney or Cruz or Rubio or almost anyone else I don't think you'd see any of this happen.

There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do s…

> that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign.

To me this just seems part of democracy. Popular ideas will get a lot of financial support, and unpopular ideas will not get a lot of support. Have you considered the reach, the power and the wealth of the media establishment that is railing against Trump? I highly doubt that a million dollar is more than a drop in this contest. If Trump should not be allowed to get substantial financial support, why don't we simply forbid Trump to run at all?

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#22

Post by ashark »

random_upvoter wrote: post #21
ashark wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do s…

> that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. To me this just seems part of democracy. Popular ideas will get a lot of financial support, and unpopular ideas will not get a lot of support. Have you considered the reach, the power and the wealth of the media establishment that is railing against Trump? I highly doubt tha…

Which part of my comment was about preventing Trump from collecting donations?

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#23

Post by grzm »

random_upvoter wrote: post #21
ashark wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do s…

> that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. To me this just seems part of democracy. Popular ideas will get a lot of financial support, and unpopular ideas will not get a lot of support. Have you considered the reach, the power and the wealth of the media establishment that is railing against Trump? I highly doubt tha…

I think that's a separate topic, though, isn't it?

I'm going to do my best to paraphrase both you and GP. If either of you feel I'm doing so unfairly or want to expand or clarify, please do.

I understand you to be discussing whether or not someone should be allowed to support a candidate or campaign.

The one I understand ashark to be making is about the ramifications of supporting a candidate or campaign.

They are related in the sense that the ramifications be so severe that it prevents someone from contributing, and that's worthy of (a separate) discussion

In this case, I don't think Peter Thiel is being prevented from contributing. I'm pretty sure he considered the ramifications before he made his contribution. What do you think?

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#24

Post by goalieca »

random_upvoter wrote: post #21
ashark wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do s…

> that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. To me this just seems part of democracy. Popular ideas will get a lot of financial support, and unpopular ideas will not get a lot of support. Have you considered the reach, the power and the wealth of the media establishment that is railing against Trump? I highly doubt tha…

There is a saying that if someone says all of their exes are crazy then it is not them but their exes. Likewise if all of the media has conspired against trump them perhaps trump is to blame.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#25

Post by goalieca »

latch wrote: post #14
arkitaip wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't about politics. Trump is a con man, sexual predator and racist and by donating millions to him, Thiel's judgement and ethics should be questioned.

Yup. I don't know if Trump's a con man. I don't know if he's a sexual predator (doesn't look good though). But he is a racist. Even if you agree with some of what Trump says (audit the fed!), the racism is such an big part of his platform, that supporting him is actively and knowingly supporting [extreme] racism. Whenever something bad happens, people here get on their high horse. "The VW engineers should have quit",…

The courts are busy deciding if he is a conman. That's when his racist comment against a judge came out.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#26

Post by grzm »

goalieca wrote: post #24
random_upvoter wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. To me this just seems part of democracy. Popular ideas will get a lot of financial support, and unpopular ideas will not get a lot of support. Have you considered the reach, the power and the wealth of the media establishment that is railing against Trump? I highly doubt tha…

There is a saying that if someone says all of their exes are crazy then it is not them but their exes. Likewise if all of the media has conspired against trump them perhaps trump is to blame.

That's it's not their exes, it's them, isn't it?

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#28

Post by MorePowerToYou »

AKrumbach wrote: post #19
MorePowerToYou wrote: post #6

I understand the separation between business/investment realtionships and political affiliation. Most politicians actions are relatively benign. Hence, overlooking the political affiliation of investors with said politicians is easy. However, there's a point when a politician is advocating for something so egregious that supporting said politician can no longer be ignored. Currently, Trump is "just" advocating for ra…

> [T]here's a point when a politician is advocating for something so egregious that supporting said politician can no longer be ignored. There are no words by which I can be sufficiently emphatic in my disagreement. Politics [whether at the national level, or "mere" office politics] is the process of making group decisions. Democratic politics are built upon a shared group consensus. The only way this process can be…

This works in theory, but not in the real, messy world we live in.
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