I would like to see Thiel involved in government more, but where, and doing what I am not sure. I think his talents would be useful. The question remains, however, if the President's ego will let him.
Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
141–150 of 172 posts
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
White culture does not exist.
Black culture does not exist. Is this statement morally equivalent? Why or why not?
I don't think this is a moral question, but rather a question of reality. Black culture does not exist globally. Black culture of the United States does exist, because black people in the U.S. have a common history and common societal experience that binds them together.
White people are too diverse a group to have one single culture. I am white and not from the U.S. Based on these facts people cannot guess what my values are, what my traditions are, whether people of my ethnicity were ever opressed or were the opressors, or even what language I speak, or what religion I have. Hence the term "white culture" does not make sense.
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is certainly not true. In the US, republicans control the presidency and congress. It means that somewhere around 50% of american people believe that the rich should be taxed much less. I believe a similar fraction of European countries believe that too. The rich (whether they're on the left or on the right) have a massive impact on the media. Think Rupert Murdoch, think Oprah. There are 27 billionaires in Swede…
In Sweden, you will pay 58% from your every Swedish krona for monthly salary above 55000 SEK (6873 USD). So social-democrats believe you are already rich having monthly income just above 6873 USD. At that level of income you have absolutely no vote over majority and you have zero lobby power and you obviously don't control any media. Having that level of income is already not normal and according to social-democrats…
Classic "squeezed middle"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-class_squeeze
"I honestly do NOT believe that I owe anything to poor people."
Every human is capable of making a contribution to society, those like you who are more capable than most (and have been given the opportunity to immigrate, in your case) have a joint responsibility to pay things forward and ensure that others are given the opportunity and support needed to be all they can be. That's how a healthy society works.
Exaggerating to make a point: Mark Zuckerberg wouldn't be a billionaire for long if every Facebook user starved to death or couldn't afford internet access. Being the only one in your village who can afford a fancy car makes you feel good. Being the only one in your village who can afford to eat makes you feel awful. The problem is that billionaires increasingly don't live in the same villages, or indeed the same planet, as those they depend on for their wealth.
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
White culture does not exist.
I don't find statements like that particularly helpful. It is fair to say that most organised attempts to advocate for 'White Culture' -such as White Pride events and a staggering proportion of 'European Students Associations' etc are explicitly racist in practice. This by itself should be concerning enough to lead observers to scrutinise very carefully organisations or publications devoted to securing 'White Culture…
This is a factual statement. But I see how it can be seen as an emotionally charged one.
White people are too ambigously defined a group to have one common culture. Hence the term is nonsense.
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's one thing to consider problems that might be in play if a bare majority had arbitrary power. ..... including the United States The last election for the POTUS had the declared winner elected by an overall loss of 3mm votes. The UK is plowing ahead with a hard brexit with a 52% majority on a 72% turnout (38% of the electorate explicitly said they wanted to leave), with a minority government propped up by a brib…
> The UK is plowing ahead with a hard brexit with a 52% majority on a 72% turnout (38% of the electorate explicitly said they wanted to leave) I hate this argument because you would just not count if brexit had been rejected as you wish it had been. You would just say "sigh it's normal, i'm happy people are not that stupid" and you wouldn't bother arguing with "stupid people". Even if i wanted to argue on that level,…
> I hate this argument because you would just not count if Brexit had been rejected as you wish it had been.
That's absolutely not true. I never said that Brexit shouldn't happen based on that majority. I was simply pointing out that a bare majority in this case _has_ provided arbitrary power. Reading anything further into my comment is disingenuous.
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#146This position is about intelligence oversight. What's the link with being harsh on Google and Amazon? What the article makes it sound like is that Thiel is against forms of censorship at the level of companies like Google and Amazon, which in a way is fine, right? (Or maybe I misunderstood?). Also it sounds like Thiel would very much want to limit the role of the NSA in matters of domestic privacy, which is kind of w…
> EDIT: ok - whoever downvotes this - please send a comment regarding why you think my comment is inappropriate / not interesting?
Not me, but:
> What the article makes it sound like is that Thiel is against forms of censorship at the level of companies like Google and Amazon, which in a way is fine, right? (Or maybe I misunderstood?).
He's on the board of Facebook, and I don't think I'm pessimistic in assuming that will be a executive factor in his actions.
I also don't think it's unreasonable to suggest he's only being considered for his support and donations to Trump, not for his qualifications (like most Trump appointees).
> Also it sounds like Thiel would very much want to limit the role of the NSA in matters of domestic privacy, which is kind of what everybody wanted Obama to do.
I don't believe anyone is hesitant out of dislike of the concept, but clouded judgement of the individual.
