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Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

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Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#651

Post by rajathagasthya »

fastball wrote: post #588
rajathagasthya wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I generally regard him as intelligent and thoughtful Based on a YouTube video mentioned in another comment thread ( https://youtu.be/CoxxGhLFbw4?t=2m30s ), I wouldn't regard him as intelligent by any means.

Yeah, he went to Stanford for undergrad and law school - he's obviously a dunce.

What's with mentioning that he went to Stanford law school? This is the second such comment (the other commenter deleted it for some reason). Is someone incapable of having illogical thoughts because they went to "Stanford law school"?

He says this in the video:

> Whenever you hear someone use the word science it's like a tell that they're bluffing

Try to make sense of it.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#652

Post by mch82 »

masondixon wrote: post #614
chippy wrote: post #608

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious: > I have never been able to properly explain the rationale to a liberal Have you ever had explained the liberal rationale to you and did you understand it? I'm wondering if it works one way, or everyone struggles to understand the other. Thanks.

> Have you ever had explained the liberal rationale to you and did you understand it? My Medium daily update newsletter is full of feminist, progressive, black lives matter articles. I read all of them. I read all the comments on Reddit, and on HN. Everything is labelled as racism and misogynistic and full of vitriol. There is no priority on sound and valid argument. Its all about feelings. Maybe I live in a filter b…

Is it fair to acknowledge that the feelings expressed in the articles you reference are valid feelings and feel true to the people who share them?

Edit: Is it fair to acknowledge that the people of the United States have a history of discriminating against minorities?

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#653

Post by mathattack »

meritt wrote: post #21

This was obvious from the RNC speech and further reinforced when Thiel donated $1M to Trump. A contrarian bet, sure, but $1M is a pretty small price to pay to have a 50/50 shot at CTO of the USA. 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. I had very negative feelings about Thiel, and those were magnified…

The investment has a huge ROI for Palantir too.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#654

Post by JohnStrange »

masondixon wrote: post #575

A huge issue today is the lack of calm, reasoned debate. As a Trump supporter I have never been able to properly explain the rationale to a liberal. I believe there is a worthy debate beneath all the political smear, but it is never reached. I believe the reason for this is the liberal media and the incredibly effective Democratic party election machine. The argument stays at the high level of "how could you vote for…

As a Trump supporter, you should first and foremost brush up on your knowledge what the terms "liberal" and "liberalism" actually mean.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#655

Post by 59nadir »

masondixon wrote: post #646
prairiedogg wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi masondixon! > But look at the last 15 years of foreign policy from "statesmen". We had two wars, Obama missed seeing the rise of ISIS, Syria is a humanitarian nightmare, we had a huge financial crash, and terrorism is on the rise. So is your argument that "statesmen" have failed to avoid crisis, therefore someone who is not a "statesman" will be able to better avoid crisis? Would it be fair then to say that becaus…

> So is your argument that "statesmen" have failed to avoid crisis, therefore someone who is not a "statesman" will be able to better avoid crisis? Nope. Only the fact that a "statesman" doesn't imply good foreign policy. Trump does imply more uncertainty though I would say. We will see. Its worth trying out. Unless you think he will launch the nukes. Which is a big part of the liberal narrative.

> Its worth trying out.

I think this sums most of it up. People think things are getting worse and their lives very likely are, so why not try something different? It's the reason for most "unforeseen" results for ultrarightwing parties in Europe, I imagine. People want "someone who'll stir the pot".

I've never felt like that, but I can understand the sentiment, after hearing it so many times.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#656

Post by 59nadir »

masondixon wrote: post #613
thenomad wrote: post #607

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be willing to articulate your argument for Trump here? I promise not to argue against you, and certainly not to slur you. Can't speak for anyone else, though. We now HAVE Trump coming in as US president, so frankly I'd welcome a bit of hope that he might be good. I can't promise to agree with you, but I'm very willing to listen to arguments from those who hold opposing positions to mine.

> I promise not to argue against you, and certainly not to slur you. Please argue! And thank you for not slurring :) > Would you be willing to articulate your argument for Trump here? I supported Obama. I always considered myself a liberal. I support gay marriage, I support gun control. I support universal health care. I support decent welfare and a safety net. As a programmer, the formative moment for my Trump suppo…

Would I be way off in saying you're voting against the left more than you are voting for the right, then?

