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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

#161

Post by femiagbabiaka »

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…

1. X is not, and has never been, "the press". 2. If you were to have categorized them this way previously, botting and pay-for-reach have made it definitely not that way now. 3. It is bad when any individual can shift the politics of the entire globe simply because they have enough money. Feel free to insert your most hated left-wing billionaire instead of Elon, I still believe the same thing.

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

#162

Post by NedF »

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…

[dead]

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

#163

Post by a_t48 »

w4yai wrote: post #127
jandrewrogers wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has proven to be a disaster in practice. See also: California.

Wrong. It has actually been scientifically proven otherwise in crowd theory : with the right setup, the crowd is more effective to take a good decision that the top1 best decision maker. Exemple : a crowd playing chess may beat the top1 chess player, even though the crowd individually cannot beat him.

A crowd playing chess can absolutely not beat a top chess player.

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

#164

Post by terminalshort »

bpodgursky wrote: post #97
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…

If rich techies had too much influence in California, the state government would not look like what it does. I mean I just don't see how you get to this opinion after any real review of the evidence.

[flagged]

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

#165

Post by jemmyw »

thomassmith65 wrote: post #106
terminalshort wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So do you believe in democracy or not? And I do not mean this as a loaded question because the value of democracy is a legitimately arguable point. If the majority of Californians want caps on property tax, then I do not see a good argument that they should not get it that is also compatible with democracy.

If you put a question to the electorate like 'should we tax only people whose last name begins with an X, Y or Z?' , it's liable to pass. Nobody really advocates for Direct Democracy. It isn't viable: 'tyranny of the majority' etc. Most Western governments are Liberal Democracies - where some issues aren't subject to a vote - partly so that the mob can't persecute outnumbered subgroups.

That is highly unlikely. People may seem stupid when acting as a larger group, but I think part of that is that our current democracy doesn't require much engagement. If we moved to direct democracy then imo we'd get some bad policies that would quickly be reverted once the effects become apparent, and then voters are going to be a bit more careful. For example, "only taxing people whose last name begins with X, Y, Z", I don't think voters would currently be that dumb, but if they were then how many weeks of zero tax money would it take to get that undone?

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

#166

Post by andy_ppp »

terminalshort wrote: post #56
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…

How do you define "manipulate" here?

There are great tools available that I’m sure you could use to give you a synopsis of how money is used to manipulate political outcomes and entrench wealth and power.

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

#167

Post by amarcheschi »

terminalshort wrote: post #131
bhouston wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet Garry Tan will find that going after him for the wealth tax won’t poll well so he will find a different angle. Thus it won’t be a debate about a wealth tax, it will just be the standard make your opponent look bad in order to unseat him. For example: https://nypost.com/2026/02/01/us-news/stunning-number-of-cal...

Ok, so what is the problem here? Why can't Gary Tan engage in standard political activity like anybody else? This is his fundamental right as a citizen of a democracy.

The more money you have, the more means you have to engage in political activity not like anybody else but with a weight which far exceeds one

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

#169

Post by bhouston »

terminalshort wrote: post #131
bhouston wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet Garry Tan will find that going after him for the wealth tax won’t poll well so he will find a different angle. Thus it won’t be a debate about a wealth tax, it will just be the standard make your opponent look bad in order to unseat him. For example: https://nypost.com/2026/02/01/us-news/stunning-number-of-cal...

Ok, so what is the problem here? Why can't Gary Tan engage in standard political activity like anybody else? This is his fundamental right as a citizen of a democracy.

The issue is unlimited spending. Rich people can tilt the political system to benefit themselves by their ability to spend unlimited and then push for things that enrich themselves like lower taxes that doesn’t benefit society at large.

The biggest example of this in the US is the health system that is more expensive and has worse outcomes than other countries. There is a huge and growing gap in the us between ultra wealthy and the rest of the population and it is a virtuous circle for the ultra wealthy with their ability to spend unlimited in politics.

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

#170

Post by lvass »

drecked wrote: post #113
terminalshort wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So do you believe in democracy or not? And I do not mean this as a loaded question because the value of democracy is a legitimately arguable point. If the majority of Californians want caps on property tax, then I do not see a good argument that they should not get it that is also compatible with democracy.

Democracy != Direct voting. It’s never meant that. So people can “believe” in Democracy just fine and still think direct voting is bad. Also, Democracy doesn’t even mean “if a majority of people believe X, therefore X”.

False, cf. ancient Athens.
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