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Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#71

Post by saosebastiao »

davidw wrote: post #48
saosebastiao wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Using technology to bypass the expensive outreach vectors traditional candidates are stuck with. This is a huge frustration of mine. It is nearly impossible to get the attention of politicians unless I'm willing to spend a vast amount of my time on the phone, because they don't pay attention to email, social media, etc. It would be awesome to have a social media platform that is dedicated to political communication…

I have a feeling part of why they don't use tech solutions is that the 'cost' of making a statement is valuable information: if a ton of people are willing to spend 10 minutes to make a call, that tells you something. Having 100 people, half of them Russian bots, click on a "+1" button, might not tell you as much.

It's a costly signal [0], that's for sure. But what is unfortunate is that it is a signal that is far more costly for some than it is for others. It's the reason why minorities, immigrants, renters, etc., are underrepresented in local politics...angry white-haired retired homeowners with nothing better to do than complain about other people parking in "their" space are the ones that can show up to meetings. Everybody else has far more pressing things to do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_theory

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#72

Post by volkadav »

alva wrote: post #44
Geekette wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing false about the example you cited. The architect of the ban, Rudy Giulani confirmed on air that the goal was to ban Muslims and his team's task was to create a legal mechanism for that to happen[1]. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/29/tr...

It is totally false to say Trump has enacted a law to ban people from entering the US based on their religion. Totally false. Is it true that Rudy Giulani has said this. It also true Trump has said in the past he wants a Muslim ban. It is also true that many people believe this action is a step in the direction of a Muslim Ban. But this is not a Muslim Ban at this stage and presenting it as such is a lie and misleadi…

He's instituted a ban based on ethnic origin from countries that are majority-Muslim (for that reason), has in the past called for a Muslim ban, and the architect of the ban has said it's a Muslim ban.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and in a feat of amazing linguistic ability for a waterfowl looks you dead in the eye and says "I'M A DUCK!" what are we supposed to call it, a giraffe?

To engage with pedantry for a moment, the ban may be more precisely an ethnicity or nationality one, but that's just as wholly unjust. Don't lose sight of the forest for the trees. The essential malfeasance here is bigotry written into law, the particular shade of that bigotry is immaterial.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#73

Post by TeMPOraL »

baursak wrote: post #46

Democracy can be improved by having democracy in the workplace. Modern corporations are run like totalitarian, authoritarian regimes with top-down orders being barked down. If you disobey, you're out. People in Western democracies are no longer putting up with non-democratic control of their political institutions, but are completely oblivious to non-democratic control of their economic institutions and are perfectly…

You don't have democracy in the workplace because democracy is inefficient. A company that expends great amount of money and resources on constant political shifting and backstabbing, and that can't present an unified vision on the market will soon get outcompeted by one that has its shit together.

We can tolerate authoritarian regimes in companies, because they're small (relative to countries) and compete in a heavily regulated space. If you want to leave or they fire you, you can generally find a new workplace. Companies play thier game by selling stuff (and doing accounting magic).

On the other hand, when two countries enter fierce competition, it's called "war". People on both sides end up dying. Even a less fierce competition ends up being miserable for everyone. The game has no bounds. And you can't easily quit it and move elsewhere.

That's why we prefer countries to be run with inefficient democratic process - because too much efficiency in a country will make many, many people very miserable.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#74

Post by chipgap98 »

maxxxxx wrote: post #47

I am a little ambivalent about this. On the one hand the intent is probably good but on the other hand companies like YC and Silicon Valley are drivers of a lot of developments that led to the current situation. - Silicon Valley is a great example of growing inequality. Most of the rewards go disproportionally to a select few at the top - A lot of VC companies are killing a lot of previously relatively stable jobs. U…

I don't think we can halt progress just because it negatively impacts some people. At the same time you are right that it is "not only a force for good" and there are things that can be done to mitigate that negativity. I think this is an appeal to entrepreneurs do to just that

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#75

Post by CiPHPerCoder »

If anyone wants a free idea for a "deal with fake news" startup: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13TK_uYpXRc3cODePnfV16Kzl...

