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Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

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Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#151

Post by ryandrake »

mystraline wrote: post #98
terminalshort wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is he going to pay an how is that person going to force me to comply?

Pinkertons. And the US national guard. Its happened before, over labor disputes and unionization. A LOT of people died, both in anti-union and union sides. And thats why we have, well, had, the National Labor Relations Board. It was to make a peaceful way to negotiate worker rights. Maybe if it did go away completely, and the violence comes back, that people in power would be reminded WHY we had union structure and l…

Not to mention Lawyers.

The civil court system is basically a way for wealthy people and corporations to use money to silence and/or coerce behavior out of less wealthy people. If Elon Musk or Larry Ellison woke up one day and decided to sue me, and defending myself would cost 100X my net worth, I'm probably just going to give up and do whatever they want me to do.

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#152

Post by diggyhole »

CyLith wrote: post #137
diggyhole wrote: post #109

Garry has tweeted about the violence his peers have had to endure in SF so I don't blame him for putting his money where is mouth is.

Perhaps he should reflect on why they deserve this violence, instead of giving people more reason for violence against him.

An Indian American man deserved to be smashed in the back of the head with a hammer?

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#153

Post by nkmnz »

cjs_ac wrote: post #96
abtinf wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we need to get money out of politics. We need to get the power out of politics.

Politics is about deciding who gets to exercise power and what they get to do with it. Politics detached from power is just pointless squabbling.

So how about exercising less power?

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#155

Post by Teever »

terminalshort wrote: post #115
femiagbabiaka wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm commenting on one such excess. Here is another: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/31/elon-musk-2026-elec... . The Nazification of X and federal subsidies for Elon's companies are another. There are many more examples. s/relations/elections/ -- because Elon et. al don't just intervene in the elections of the country they live in, but actually any country he's interested in -- and uses the U.S. as a bludgeon in…

How is Elon's editorial control of X something the government needs to (or even should have the power to) "reign in?" How is that not freedom of the press just like the owner of the New York Times having editorial control over his newspaper? Same goes for his donation to the PAC. What is the nefarious activity they are engaged in? Why are they not allowed to exercise their freedom of the press in the same way as any…

What's wrong with a sovereign nation taking steps to reduce or eliminate the influence of a non-citizen who they feel is acting against the best interests of that nation?

If a nuclear capable country like France decides that someone like Elon Musk is acting against the best interests of their country they can ask him nicely to stop and if he continues they can use force to reduce the perceived threat.

This all seems completely in line with the day-to-day norms of contemporary society as well as historical norms.

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#156

Post by Barrin92 »

CodingJeebus wrote: post #45
abtinf wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we need to get money out of politics. We need to get the power out of politics.

What is money if not a proxy of power? If money didn't buy power, no one would be interested in attaining billions in wealth.

>What is money if not a proxy of power?

for a lot of people in the newly rich class, a kind of virtual currency best compared to a high score in a videogame. Symbolic and representing status. It's why when they attempt to translate it into power this particular class thankfully fares fairly badly, from the article:

"TogetherSF, a similar nonprofit backed by venture capitalist Michael Moritz, crashed and burned after the 2024 elections when its $9.5 million ballot measure to reform the city charter lost to a progressive counter-measure backed by about $117,000."

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#157

Post by fff_123l »

The title was changed, but "dark money" has a specific meaning in US politics that is now lost:

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

Such a group is not a PAC or a Super PAC, but anonymizes donors. It can be used as a vehicle to transfer money to a Super PAC while only naming the dark money group and keeping the donors secret.

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#158

Post by xixixao »

abtinf wrote: post #30
andy_ppp wrote: post #5

I think rich people have too much influence, I probably agree with Garry Tan on a lot but we need to get money out of politics. Let’s face it we’re all meant to get one vote but rich people spend money on this stuff so that they manipulate what and who can be voted for. I do think that if this current system is the result of democracy + the internet we need to seriously reconsider how democracy works because it’s cur…

> we need to get money out of politics. We need to get the power out of politics.

All reactions are taking this comment seriously, but I think it can be also read as "money equals power" (which I strongly believe - there's some power without money and sometimes money without power, but mostly those two are fungible) - and then pointing to the futility of getting money out of politics, since politics is about power.

But really what people mean is "prevent paid political advertisement of all kinds", which seems about as hard as "get rid of all kinds of advertisement" - at some point, you're back to power, communication, attention.

Hard problems. Probably there's a reason all ancient democracies did not survive.

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#159

Post by assimpleaspossi »

andy_ppp wrote: post #5

I think rich people have too much influence, I probably agree with Garry Tan on a lot but we need to get money out of politics. Let’s face it we’re all meant to get one vote but rich people spend money on this stuff so that they manipulate what and who can be voted for. I do think that if this current system is the result of democracy + the internet we need to seriously reconsider how democracy works because it’s cur…

You are spot on about rich people buying influence this way but it has nothing to do with how great democracy is.

Re: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics

#160

Post by terminalshort »

oulipo2 wrote: post #116
andy_ppp wrote: post #5

I think rich people have too much influence, I probably agree with Garry Tan on a lot but we need to get money out of politics. Let’s face it we’re all meant to get one vote but rich people spend money on this stuff so that they manipulate what and who can be voted for. I do think that if this current system is the result of democracy + the internet we need to seriously reconsider how democracy works because it’s cur…

Exactly. We should tax billionaires away.

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