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Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

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Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#241

Post by zaroth »

Rapzid wrote: post #178
RealGeek wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure he'll see a very significant ROI on his $1M once the government starts awarding contracts very conveniently to companies of which he owns a portion. Wasn't Trump rallying against such crony corruption aka 'pay for play'?

If we believe all the recently headlines about who he's bringing in it appears pure "pay to play". Lots of individuals who Trump "owes" through either money or support they provided to him; pure cronyism. I'm not sure Trump realizes what worked best in business, or what he felt worked best for him in what business he has done, is not necessarily best for operating policy. I'm not sure he cares. I suspect he might tho…

Ok, it is a skill keeping a train of thought going with those camera shutters going off 50 times a second. [1]

I didn't see what you saw, but Trump sure looks tired. Anyone would be, I have no idea how they keep the pace they do. Oldest President-elect in history.

My first executive order as President of the United States would be to ban camera shutters at my press conferences.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWs4RzoPP6M

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#243

Post by lucio »

ForrestN wrote: post #94

Is there a kind of "political correctness" that refuses the acknowledgment of facts and likelihoods that sound similar to irrational dismissal? Does that kind prevent people from hearing the following things which I think most people would agree to be true? -Donald Trump says he wants to completely deregulate the banking industry, which will most likely, in the long term, lead to a crisis on par with or greater than…

It seems that if you oppose an elected government, as in "muster all of its leverage, economic and otherwise, in the fight to curtail the power of Thiel's organization (The Trump Administration)", you're opposing democracy.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#244

Post by prokes »

Frondo wrote: post #56
overgard wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The right thing". Tolerance means recognizing that people have different world views than your own. Sometimes the people you do business with have political opinions you don't agree with. The melodrama over Thiel's political opinions is pointless. If you demand Thiel steps down, are you personally just going to stop doing business with 49% of the country that voted differently? Personally I lean liberal, but I'm pre…

Tolerance means you aren't jailing people with different views than your own. Tolerance means you aren't out beating people up for having different views. Tolerance isn't about putting on a happy face and doing business with someone whose views you find odious. If people are no longer free to use words or social stigma to advance their views and opinion, because "tolerance," then what do we have left?

>>Tolerance isn't about putting on a happy face and doing business with someone whose views you find odious.

By this definition, business owners in Indiana who don't support gay marriage could legally not serve those customers. Is that the world we want?

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#245

Post by smogcutter »

overgard wrote: post #26
_pius wrote: post #2

Meanwhile, Trump's already got an RFS in waiting: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-says-he-... https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/ The longer YC waits to do the right thing on this, the worse it will get.

"The right thing". Tolerance means recognizing that people have different world views than your own. Sometimes the people you do business with have political opinions you don't agree with. The melodrama over Thiel's political opinions is pointless. If you demand Thiel steps down, are you personally just going to stop doing business with 49% of the country that voted differently? Personally I lean liberal, but I'm pre…

In other words, shut up and get along.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#247

Post by tomhoward »

Retric wrote: post #200
tomhoward wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tolerance is compassion. It means seeking the deeper truth beneath the words and actions, to understand the fundamental reasons. It's true that few of us have the time and energy to dig through all the bullshit and achieve understanding of everyone we find abhorrent. But where we are able to do so, we usually learn some important things about others and about ourselves - mostly, that when it comes down to it, we all…

This is based on the assumption that understanding someone is enough to accept them. I disagree, cannibalism is just one example of things people do where understanding and accepting are very different. PS: Some people really don't care about safety others don't care about love.

Of course there are extremes. The Gaussian distribution is a natural phenomenon. But this discussion is about the ~50% of voters who supported Trump, because rightly or wrongly, they believe his leadership will provide them with a safer and more prosperous future than those of the alternative candidate.

You can disagree with their decision whilst still empathising with their reasons. Indeed you must, if you're ever going to persuade anyone to change their position.

Though you're poisoning the discussion by invoking cannibalism, it's easy to see that in primitive societies where it was accepted, it was due to a need for safety (from hunger) and love (from participating a communal ritual). Of course we find it abhorrent now, I certainly do. But I can understand why it would have been acceptable to people in a time and place where there seemed no alternative.

Equally, we would all hope and expect that where others find our opinions and actions abhorrent (and in a huge and diverse world, someone always will), that they will seek understanding before abusing or marginalising us.

> PS: Some people really don't care about safety others don't care about love.

When I've actually dug deeply into that question, I've never found it to be true. The people who, on the surface, seem not to care about being loved, actually turn out to be the ones who crave it the most. Just look into the life story of any psychopath or tyrant, and you'll inevitably find stories of abuse and/or emotional neglect in childhood.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#249

Post by knz »

generic_user wrote: post #232
knz wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and yet, 99% of you are frothing at the mouth over a man who said bad words 18 years ago. There are multiple reports and videos of crowds at his rallies chanting "Kill the bitch, "Hang the bitch", and "Lock her up". Trump knew this and condoned the behaviour. He has actively singled out members of the "corrupt media". I can respect political differences but this is not normal behaviour for a healthy democracy. It's…

The DNC was caught red handed funding political operatives to organise and fund protests at trump events that started the violent riots that unfolded. There is numerous videos of Trump supporters being assaulted by Democratic thugs. And at this very moment protest organised by MoveOn.org are smashing windows and starting fires in Oakland, LA, NY and other Democrat controlled cities. I do not see any healthy democrati…

I don't disagree re the DNC but do feel there is a difference between scuffles at a protest and openly condoning violence against specific people over multiple months.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#250

Post by whyenot »

skewart wrote: post #160
woofyman wrote: post #95

I don't understand how a gay man can support a political party who's platform wants to reverse marriage equality.

Just because he's gay doesn't mean he supports marriage equality. Given Thiel's political views I would guess that he thinks that the government shouldn't care about _anyone's_ marriage, gay or straight. So rather than fight for marriage equality for gay couples he'd fight for marriage deregulation for everyone, including straight couples (e.g. no special tax treatment, no special legal protections for spouses).

He has been publicly and actively in favor of marriage equality at least going back to 2010, if not earlier.
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