Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Untitled topic

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

551–560 of 766 posts

Re: undefined

#551

Post by cfv »

forgetsusername wrote: post #350
ubernostrum wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I've said in other comments, I think the line is when you decide to move from "I believe this" to "the law should enforce my beliefs on everyone". There have been plenty of people calling to pressure people who support Trump; pg is one of them, and has been getting lit up on Twitter recently for continuing to work with Thiel. Finally, you seem to think this is something unique to "left wing politics". Which is per…

> left-wing movements tend to resort to social pressure, boycotts and similar methods. Right-wing movements tend to attempt to outlaw or in some cases just literally exterminate the people who disagree with them. Do you have any evidence that those politically aligned to the right are more accepting of, say, murder than those on the left? Because I don't believe it.

More red states have a death penalty than blue states; also, none of the perpetrators of these https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_State... could be characterized as a leftie

Re: undefined

#552

Post by droopyEyelids »

notthemessiah wrote: post #474
jsprogrammer wrote: post #467

I wonder what his thoughts are about Trump nonconsensually groping women? A libertarian could not support such violence/coercion. [Edit: wow, off-topic?]

Thiel thinks the world would be better if women couldn't vote. "Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of “capitalist democracy” into an oxymoron." Basically, women don't vote for libertarian economic policies, and make it impossible to have a capitalist democracy, so…

You're getting downvotes here, but Tiel wrote his own manifesto, published it, and there isn't any ambiguity in what he wrote. He believes enfranchising women and "welfare beneficaries" was incompatible with his view of a well-run government, but it is now impractical to take the vote away from them.

https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio...

You also did a terrific job as summarizing his idea of 'freedom' as the freedom a of a feudal lord to do as he pleases.

Re: undefined

#553

Post by robbiemitchell »

ThomPete wrote: post #428
dmode wrote: post #404

I hope the tech world shuns Thiel. This is what he is supporting http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-... Specifically, look for his insults aimed at reporters and journalists. This man is unhinged and unqualified. He is currently riling up his followers by claiming that the election will be rigged. I am concerned the consequences of that message https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/1…

The real tragedy is how easily peoples attention are all about form not substance. For all the crazy things Trump is saying he actually have some points that are far more important to discuss than whatever he said about women or journalists. With Hillary you get a seasoned politician who is going to do what they have always been doing. Absolutely nothing. That's besides of course making a huge mess internationally. A…

1. Taxpayer money was spent suing the Clintons for years. They ended up broke as a result.

2. HRC pays taxes. Lots of them.

3. Politicians on both sides earn lucrative speaking fees after leaving office. (Giuliani had a great thing going for a while.) Are you criticizing the practice in general or just HRC?

Re: undefined

#554

Post by josho »

CptJamesCook wrote: post #256
mcrae wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the parent is saying that Trump is literally Hitler, but rather that his rhetoric targeting specific minorities is alarmingly similar to that of Hitler's and his National-Socialist party during their rise to power. No doubt the Holocaust was one of the most horrific crimes ever committed -- should we not then be all the more vigilant in preventing such similar hate speech from entering the mainstream?

Sure, we should be vigilant against hate speech. But not by banning speech, and not by manipulating it. And saying that we shouldn't allow a specific faith into the United States, even on a temporary basis, is certainly against the American ethos. But it's not Hitler. I would say a more apt comparison to Hitler is the language used in the parent to my comment: "If that's the man Thiel wants to stand with so be it. Bu…

I find it interesting that you went to "banning speech". I don't equate anything the parent said with wanting to ban speech. Further I thought the comparison to Hitler was thought provoking as many German intellectuals looked the other way when Hitler and began instituting their policies. The "First they came.."[1] poem comes to mind.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...

Re: undefined

#555

Post by wsgeorge »

davemel37 wrote: post #529
zappo2938 wrote: post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried looking up libertarian on Wikipedia and there are so many definitions I'm not sure what people mean when they say the word, libertarian. What I thought the word meant years ago was no government, turns out that is called anarchism. When people tell me that they are libertarian I always wonder what the hell that means or if they even know.

IMO it means you believe in a right freedom so long as you dont infringe on someone elses rights. So, in theory you would be against forcing someone to pay taxes to build roads or provide education, but would arguably be for paying for a police department and justice system to protect people from having others infringe on their rights. It basically means the only function of government should be to protect our freedo…

I haven't looked into this myself, but your definition of "libertarian" fits exactly with my concept of an ideal government: one that's sole purpose is to protect the freedoms and dignities of all those within its jurisdiction, and within that framework, allowing everything else to be more or less self-determined, so long as the freedoms and dignity of all those within it are not harmed.

Re: undefined

#556

Post by frakkingcylons »

idlewords wrote: post #429

Peter Thiel is a YCombinator partner, yet YC has steadfastly refused to disavow him. In a Twitter exchange with David Heinemeier Hansson, Paul Graham suggested that to do so would somehow be the equivalent of firing an employee for having a distateful political opinion. YC's silence on a partner's outspoken support of Trump is disgraceful, and sends the most shameful message about our industry.

I think Graham's point is sound. How is making a donation not an instance of political expression?

Re: undefined

#557

Post by sctb »

empath75 wrote: post #419
DominikR wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hitler was a Socialist, not a right wing politician. That's what you Austrians/Germans get wrong. Hitler enacted a 70% income tax for the highest incomes, implemented a full welfare state, free childcare, free schools, free everything to force propaganda down their throats. He was an arts student (probably he would have done well with SJW's of today), a vegetarian, anti smoking, pro animal rights, anti religion etc.…

It's sort of amazing that you can be this misinformed and managed to type in complete sentences.

Please resist the temptation to reply like this on Hacker News.

Re: undefined

#558

Post by mzw_mzw »

dickman3000 wrote: post #390
easyd wrote: post #144

Everyone seems to think it's about maximizing his ROI or, less cynical, about economics. But here's a quote from Thiel's speech at the republican convention: "Instead of going to Mars, we have invaded the Middle East. We don't need to see Hillary Clinton's deleted emails: her incompetence is in plain sight. She pushed for a war in Libya, and today it's a training ground for ISIS. On this most important issue, Donald…

Hasn't Thiel talked about how it's bad that women have the right to vote? Doesn't seem like he cares much about liberty here. Thiel strikes me as more of an authoritarian than libertarian, hence probably why he supports Trump. I mean ... why else would he support Trump? No sense in doing complicated mental gymnastics here.

>No sense in doing complicated mental gymnastics here.

Yeah, it's such a hassle trying to understand people who hold different opinions from yours. And reading their own words? Bor-ing! Better to just vaguely handwave some half-remembered boo-words you read in Vox and call it a day.

Re: undefined

#559

Post by mildbow »

striking wrote: post #441
dickman3000 wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hasn't Thiel talked about how it's bad that women have the right to vote? Doesn't seem like he cares much about liberty here. Thiel strikes me as more of an authoritarian than libertarian, hence probably why he supports Trump. I mean ... why else would he support Trump? No sense in doing complicated mental gymnastics here.

> Hasn't Thiel talked about how it's bad that women have the right to vote? I was curious about this, so I looked it up. From Thiel's writings on Cato Unbound: > Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of “capitalist democracy” into an oxymoron. Later: > It would be ab…

He's trying to say what people have always said: I don't think people I don't agree with should be able to vote.

Re: undefined

#560

Post by sctb »

marketanarchist wrote: post #308

Hillary has been a criminal, cheat and spineless demagogue her entirely life. She belongs in prison, nevermind the white house.

This kind of comment does not belong on Hacker News. Please comment civilly, substantively, and on-topic or not at all.
Post reply on HN