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Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

theguardian.com

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Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#41

Post by HillaryBriss »

haney wrote: post #28
bluetomcat wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they really cared for the poor, they would diversify their investments both geographically and across many sectors of the real economy in order to restructure it for better efficiency. What they do instead is that they boost their PR image and invest it in the "next big thing" like driverless cars, augmented reality, etc., and these endeavours often fail in a few years time, effectively wasting the capital and dis…

Reminds me of one of my favorite Biden quotes, “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”

good quote. the "it's hard for a rich man to enter heaven" sentiment rewritten in modern language.

i don't have access to their balance sheets and P&L statements, but nowadays i assume most of our well-respected thought-leaders, entertainers, politicians and other public figures are fundamentally fakes and frauds, continually perfecting their SJW cover stories.

and i think they do it as much to fool themselves as to fool the rest of us.

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#42

Post by [deleted] »

coleifer wrote: post #18
HarryHirsch wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd rather say the Church advocates the responsible use of wealth.

Not quite. I don't know what the church is nor can I speak about it's motivation. I'm speaking about the gospel. Matthew 19:23 specifically: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. It's a rare thing for Jesus to make a pronouncement like that in the text. Which leads me to believe it's an important part of his teaching.

[deleted]

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#43

Post by watwut »

"Jesus was a homeless Jew who said it was harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle"

Ok, I agree, but that seem to be unusual take for American nominations. At least my impression was that they did not tend to preach help to poor, rather the opposite.

Did I had wrong impression or is this take really the minority one?

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#44

Post by peterwwillis »

dpeck wrote: post #33
cobookman wrote: post #2

"The city had also made it hard for the church to provide meals for the homeless by requiring costly permits, he said." Is that true?

I don't know SV municipalities specifically, but I'd guess its probably true http://www.newsweek.com/illegal-feed-criminalizing-homeless-... Its been enforced haphazardly in Atlanta over the last couple of years.

Yep.

In Tampa, Food Not Bombs was arrested for not getting a permit for "having an event on public land". http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article1253... even though they've been feeding the homeless there for 10 years. The real cause for the crackdown appears to be when there's some event going on in the city, like football championships, where visibility on the city's homeless problem could be problematic for politicians.

In Orlando, Food Not Bombs also gets arrested for feeding the homeless. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-homeless-feedin...

It was illegal in Fort Lauderdale, until the police arrested a 90 year old man for feeding the homeless. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/12/0... It's probably still illegal, though.

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#45

Post by HillaryBriss »

lawlessone wrote: post #9
justherefortart wrote: post #7

While I'm not a religious person, this is a man whose convictions I can respect. Keep fighting the good fight Gregory, this evil atheist is on your side :-)

He seems like the kind of religious person i wish i seen more of in the world.

they tend to get de-funded, weeded out (and sometimes worse, though i hear such methods as permanent exile, public stockades, stoning and crucifixion are not allowed in Palo Alto at this time.)

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#47

Post by maxxxxx »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #34
coleifer wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sense from reading was that he was upset by what he perceived to be hypocrisy on the part of the wealthy. In that they talked the talk about charity and making the world better, but their actions spoke differently. So liberal words, liberal values being expressed, but pure greed when it mattered.

I commute between New York and the Bay Area, and am consistently struck by how plutocratic of a city San Francisco has become. Most social functions are held in private venues and heavily segregated by race and class. Leaving a charity event, a millionaire will casually step over a homeless person en route to their apartment. They will talk about poverty in Africa and then vote in NIMBYist politicians. A total guttin…

It's a dangerous trend that people with money less and less interact with people with less money. Private schools, super expensive neighborhoods, super expensive gyms, bars and restaurants. These people have the power to influence political decisions but they have no idea how most people live.

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#48

Post by williamscales »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #34
coleifer wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sense from reading was that he was upset by what he perceived to be hypocrisy on the part of the wealthy. In that they talked the talk about charity and making the world better, but their actions spoke differently. So liberal words, liberal values being expressed, but pure greed when it mattered.

I commute between New York and the Bay Area, and am consistently struck by how plutocratic of a city San Francisco has become. Most social functions are held in private venues and heavily segregated by race and class. Leaving a charity event, a millionaire will casually step over a homeless person en route to their apartment. They will talk about poverty in Africa and then vote in NIMBYist politicians. A total guttin…

I couldn't agree with you more. I moved to the Bay Area a few years ago from Vancouver which certainly has its share of extremely wealthy residents and expensive housing problems. I was blown away by the level of social inequality in SF exactly as you describe. In Vancouver, you at least see the rich people partying near you. Perhaps at the next restaurant over on the beach which is much nicer than the one you're at, but the rich don't segregate themselves from the population at large in the same way.

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#49

Post by dnautics »

psychometry wrote: post #11

It's easy to resolve this discrepancy when you realize these people are not actually liberal or progressive.

Is it so strange? The progressive value system very much says that social services should be provided by the state and paid for by taxes. It's not hard to see how this leads to the conclusion that if they're paying taxes then their work on this planet is done. In fact, several progressives including Bernie Sanders have actively campaigned against private charities.

Re: Silicon Valley pastor decries hypocrisy of area's rich liberals

#50

Post by forgottenpass »

RSZC wrote: post #37

https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/65... The posts in question

>Gregory Stevens has a public Twitter account. I thought some of his troubling recent tweets should come to the attention of Palo Alto city leaders and the residents of Palo Alto. []

>Should this type of person and the organization he represents oversee a Palo Alto Community Center?

Haha, wow. Can you get more stereotypical Silicon Valley than running to the nearest authority figure because you don't like someone's opinions and choice of (not even that) strong language?

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