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LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

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Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#291

I’m confused. So YC kicked out the guy who complained about it on Twitter and not the people who advocated for lying to skip lines? Wtf?

The guy who advocated getting the vaccine has chimed in with his side of the story elsewhere in these comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27400221 It makes sense because in some states its been basically any adult can walk in and get a shot for months already. I'm surprised there is anywhere in the country left where that is not the case.

[deleted]

Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am also super interested in the answer to this particular question. I know a lot of people who waited for surplus/standby shots at the end of the day outside clinics in SF. Anecdotally, a lot of my coworkers got early vaccines that way. As a non-essential worker with no risk factors, I felt that my contribution to the pandemic was to stay home and wait until my turn. I did, by the way, wait until the vaccine was ge…

I would feel guilt if me waiting in line before becoming eligible resulted in another person being turned away at a busy vaccine site - even if I didn’t have to technically lie about my eligibility. Even if I’m iffy on the morality now, I don’t want to look back 20 years later as a different person, thinking about how, as a healthy young person, I cut in front of the eligible. Would that person who was turned away be…

I’d feel guilty, but it’s hard for me to get upset about other people skipping the line for the vaccine. Sure there are higher risks for certain people, and in a perfect world. But it’s hard for people to not be self-interested in their health.

And in public policy, the long game is always the important one. People will always cheat, and you have to decide what level of enforcement generates the most social good. Too much enforcement of welfare fraud leaves children hungry; too little enforcement gives out-of-state prisoners free money.

So here, since everyone needed to be vaccinated eventually, we really only needed the appearance of enforcement. Honestly, having rich people cheat only made vaccines more desirable, which in the long term may lead to a higher overall vaccination rate. I mean, if politicians and VCs and the elite all want it ASAP, maybe it’s safe for almost everyone?

Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#294

I'm the person this original tweet was about. None of you know any of the internal details but what I can state is that Paul has no idea what he's talking about and later admits to the fact I wasn't lying. Here's the order of events: 1. I went to a neighborhood clinic in Oakland, CA that's literally next door to my house, I can see the church from my window. Paul lives in NYC which is on the opposite end of the count…

Well, if Paul was mistaken, then he should have been informed- not kicked out of YC for a misunderstanding don’t you think? Sounds like abuse of power

Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#295
post #210

The submitted title was "Y Combinator kicks out Paul Biggar over a tweet". That is inaccurate, so in keeping with the HN guidelines (" Please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize. " https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html ), I've replaced the title with the tweet text. That's the standard thing we do with titles, when people post Twitter links. Much as I'd love to,…

> Much as I'd love to, it's not my place to say why the original title was inaccurate, so I'll just remind you all that there are two or more sides to every story and not everything on Twitter is true. This reads a bit like "not to be that guy, but...". You won't say why for some reason, but clearly it's not to stay out of it because you're letting innuendo do the job. Alternative suggestion: "That is inaccurate but…

I don't see that alternative formulation as so different really?

I'm sure you have a good point, I'm just not sure how to do it better. I needed to give enough of an explanation to satisfy people's curiosity at least a little bit even though I can't satisfy it for real. I also needed to make sure that my comment had enough information in it to answer (let's say) the top 10 obvious objections, or it would have brought a flood of them down on my head.

Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#296
post #210

The submitted title was "Y Combinator kicks out Paul Biggar over a tweet". That is inaccurate, so in keeping with the HN guidelines (" Please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize. " https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html ), I've replaced the title with the tweet text. That's the standard thing we do with titles, when people post Twitter links. Much as I'd love to,…

> Much as I'd love to, it's not my place to say why the original title was inaccurate, so I'll just remind you all that there are two or more sides to every story and not everything on Twitter is true. This reads a bit like "not to be that guy, but...". You won't say why for some reason, but clearly it's not to stay out of it because you're letting innuendo do the job. Alternative suggestion: "That is inaccurate but…

This is all petty personal drama that shouldn’t be a thread in the first place. Being concerned due to unspecified assumptions is less than wonderful.

Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#298

I'm the person this original tweet was about. None of you know any of the internal details but what I can state is that Paul has no idea what he's talking about and later admits to the fact I wasn't lying. Here's the order of events: 1. I went to a neighborhood clinic in Oakland, CA that's literally next door to my house, I can see the church from my window. Paul lives in NYC which is on the opposite end of the count…

So just so everyone has the full context: Oakland opened up its vaccination sites to more people on a shorter timeline than the rest of the state, in certain ZIP codes with disproportionately poor residents, in order to get vaccines to those disproportionately poor residents. I know this because this is how several of my friends who live in West Oakland got vaccinated ahead of the eligibility opening up in the rest o…

> the kind of thing you’re describing could be seen by a reasonable person as unethical

False. A reasonable person would know that the shots don't last after they are thawed out. If someone skipped the appointment, the ethical thing to do is put it in the next warm body that's standing by rather than waste the shot. No one owes anyone any "coming clean" over encouraging others not to let those shots go to waste.

Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#299
None of the rules around vaccination make sense to me -- nor do I have faith in the politicians who came up with them -- so I find it difficult to judge the person accused of skipping the line. But I do find it easy to judge the person who shamed him. And that judgment is that he's annoying and should mind his own business.

Re: LOL just got kicked out of @ycombinator

#300

I'm the person this original tweet was about. None of you know any of the internal details but what I can state is that Paul has no idea what he's talking about and later admits to the fact I wasn't lying. Here's the order of events: 1. I went to a neighborhood clinic in Oakland, CA that's literally next door to my house, I can see the church from my window. Paul lives in NYC which is on the opposite end of the count…

So just so everyone has the full context: Oakland opened up its vaccination sites to more people on a shorter timeline than the rest of the state, in certain ZIP codes with disproportionately poor residents, in order to get vaccines to those disproportionately poor residents. I know this because this is how several of my friends who live in West Oakland got vaccinated ahead of the eligibility opening up in the rest o…

I got vaccinated at one of these West Oakland "first come, first serve" vaccination sites back in March. They were administering J&J vaccines (which do not thaw) with no residency check, and not even a poster saying "please don't line up unless you live in this neighborhood." No statement of intent at all.

Others standing in line asked coordinators walking the line, "Am I eligible here?" and the coordinators responded, without hesitation, "Yes, you're in the right place! Stay in line." No questions asked.

The vaccination site may well have been "intended" for West Oakland residents and/or underprivileged folks, but if that's right, they could have at least put up a sign saying so, and maybe the coordinator(s) could have said "this vaccine is intended for West Oakland residents only."

I think there's an argument to be made that everyone in line who didn't live in West Oakland should have just assumed that the vaccine wasn't intended for them, but I strongly believe that the ethics of the situation are "If you're offered a vaccine, take it." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/opinion/covid-vaccine-eth... It's not just for you; it's for everyone around you, especially children and others who can't be vaccinated.

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