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's one thing to consider problems that might be in play if a bare majority had arbitrary power. ..... including the United States The last election for the POTUS had the declared winner elected by an overall loss of 3mm votes. The UK is plowing ahead with a hard brexit with a 52% majority on a 72% turnout (38% of the electorate explicitly said they wanted to leave), with a minority government propped up by a brib…
> The UK is plowing ahead with a hard brexit with a 52% majority on a 72% turnout (38% of the electorate explicitly said they wanted to leave), with a minority government propped up by a bribe with a minor political party from Northern Ireland. Well, that's how referendums work, there is never 100% turnout. So the amount of people who votes constitute the "100%" and you only need 51% of that to win a referendum. Your…
The US presidential elections, referendums and UK parliament elections can't be compared equally, so extending the logic like that doesn't make sense.
For the POTUS elections, trump lost on a count of just shy of 2.9million votes, but won by the electoral college.
By applying that logic to the brexit referendum, breaking up over the 5 countries that voted (england, scotland, NI, wales, gibralter) remain would have won. By dividing up the 382 counting areas [0] I'm sure you get a different result too.
For a UK parliament vote, I'm not sure on what the result would be if you took a voter turnout by percentage across the countries, and then evenly distributed the MPs based on those number of votes, but I'm sure someone has done the analysis somewhere.
To go back on topic, my point was (supposed to be) more about how a tyranny of the majority can happen, and does happen, in western countries (with some slightly alternative points such as the fact that majorities aren't always majorities)
[0] https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-s...
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's one thing to consider problems that might be in play if a bare majority had arbitrary power. ..... including the United States The last election for the POTUS had the declared winner elected by an overall loss of 3mm votes. The UK is plowing ahead with a hard brexit with a 52% majority on a 72% turnout (38% of the electorate explicitly said they wanted to leave), with a minority government propped up by a brib…
> The last election for the POTUS had the declared winner elected by an overall loss of 3mm votes. Well, one way to address the problem of the tyranny of the majority is to make minority rule plausible. :b > to say that that you require a "supermajority" in most western countries isn't strictly true. A supermajority isn't necessary for many things; a plurality will do for a lot of operations, including becoming POTUS…
> Well, one way to address the problem of the tyranny of the majority is to make minority rule plausible. :b
It is in some places - the UK had it in 2010, and technically has it right now too. You can't really do miniority rule in a two party system though.
> a plurality will do for a lot of operations,
a plurality in a two party system seems ironic to me, but I understand your point.
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is certainly not true. In the US, republicans control the presidency and congress. It means that somewhere around 50% of american people believe that the rich should be taxed much less. I believe a similar fraction of European countries believe that too. The rich (whether they're on the left or on the right) have a massive impact on the media. Think Rupert Murdoch, think Oprah. There are 27 billionaires in Swede…
In Sweden, you will pay 58% from your every Swedish krona for monthly salary above 55000 SEK (6873 USD). So social-democrats believe you are already rich having monthly income just above 6873 USD. At that level of income you have absolutely no vote over majority and you have zero lobby power and you obviously don't control any media. Having that level of income is already not normal and according to social-democrats…
Look, if they had you pay 40% you'd only make 18k more per year on every 100k over the limit. Yes, that's a significant number, but it's not life-changing either.
Will that change your motivation? Are you demotivated because you earn 18k less than what you could earn in a more liberal country? I don't think so!
You're not pissed about the actual numbers, you're pissed because of the principles...
Re: Is Trump mulling Peter Thiel for a top intelligence advisory post?
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is certainly not true. In the US, republicans control the presidency and congress. It means that somewhere around 50% of american people believe that the rich should be taxed much less. I believe a similar fraction of European countries believe that too. The rich (whether they're on the left or on the right) have a massive impact on the media. Think Rupert Murdoch, think Oprah. There are 27 billionaires in Swede…
In Sweden, you will pay 58% from your every Swedish krona for monthly salary above 55000 SEK (6873 USD). So social-democrats believe you are already rich having monthly income just above 6873 USD. At that level of income you have absolutely no vote over majority and you have zero lobby power and you obviously don't control any media. Having that level of income is already not normal and according to social-democrats…
> I honestly do NOT believe that I owe anything to poor people. And I'm saying that as a person who born in Uzbekistan and lived in extreme poverty (my income in 2003 was ... 10 USD per month).
May I ask you why you moved to Sweden? or Amsterdam? Where they also have the "Doe Normaal" mindset which you say you take issue with.
You say that you don't believe that you owe anything, but immediately afterwards say that you were poor not even 15 years ago.
Are you absolutely certain that you are 100% responsible for your success, or is it possible that the luxuries of both these "socialist" countries awarded you the opportunities not found in your (original) homeland?
I don't doubt that the tax brackets could be improved, inefficiencies in government could be ironed out, etc, but it's a bit much to criticize two systems that awarded you such success, don't you think?