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Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

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Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#411

Post by couchand »

tmptmp wrote: post #234
Frondo wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tolerance means you aren't jailing people with different views than your own. Tolerance means you aren't out beating people up for having different views. Tolerance isn't about putting on a happy face and doing business with someone whose views you find odious. If people are no longer free to use words or social stigma to advance their views and opinion, because "tolerance," then what do we have left?

>>If people are no longer free to use words or social stigma to advance their views and opinion, because "tolerance," then what do we have left? I agree with you. But we cannot disregard the dishonest behaviour performed by most leftists/liberals over the years. The leftists/liberals hurl so much social stigma against the republicans/Christianity but they dishonestly and criminally keep mum about e.g. Islam. Sam Harr…

To claim that Islam is somehow innately "vicious" or "barbaric" is just insulting.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#412

Post by MicroBerto »

pjdemers wrote: post #275

Disagreeing with each other's views on the economy, international relations, even the environment is good for the country. We need different points of view on important issues. But using race baiting to gain political power crosses a line that should never be crossed. He should not be helping to legitimize this.

When you start calling every Trump supporter a race baiter, bigot, or racist without understanding their viewpoint, it's time to stop using those words and take a look in the mirror.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#413

Post by tptacek »

paulsutter wrote: post #294
betolink wrote: post #240

People here giving Thiel a free pass on his views and support for bigotry is just disgusting.

Here's Peter's speech at the National Press Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-LJqPQEJ4 Could you point out anywhere that Peter supports bigotry? Or even, a single crazy statement in Peter's speech? (I wouldn't defend Trump. I'm defending Peter, who I respect a lot). The speech runs from 2:40 to 15:50, and can be watched in 7 minutes if you change speed to 2x. (Thomas, I respect you a lot too. I've never seen o…

How is this a coherent argument? "Here is an individual moment from someone's life. Use it to prove they're bigoted."

How about we cite other moments in his life? Like the (multiple!) Stanford peers he had who recounted his support for apartheid, or the book he wrote about the evils of diversity, or the blog post he wrote for Cato in 2009 lamenting that women had obtained the right to vote? How about getting up on stage and calling a person who repeatedly said that Muslims citizens of the United States should be forced to register themselves --- at their mosques or at lots of other places, we'll figure it out! --- the most honest candidate in the race?

There's a point at which the challenges you choose to raise cross a line into gaslighting --- who are you going to believe, Thiel or your own lying eyes? --- and while you haven't crossed it, writing in a tone that suggests it's unreasonable to question Thiel's inclusiveness definitely brings you right up to it.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#414

Post by snaily »

edblarney wrote: post #268
bqe wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Peter Thiel wrote a book called The Diversity Myth where he said that race mixing would destroy white culture. Here's a list of more of his extreme views: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-21/the-strang...

"Peter Thiel wrote a book called The Diversity Myth where he said that race mixing would destroy white culture" This is a lie, and it's exactly the kind of lie that Thiel is trying to call out as insufferable oppression on campus and in intellectual discussion. Having lived in very 'multicultural' places, and fairly homogeneous places, it's clear to me that there are both advantages and disadvantages to each - and to…

Your example of Sweden having an official religion is no longer current.

The Church of Sweden is since 2000 no longer a state church. That said, it's been possible to opt-out since 1868, and since 1996 membership is opt-in (upon baptizing) and not inherited based on the membership of the parents. Slightly less than two thirds of the population are still members, and it is losing members far faster than simple attrition would have it (about one percentage point per year).

If you are a member of the Church of Sweden (or any other registered religion), the state will help collect membership taxes for it, but that should be taken more as a measure of Nordic efficiency than as a tacit endorsement of any particular belief.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#416

Post by thesimpsons1022 »

lxmorj wrote: post #224
bpicolo wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's a climate change denier, it would appear.

An outright denier, or a fuck-it-lets-solve-it-with-cool-shit-like-venentian-blind-satellite-swarms sort of guy?

this type: https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/26589529219124838...

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#417

Post by couchand »

kyleblarson wrote: post #80
overgard wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The right thing". Tolerance means recognizing that people have different world views than your own. Sometimes the people you do business with have political opinions you don't agree with. The melodrama over Thiel's political opinions is pointless. If you demand Thiel steps down, are you personally just going to stop doing business with 49% of the country that voted differently? Personally I lean liberal, but I'm pre…

The 'brick through the window' analogy is one of the most apt I've heard so far given the increasingly violent tendency of 'protesters' in this country.

The phrase "increasingly violent" can only possibly be accurate here on an incredibly short time scale.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#418

Post by tptacek »

NhanH wrote: post #395
tptacek wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He just said Trump will be President. You're rebutting an argument he didn't make. Nobody is obligated to support the President. That's why it's called "the loyal opposition".

> Whether you respect the Electoral College or don't, Trump should not be the President. I was saying that this statement doesn't follow from his 2 previous paragraphs. On the other hand, if this was a personal statement against Trump (rather than a logical conclusion of the previous paragraphs), then my comment doesn't apply. In other words, I just wanted to emphasize that I believe in the statement "if you respect…

The comment straightforwardly said Trump will be President. The commenter is not required to respect the outcome. I sure don't! Your comment did not, in fact, apply.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#419

Post by jdavis703 »

danm07 wrote: post #400
threeseed wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump I suspect will be very similar to George W Bush. From all accounts he simply doesn't have the intellectual stamina to handle the rigours of the job. And I don't mean that in a negative way he is just more of a hands on, energetic, get shit done sort of guy. So in order to survive he is going to delegate to people like Guilani, Christie, Gingrich, Carson etc. Some of the most shameless, self serving and unethica…

I think George W Bush would be quite happy that he will no longer be considered the worst president in recent history.

Maybe the Civilization game will remove Dan Quayle as the leader you get characterized as when you finish the game with the least points.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#420

Post by pjscott »

thinkmoore wrote: post #382
pjscott wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He said that women are a tough constituency for libertarianism and capitalism, but that "It would be absurd to suggest that women’s votes will be taken away." How on earth are you getting "women shouldn't be allowed to vote" from that?

Well, for one, that he chose to say "will be taken away" when responding to this criticism, instead of "should be taken away," implying that he thinks they ought to be taken away (because it would allow for his libertarian utopia) but that it won't happen for other reasons.

That's some pretty advanced selective reading. From the same paragraph: "I don’t think any class of people should be disenfranchised."
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