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Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

nytimes.com

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Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#21

Post by Eridrus »

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #7

I don't like Trump's policies any more than anyone else here, but I think that it's wrong for companies to play a role in politics. A company like Google was created by its shareholders with the purpose of making money by providing Internet search services. Taking political positions would subvert the goal for which Google was created. If some of Google's shareholders want to pursue political goals instead of providi…

Shareholders are not the only stakeholders in companies, employees and consumers usually have some stake in and influence over what they do.

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#22

Post by avn2109 »

banku_brougham wrote: post #16
bencpeters wrote: post #2

Personally, I find this "turn to anger" a little hollow/self-serving. Nothing Trump has done so far is in any way out of line with what he was saying on the campaign trail - the only people who are surprised by his actions are the people who took a "he's not being serious, it's just talk" view when evaluating his speeches. I wish SV companies and executives could have had this "turn to anger" back when it mattered an…

I think they were disgusted but generally uncomfortable fighting against the power and the electorate that voted him in. Maybe the campaign was all talk like his locker room talk, who knows? And campaigns are often quite dirty affairs. But now its week one, the policies are eggregious and the implementation is incompetent, and a groundswell is building. I suppose now industry leaders dont feel like they are sticking…

Though if we must have egregious politics, it's best if they're implemented incompetently.

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#23

Post by wiml »

jpatokal wrote: post #9

"Ambivalence?" All I've been hearing on HN for the past year plus is comparisons to fascism, the Nazis and the Anti-Christ. That said, at least Mussolini made the trains run on time and the Nazis were pretty efficient, which is more than can be said for the Trump administration's first week...

Point of trivia: Mussolini didn't even make the trains run on time.

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#25

Post by chordatum »

antidaily wrote: post #3
bencpeters wrote: post #2

Personally, I find this "turn to anger" a little hollow/self-serving. Nothing Trump has done so far is in any way out of line with what he was saying on the campaign trail - the only people who are surprised by his actions are the people who took a "he's not being serious, it's just talk" view when evaluating his speeches. I wish SV companies and executives could have had this "turn to anger" back when it mattered an…

Hollow, maybe. Too little too late, probably. Self-serving??

Now they jump in and intervene to play the role of hero, begging the question: why not sooner?

Rhetorically, the answer implied is that, had they made their voices and opinions known earlier, it might not have seemed as heroic as it does now. Letting circumstances become dire, when they could have been prevented altogether suggests performances are crafted and dishonest for the purpose of branding, marketing or personal fame.

Sort of like if John McAfee reared his head right about now, but with greater subtlety.

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#26

Post by vivekd »

bencpeters wrote: post #2

Personally, I find this "turn to anger" a little hollow/self-serving. Nothing Trump has done so far is in any way out of line with what he was saying on the campaign trail - the only people who are surprised by his actions are the people who took a "he's not being serious, it's just talk" view when evaluating his speeches. I wish SV companies and executives could have had this "turn to anger" back when it mattered an…

Having the temporary immigration ban affect current temporary and permanent residents to the United States was pretty out of line with campaign promises. So was extending that ban if banned nations don't cooperate with United States (really Syria, Yemen and Iran are going to cooperate?) Kinda makes it a not so temporary ban.

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#27

Post by sjg007 »

capkutay wrote: post #4
bencpeters wrote: post #2

Personally, I find this "turn to anger" a little hollow/self-serving. Nothing Trump has done so far is in any way out of line with what he was saying on the campaign trail - the only people who are surprised by his actions are the people who took a "he's not being serious, it's just talk" view when evaluating his speeches. I wish SV companies and executives could have had this "turn to anger" back when it mattered an…

What was the tech sector supposed to do? Go campaign in Wisconsin for Hillary? Tech was already shoveling tons of money into her campaign. Bezos-owned Washington Post was about as Anti-Trump as a news organization can be.

Google Facebook should support remote work from red states in republican counties.. maybe a few remote offices as well.

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#28

Post by legostormtroopr »

Silicon Valley tech billionaires who will be un-impacted personally by migration, complain when they no longer have a cheap source of labour.

The Valley isn't going to be hosting migrants and they aren't going to be competing against unskilled migrant labour.

Why is it walls are just fine around LAs mansion estates and in closed gated communities, but as soon as the general populace wants them they become bad?

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#29

Post by hamandcheese »

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #7

I don't like Trump's policies any more than anyone else here, but I think that it's wrong for companies to play a role in politics. A company like Google was created by its shareholders with the purpose of making money by providing Internet search services. Taking political positions would subvert the goal for which Google was created. If some of Google's shareholders want to pursue political goals instead of providi…

But companies are people!

Re: Silicon Valley's Ambivalence Towards Trump Turns to Anger

#30

Post by rgbmarsanon »

Recent events have made me question Thiel's judgement. It is within his rights to support the candidate he wants and have the beliefs he desires, but he still helped a potential dictator get into power and angled to be his confidante. More hypocritically, Trump goes against every core libertarian value from individual freedom to limited state power.

Puzzle me this, how can a libertarian support an authoritarian's ascent to power?

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