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Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

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Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#171

Post by direwolf20 »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #149
JasonADrury wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> were there any better was to destroy or at least massively weaken Hamas? Perhaps not pursuing policies that create the conditions for Hamas to thrive in the first place?

> Perhaps not pursuing policies that create the conditions for Hamas to thrive in the first place? That sounds pretty easy when you're not involved, but things on the ground are rarely that simple. Much of Israeli society is convinced (somewhat accurately) that the Palestinians hate them and want them dead, as much of Palestinian society is convinced of the same (again, somewhat accurately). I don't know how you get…

Benjamin Netanyahu literally made Hamas rise to power, on purpose, because he needed Gaza to look evil and they were getting too peaceful.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#172

Post by direwolf20 »

adastra22 wrote: post #133
mfru wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(1) The answer is simple: Stop the genocide in Gaza by any means necessary. The US has the power to do that with its proxy Israel. (2) Reading that I wonder if you also supported violent dismissals of Vietnam war protests

Not what I was asking about. What should Israel have done in response to Oct 7th? What would be the downstream effects? What should a country do when a neighbor invades and massacres entire towns, live-streaming the violent deaths and rapes for the world to see? What is the correct response to this? You have clearly not thought through the game theory and repercussions of what you are suggesting. Like many college pr…

What should Palestine have done in response to Oct 6th?

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#173

Post by JumpCrisscross »

direwolf20 wrote: post #166
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bad characterization. I’d personally put myself in this camp. I think what Israel is doing is horrible. But the us-versus-them dynamic in the American Palestinian-activist community is exhausting. Furthermore, it is focused on personal showboating—messaging and rallying—versus helping anyone on the ground. So I’m continuing to focus on Ukraine, my pet war, and northern Ethiopia, my pet FP issue. I’ve been able to mat…

Please explain the us–versus–them dynamic you referred to?

> Please explain the us–versus–them dynamic you referred to?

The tendency to tar and feather anyone who doesn’t 100% agree with one as a Zionist. (Which, in these circles, carries the same weight as being a bona fide racist.)

This memorably presented itself a few months ago when folks—potentially on the way to changing their minds—would be called Nazis for referring to the war as a war, as if a genocide within a war is somehow inconceivable.

Absolute morality rallies the base. It doesn’t usually convert moderates. And the situation in Gaza defies absolute morality.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#174

Post by embedding-shape »

dylan604 wrote: post #161
embedding-shape wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is a reward for achieving a place on the Olympic team. Well, that makes it seem like this isn't a donation then at all, if you need to "achieve a place on the Olympic team"? I thought this was given for people to be able to better reach that, not as a "reward". This is a "prize" it seems to me, not a "donation".

It really seems like you're intentionally trying to strain definition of words. What is a prize if not a reward?

Sure, prize and award is the same, you're missing my point.

The title right now is "Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k", while after our conversation, it's pretty clear that this isn't a donation at all, it's a prize/reward for doing something specific. If you don't do that thing, you (and your family once you die) don't get the prize/reward.

Not only is the whole "once you die" part really strange way of trying to "reward" people, it isn't even a "donation" which the article seems to want you to believe.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#175

Post by ex-aws-dude »

conductr wrote: post #45
ex-aws-dude wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if he retains the money while its growing wouldn't that result in capital gains? You can't claim a donation while still holding onto the money?

He'll donate to a trust/non-profit he controls that will direct the investment. That allows him to take the tax benefit today and keep the money

But once its in a non-profit you can't just take it back out for personal use can you?

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#176

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

adastra22 wrote: post #160
disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that a better response would have been much, much more targeted. Strategically, Israel have put themselves in a much worse position vis a vis the rest of the world (and importantly the US) by the indiscriminate leveling of Gaza. So it would have been much more like a police action than a war. Maybe take lessons (god I can't believe I'm saying this) from how the British responded to the nationalist terrorism/f…

Targeted urban warfare is exactly what happened in Gaza, which had one of the LOWEST civilian death rates for urban warfare in this century. It was 1/4 that rate of the US army in fallujah for example. Talk of “genocide” and “indiscriminate leveling of Gaza” indicates to me that you didn’t really understand the situation and probably get your news from propaganda sources - which, unfortunately, include nearly all med…

> which had one of the LOWEST civilian death rates for urban warfare in this century

Can you provide some evidence for this statement?

EDIT: removed everything except this statement, as I feel it will lead to less productive conversation.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#177

Post by mhb »

direwolf20 wrote: post #172
adastra22 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not what I was asking about. What should Israel have done in response to Oct 7th? What would be the downstream effects? What should a country do when a neighbor invades and massacres entire towns, live-streaming the violent deaths and rapes for the world to see? What is the correct response to this? You have clearly not thought through the game theory and repercussions of what you are suggesting. Like many college pr…

What should Palestine have done in response to Oct 6th?

Maybe you should be asking what it should have done on September 13, 2000.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#178

Post by direwolf20 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #173
direwolf20 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please explain the us–versus–them dynamic you referred to?

> Please explain the us–versus–them dynamic you referred to? The tendency to tar and feather anyone who doesn’t 100% agree with one as a Zionist. (Which, in these circles, carries the same weight as being a bona fide racist.) This memorably presented itself a few months ago when folks—potentially on the way to changing their minds—would be called Nazis for referring to the war as a war, as if a genocide within a war…

Don't you see the same problems with Ukraine and Ethiopia? I've seen if you don't 100% agree with a Ukraine supporter they call you a Putin bootlicker, a Russian bot, a Nazi, and so on.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#179

Post by dlubarov »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #148
JasonADrury wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> were there any better was to destroy or at least massively weaken Hamas? Perhaps not pursuing policies that create the conditions for Hamas to thrive in the first place?

Also avoiding literally supporting Hamas would help weaken Hamas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_support_for_Hamas

Wikipedia has become a very poor source for anything Israel-related. The basis of the article is just

- Israel supported a non-violent predecessor org, which is pretty irrelevant to Hamas.

- Israel allowed Qatari aid to fund some Gaza infrastructure projects, salaries for civil servants, etc.

Neither is actually supporting Hamas, unless we say that allowing food to enter Gaza is also supporting Hamas.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#180

Post by dlubarov »

direwolf20 wrote: post #169
adastra22 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(1) If you are going to protest something, you need to show up with an answer to the question: “well, what should they have done?” (2) That doesn’t matter to the situation at hand. The protests on college campuses got WAY out of hand and disrupted the purpose of the institution: teaching.

Western Palestine protestors want their countries to stop giving stuff to Israel. That's a very achievable goal. It would be good if the war stopped, but most of them recognize they only have influence over their own countries.

If that was what they actually wanted, why did none of them seem to care when Netanyahu proposed tapering off of US aid, or when a credible ceasefire agreement was finally being negotiated?

When opportunities arose to achieve the outcomes they were supposedly fighting for, they were suddenly very quiet.

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