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Welcome, ACLU

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Re: Welcome, ACLU

#151

Post by TorKlingberg »

CydeWeys wrote: post #11

I don't know exactly what this means, as the implementation details are hazy, but if this entails substantial support to the ACLU (in terms of lawyers, money, or both), then that is awesome. I donated to the ACLU yesterday and I'm encouraging everyone I know to do the same.

For people outside the US, I believe it is perfectly fine to donate to ACLU, but do check if there is an equivalent organization in your country. For example in the UK there is Liberty (https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/). Threats to human rights are a global problem after all.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#152

Post by jstalin »

muninn_ wrote: post #41

Although I think the American Civil Liberties Union is incredibly valuable and I'm glad they have a lot more money now to fight for the American people, I'm questioning all of this. Where was the outpouring of funding when black people were being gunned down by cops from West Coast organizations? Where has YCombinator been as our own impoverished African-Americans are getting slaughtered in the streets of Chicago? Wh…

Of course you know the answer: The ACLU is a political organization.

Edit: Not a peep out of the ACLU when the Obama administration permanently ended the Cuban refugee program and many refugees in Mexico are now being deported back to Cuba because there is no chance of them being accepted in the US. 60 day pause on refugees from seven middle-eastern countries identified and signed into law by the Obama administration? MELTDOWN.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#153

Post by diydsp »

muninn_ wrote: post #41

Although I think the American Civil Liberties Union is incredibly valuable and I'm glad they have a lot more money now to fight for the American people, I'm questioning all of this. Where was the outpouring of funding when black people were being gunned down by cops from West Coast organizations? Where has YCombinator been as our own impoverished African-Americans are getting slaughtered in the streets of Chicago? Wh…

https://www.aclu.org/blog/speakeasy/ferguson-everytown-usa

https://www.aclu.org/feature/aclu-response-ferguson

Ferguson and related issues are important and the ACLU did respond in important ways I referenced above.

However, we're now seeing an umbrella of issues targeting an even larger number of groups of people.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#154

Post by maxerickson »

andy_ppp wrote: post #146

There are quite a few comments by presumably more right wing people marked as dead here. Excluding these people from debate this way makes hacker news less useful IMO. Why not make constructive criticism instead of downvoting, I realise it's easier...

It's flags that kill comments, not downvotes.

None of the flagged comments (at the moment) are constructive. There's one other dead comment that hit another filter, it hasn't been flagged.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#155

Post by jacquesm »

muninn_ wrote: post #41

Although I think the American Civil Liberties Union is incredibly valuable and I'm glad they have a lot more money now to fight for the American people, I'm questioning all of this. Where was the outpouring of funding when black people were being gunned down by cops from West Coast organizations? Where has YCombinator been as our own impoverished African-Americans are getting slaughtered in the streets of Chicago? Wh…

By your reckoning everybody that was standing by the sidelines should forever do so. Better to turn late than not at all, and YC and immigration policies are quite strongly linked, YC and people being gunned down in the streets less so.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#156

Post by justin66 »

vermontdevil wrote: post #43
monochromatic wrote: post #33

The ACLU sometimes supports a worthy cause, but it's basically just a left-leaning political organization. I understand that's particularly trendy right now, and anyone who supports Trump is a pariah in Silicon Valley... but come on. Would YC be donating directly to the Democratic party if that got the same favorable tax treatment?

left-leaning? Supporting the Constitution is left-leaning? Sign me up! And yes they don't defend the 2nd amendment because there are already two large organizations focused on that.

> And yes they don't defend the 2nd amendment because there are already two large organizations focused on that.

I think it's accurate to say that the lawyers at ACLU have a position on the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment (viewable on their website) which is not consistent with the views commonly offered by the NRA. The ACLU would only go to court to help fight a 2nd Amendment violation where they believed one existed, so that's part of the difference.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#157

Post by jonstewart »

Thank you, YC! Hopefully your contribution outweighs the money Peter Thiel has made from his investments at YC so that there's a net gain for human rights and civil liberties.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#158

Post by muninn_ »

becarefulyo wrote: post #78
muninn_ wrote: post #41

Although I think the American Civil Liberties Union is incredibly valuable and I'm glad they have a lot more money now to fight for the American people, I'm questioning all of this. Where was the outpouring of funding when black people were being gunned down by cops from West Coast organizations? Where has YCombinator been as our own impoverished African-Americans are getting slaughtered in the streets of Chicago? Wh…

So your argument is that if you didn't do what was right before, you shouldn't do what's right now?

The other problems still exist and in my opinion are far worse. My argument is that we should prioritize problems like those over the current outcry.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#159

Post by gtaylor »

wtvanhest wrote: post #3

I remember when HN did not have a political agenda. Right or wrong, this used to be mainly about startups. Now its become a highly political message board

Being indifferent and taking our (US) liberties for granted have landed us in a tough spot. While it isn't ideal for YC to have to get involved, it's going to be a knock-down-drag-out to prevent as much damage as we can. This is probably going to be annoying to a subset of the users here that don't care or who support the current administration. There is no pleasing everyone. But YC is an org in the US, and will be affected by what is happening.

I was very happy to see YC do their part in what will be a 4-8 year (at least) battle of attrition and will. The ACLU is one of the best advocates for the people, in a country where corporate and religious lobbying trumps most.

Re: Welcome, ACLU

#160

Post by JCzynski »

AsyncAwait wrote: post #55
monochromatic wrote: post #33

The ACLU sometimes supports a worthy cause, but it's basically just a left-leaning political organization. I understand that's particularly trendy right now, and anyone who supports Trump is a pariah in Silicon Valley... but come on. Would YC be donating directly to the Democratic party if that got the same favorable tax treatment?

The ACLU tends to not pick political sides.

This has been decreasingly true in recent years, in fairness. They've still been standing up for the principles of a liberal society consistently, but it's gotten polarized like everything else.
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