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Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

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Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#51

Post by Tichy »

makomk wrote: post #29
tomjen3 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thiel is arguing, congruently with the facts, that females are more likely than males to vote for a larger government and a bigger social safety net and you believe that nobody has the right to take others stuff (through taxes) then it is understandable that he would prefer they didn't have the right to vote. I don't think anyone ought to have the right to vote, except on matters of the military (which cannot work if…

Yeah, women have a really annoying habit of realising that the world doesn't quite work the way that libertarians like Thiel think it does. For example, no matter how good they'd be at jobs like CEO, they're still at a disadvantage to men because the people who do the selection are other men who naturally favour people like themselves. The market doesn't penalize them for this either - the people that invest in them…

Do you have actual numbers about female startup founders? My hunch would be they have a huge advantage.

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#52

Post by cobrausn »

bjorn2404 wrote: post #30
qdog wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people I've met who claim to be Libertarians seems to be very confused about how the world works. Usually, they have a pet idea (guns, pot, taxes, property rights, police forces, something) they are very hot about and fail to extend their logic out to the endpoint, ie: get rid of all law enforcment some magic is going to happen and criminals won't be criminals (I suspect life would be a lot like the show Deadwoo…

"get rid of all law enforcment..." Are you confusing libertarianism with anarchism?

It's a fine line. As an example, ESR, often called 'libertarian', is really an anarchist.

From what I can tell, there is 'little-l' libertarian, in which someone seeks to keep government small to prevent abuse of freedoms and rights by said government, and 'big-L' Libertarian, in which someone thinks that corporations working via free market principles can solve all/most societal problems and government just gets in the way.

I don't really buy the second, though I have some respect for the first.

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#53

Post by pbreit »

tocomment wrote: post #9
joshuahedlund wrote: post #3

How many digits does the number 125100 have? Two hundred and ten. They mean 125^100. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=125%5E100

I counted six digits in 125,100. Am I too dumb for this game?

I suspect in the magazine it was printed properly as 125 to the 100th power.

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#54

Post by tjic »

hindsightbias wrote: post #25
leot wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generalizations have their place. A big problem many have with right-wing libertarians is that, unlike other political philosophies, libertarianism seems more like an elaborate, and status-reinforcing, justification for one's own socioeconomic position. To believe otherwise -- i.e., to believe that merit is largely a fiction, albeit a highly adaptive one -- would mean giving up far too much.

The day a libertarian realizes the world is not comprised of sets of well meaning rational actors is the day they get a clue.

The day a believer in government realizes that he's voting in an elaborate charade where the Coke and Pepsi parties both deliver pretty much identical taxing, spending, and war making, and the ones who win every election are the politicians and government employees is the day the get a clue.

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#55

Post by keeganpoppen »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #47
praxeologist wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are mistaking what he is saying. People say things like "France's gold", but France doesn't have gold. Only the individuals who also identify themselves as French, or are determined to be French by law, do.

This is what happens whenever I debate "libertarians". I mention overarching tendencies, only to get replies about fine logic minutiae. I'm guessing obsession with details, and blindness to the big picture is also a trait of Ayn Rand fans.

yeah-- those damn details... always an annoying part of any argument. Also, I like how you imply that you can't both understand the "big picture" and care about the details. To me, it seems like the only way to understand anything. If you aren't conversant with the details of what you think, do you really understand what you're talking about?

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#56

Post by tjic »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #47
praxeologist wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are mistaking what he is saying. People say things like "France's gold", but France doesn't have gold. Only the individuals who also identify themselves as French, or are determined to be French by law, do.

This is what happens whenever I debate "libertarians". I mention overarching tendencies, only to get replies about fine logic minutiae. I'm guessing obsession with details, and blindness to the big picture is also a trait of Ayn Rand fans.

> This is what happens whenever I debate "libertarians". I mention overarching tendencies, only to get replies about fine logic minutiae.

Restated: "I hate debating smart people, because I spout over-generalized bullshit, and they call me on it".

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#57

Post by clavalle »

bjorn2404 wrote: post #30
qdog wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people I've met who claim to be Libertarians seems to be very confused about how the world works. Usually, they have a pet idea (guns, pot, taxes, property rights, police forces, something) they are very hot about and fail to extend their logic out to the endpoint, ie: get rid of all law enforcment some magic is going to happen and criminals won't be criminals (I suspect life would be a lot like the show Deadwoo…

"get rid of all law enforcment..." Are you confusing libertarianism with anarchism?

Anarcho-capitalism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism

which a lot of libertarians subscribe to.

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#58

Post by leot »

keeganpoppen wrote: post #55
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what happens whenever I debate "libertarians". I mention overarching tendencies, only to get replies about fine logic minutiae. I'm guessing obsession with details, and blindness to the big picture is also a trait of Ayn Rand fans.

yeah-- those damn details... always an annoying part of any argument. Also, I like how you imply that you can't both understand the "big picture" and care about the details. To me, it seems like the only way to understand anything. If you aren't conversant with the details of what you think, do you really understand what you're talking about?

Perhaps an important detail, then: Thatcher's quote was actually "And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families."

... as if families, themselves, weren't each a kind of small society.

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#59

Post by guelo »

nazgulnarsil wrote: post #34
hindsightbias wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The day a libertarian realizes the world is not comprised of sets of well meaning rational actors is the day they get a clue.

the day a liberal realizes the government is not comprised of sets of well meaning rational actors is the day they get a clue. I can play this game too! You should maybe try one day a week where you don't act like a condescending prick. You might find it liberating.

Why a liberal? Conservatives also believe in government.

Re: Peter Thiel's Rise to Wealth and Libertarian Futurism

#60

Post by guelo »

tjic wrote: post #54
hindsightbias wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The day a libertarian realizes the world is not comprised of sets of well meaning rational actors is the day they get a clue.

The day a believer in government realizes that he's voting in an elaborate charade where the Coke and Pepsi parties both deliver pretty much identical taxing, spending, and war making, and the ones who win every election are the politicians and government employees is the day the get a clue.

The true believers from all of the political philosophies are disappointed with the two party system, not just libertarians. I've heard similar Coke and Pepsi thoughts from socialists, environmentalists, anarchists, christian right, Tea Partiers, Ron Paul'ites, Ralph Nader'ites, etc.
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