Resignation Letter • Hacker News Board

Re: Resignation Letter

#171

Post by PhineasRex » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:34 PM UTC

throwaway894345 wrote: post #107

slg wrote: post #5

It always amazes me when the people who champion "the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society" will also turn around and say something like their political beliefs being mocking by coworkers is "unlawful discrimination". She doesn't want free speech. She wants consequence free speech. She wants her detractors silenced by the law. What a hypocrite.

I don't understand why she's such a polarizing figure. In particular, the criticisms I've heard from her and other free-speech advocates amount to "anyone who supports free speech but also exercises their own free speech rights to criticize others is a hypocrite". I understand that it's confusing to distinguish between "criticism" and "suppression of speech" (e.g., campaigning to get someone fired from their job), bu…

Several NYT employees have come out with stories of Bari trying to get them fired for disagreeing with her and she has publicly joined or led campaigns to get people fired from other organizations. Here's a good overview of her involvement in censorship campaigns: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/08/the-nyts-bari-weiss-fals...

Re: Resignation Letter

#172

Post by starpilot » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:34 PM UTC

alecb wrote: post #4

There's several layers of irony here, chief of which Bari Weiss headed a very vocal campaign to fire anyone at Colombia who didn't exist on the far-right on Israel/Palestine - and of course, falsely painted several professors as racist and anti-Semitic: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/08/the-nyts-bari-weiss-fals...

You mean Columbia?

Re: Resignation Letter

#173

Post by ReptileMan » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

jakelazaroff wrote: post #25

ReptileMan wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the Tom Cotton op ed drama was literally this.

Tom Cotton is a sitting US Senator. Denying him op–ed space is in no way tantamount to "silencing" him.

The editor was fired

Re: Resignation Letter

#174

Post by quotemstr » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

tomjakubowski wrote: post #162

mellosouls wrote: post #28

There seems to be more and more public acknowledgement (and in fora like this one) of the myriad leftist 1984-style attacks we are currently witnessing - every bit as bad as the McCarthy era led by the right. As appalling as the behaviour of these people is, that growing awareness can only be a good thing.

Your coworkers and people on Twitter making fun of you isn't comparable to McCarthyism.

Being barred from employment in your industry due to your non-work-related political opinion and affiliations is literally McCarthyism though.

Re: Resignation Letter

#175

Post by solvorn » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

The left: Jews are white, not oppressed The right: Jews aren’t white, not oppressed And you wonder why we generally are moderates.

Re: Resignation Letter

#176

Post by herbstein » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

some-guy wrote: post #109

mellosouls wrote: post #28

There seems to be more and more public acknowledgement (and in fora like this one) of the myriad leftist 1984-style attacks we are currently witnessing - every bit as bad as the McCarthy era led by the right. As appalling as the behaviour of these people is, that growing awareness can only be a good thing.

The woke-left isn't going around arresting people, nor do they have much (if any) influence in high levels of government.

[flagged]

Re: Resignation Letter

#177

Post by threatofrain » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

mikece wrote: post #3

"Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at [the New York Times]: that truth isn't a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else." This is a very key point, and what are the consequences of "informing everyone of a truth" that doesn't accurately reflect -- of even contradicts! -- reality? Harm to the reput…

If you contradict yourself, provide an image that you along with the experts are figuring out the truth, then you could possibly do more to damage your credibility than if you had instead just endlessly projected strength until your successor forcibly took you down in their own endless display of indomitable leadership.

When uncertainty and fear strikes people want strong leadership, not one that is still doing research to figure out what's next (even if that's a strong move).

Re: Resignation Letter

#178

Post by monksy » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

ngngngng wrote: post #47

jgwil2 wrote: post #14

> Americans still hunger for news that is accurate, opinions that are vital, and debate that is sincere. The market would suggest otherwise.

Completely disagree. And I think Joe Rogan's podcast is the perfect example of how the market is suggesting exactly what you replied to. "Normal Americans" don't read the NYT anymore, or WSJ, or the Post, they listen to Joe Rogan on Spotify and Youtube. There's virtually no limit to who Joe will have on his show, and while he's not a remarkable interviewer, he brings the often vital opinions of his guests on all side…

And for that there are still people that try to paint him as alt right. (Because he has had some alt right people interviewed on there)

He's still going because he has had an independent publishing platform and he's not dependent on a media network to survive. If someone else were to do the same thing.. they couldn't survive.

Re: Resignation Letter

#179

Post by seibelj » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

minikites wrote: post #154

eej71 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the Tom Cotton op-ed and didn't find any racist element to it. It would be interesting to have you highlight which paragraph was racist in your eyes.

You don't think the entire op-ed that consists of "send in the military to slaughter tens of thousands of people protesting institutional racism" is racist?

58% of Americans supported sending in the military to stop looting and property destruction, including 37% of African Americans (a sizable minority). I would assume they wanted to prevent the city being burnt down rather than stop non-violent protests.

https://www.newsweek.com/majority-americans-support-calling-...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/06/02/58-o...

When the protests are peaceful, you don't need to send in military. When the city is burning, it could be a solution. I don't agree with sending them in, but a strong majority of Americans did.

Re: Resignation Letter

#180

Post by duxup » Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

mikece wrote: post #3

"Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at [the New York Times]: that truth isn't a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else." This is a very key point, and what are the consequences of "informing everyone of a truth" that doesn't accurately reflect -- of even contradicts! -- reality? Harm to the reput…

How do we determine that though?

I say it is way too easy to BELIEVE that the motives of people who do things we don't like ... are wrong / they're pushing a POV.

I see these types of accusations thrown around a lot, even on HN, "oh this writer doesn't like Tesla" and I very rarely see anything but what appears to be an emotional appeal to others who don't like that news story.

It's just so easy to think someone else must have some ulterior motive, otherwise they wouldn't logically have come to that conclusion...