I literally do not have the time to build this, as I'm busy trying to make PHP secure.

I just spitballed an idea and passed it along hackers who gave me feedback.

I don't want to be contractually tied to VCs either.

Just, if you like the idea, take it. Run with it. Make it successful. Use modern crypto. It's yours.

Maybe see if the folks that run Snopes are interested?

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#76

Post by alphonsegaston »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #60
alphonsegaston wrote: post #53

The thing that is needed most is a laboratory of ideas for what will replace the neoliberal order. A corporate democracy that increases inequality and only panders to justice by gestures towards identity politics is seemingly over. What we're faced with now is either devolving into an Ethnic Nationalist state on par with Russia, or something entirely new that has yet to be described. What needs to be recaptured is a…

> What needs to be recaptured is a vision of the future based on science, health, the arts, and shared prosperity. And it has to be described in actionable political terms. We need a Star Trek: TNG for the (pun not intended) next generation... If someone is willing to start a movement that wants to create United Fedration of Planets, count me in.

Right I agree. The command and control framework of the Star Trek universe will be unpalatable to American biases, so it would have to be something more networked along the lines of the federalism we already have. But given our technology, building a more directly democratic system of feedback should be possible. Trump's success is using Twitter to transform himself into a disruptive avatar of his supporters. The next generation of politicians has to do the same, but with democratic impulses as opposed to authoritarian ones.

We also, as much as possible, must try evenly distribute the future. For example, if we want to defeat climate change, we have to rally manufacturing and technological solutions in places like the rural Midwest. In even the reddest of states, their are bastions of support for future-oriented ideas, and we should begin networking these places togehther as forward bases of operation.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#77

Post by richcollins »

Building tools for fact-checking and helping people decipher fact from fiction will become increasingly important to keep the electorate informed

Sadly the electorate doesn't care about being informed. They seek out news that confirms their world view. Any information that contradicts their world view is deemed "fake news".

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#78

Post by ihsw »

baursak wrote: post #46

Democracy can be improved by having democracy in the workplace. Modern corporations are run like totalitarian, authoritarian regimes with top-down orders being barked down. If you disobey, you're out. People in Western democracies are no longer putting up with non-democratic control of their political institutions, but are completely oblivious to non-democratic control of their economic institutions and are perfectly…

I would never work at a company structured like this and if you're implying we impose rules on companies to operate like democracies then that's even more dangerous than Trump.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#79

Post by sparkzilla »

mjolk wrote: post #58

> News: We’re facing two major issues with news. The first is fake news. The business model for online media rewards the people who get the greatest number of page views, clicks and likes. That results in a system that prizes virality over truth. This is insanely difficult as interpersonal trust is expensive and getting first-hand information/data is extremely non-trivial. I agree that "mainstream media" (quotes beca…

Paul Graham is right that it has to be something you want to do, but it is possible to build large new media sites on short attention spans -- if your site is designed for them. My site, an actual working solution to the problem of both fake news and bias, is doing great (Over three million page views last month). However, we most likely won't apply to YC this time, or ever again, due to Sam Altman's anti-Trump bias.

Re: Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy

#80

Post by davidw »

saosebastiao wrote: post #71
davidw wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling part of why they don't use tech solutions is that the 'cost' of making a statement is valuable information: if a ton of people are willing to spend 10 minutes to make a call, that tells you something. Having 100 people, half of them Russian bots, click on a "+1" button, might not tell you as much.

It's a costly signal [0], that's for sure. But what is unfortunate is that it is a signal that is far more costly for some than it is for others. It's the reason why minorities, immigrants, renters, etc., are underrepresented in local politics...angry white-haired retired homeowners with nothing better to do than complain about other people parking in "their" space are the ones that can show up to meetings. Everybody…

Like you say, that's especially true at the local level.

So I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think it's "just" removing the "costly signal".

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