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#657

Post by prairiedogg »

masondixon wrote: post #646
prairiedogg wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi masondixon! > But look at the last 15 years of foreign policy from "statesmen". We had two wars, Obama missed seeing the rise of ISIS, Syria is a humanitarian nightmare, we had a huge financial crash, and terrorism is on the rise. So is your argument that "statesmen" have failed to avoid crisis, therefore someone who is not a "statesman" will be able to better avoid crisis? Would it be fair then to say that becaus…

> So is your argument that "statesmen" have failed to avoid crisis, therefore someone who is not a "statesman" will be able to better avoid crisis? Nope. Only the fact that a "statesman" doesn't imply good foreign policy. Trump does imply more uncertainty though I would say. We will see. Its worth trying out. Unless you think he will launch the nukes. Which is a big part of the liberal narrative.

Ok - thanks for clarifying.

I don't think that this assertion strengthens an argument that voting for Trump is better than voting for any other candidate.

I would argue that someone who does not have experience in public office should not be considered a viable candidate for president of the United States, much as I believe that someone who has not driven a car before should not be considered to be a driver in the Indianapolis 500 race. I don't think it's "worth trying out" someone who has never practiced a surgery to do open heart surgery on me.

I believe that a certain level of experience and track record in governance is a reasonable, basic criteria for the highest elected office in the United States. An example would be a governorship, term in congress, or a term a state legislature, something that provides a record of voting on issues that I care about, for instance - or displays some kind of governance style. Trump fails to meet this criteria.

It sounds like you and I agree that Trump implies more uncertainty, the difference in our perspectives is that you are comfortable with the uncertainty and I am not.

Is that a fair characterization of our positions based on this limited conversation?

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#658

Post by masondixon »

hamax wrote: post #644
masondixon wrote: post #613

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I promise not to argue against you, and certainly not to slur you. Please argue! And thank you for not slurring :) > Would you be willing to articulate your argument for Trump here? I supported Obama. I always considered myself a liberal. I support gay marriage, I support gun control. I support universal health care. I support decent welfare and a safety net. As a programmer, the formative moment for my Trump suppo…

> One side is for freedom of speech, the other side is for controlling what you can say. There was just one candidate in this election that wants to control what you can say. And it wasn't Hillary. “We’re going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace, or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win…

> There was just one candidate in this election that wants to control what you can say. And it wasn't Hillary.

I don't agree Trump here.

But I am not talking about the candidates.

I am talking about BLM, SJWs, and Feminists vs. everyone else.

With a racist, sexist, misogynist, xenophobe in the White House now, they must now show prove that his actions reflect their fears...or realise that they were misguided and tone it down.

This is the victory for Trump supporters. The man himself is but a vessel :p

> Just check the Trump's twitter account if you want to see what bullying looks like.

You can always block. Everyone defines bullying differently, and for this reason, every person can control what they see online.

Trump is by far the bigger victim. Look at all the relentless and repeated attacks on his appearance by liberals. I have never seen anyone chastise a fellow liberal over an attack on Trump's appearance.

When everyone can accuse everyone else of bullying...where do you draw the line?

> on the other hand you're against the people exercising the right.

My beef is with irrationality. I'm a natural altruist and intrinsically want to help people. But its frustrating when they don't listen and aren't willing to have a fair and reasoned debate.

So I am not against them exercising their right. I just want to help. The left may produce a good candidate in the future who I want to vote for, but if they are accusing everyone of being racist and sexist, if they are cheating in election debates, if the DNC remains corrupt, then they will continue to lose election like they have.

But as a Trump supporter, I don't have to fight for a rationale debate, the ball is not in their court as they have lost complete control of the government, and hopefully will come back to the debate floor when they realise they need to, in order to get there next guy (girl, et al.) elected.

> This all just sounds like a front to silence people who are pushing society in direction you don't want it to go (social justice things like fighting racism, sexism, homophobia, ...).

> racism, sexism, homophobia,

I don't want any of these things either :D

I just think their approach is wrong. But before I can say why...I am called a racist.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#659

Post by JohnStrange »

defgeneric wrote: post #487
darawk wrote: post #4

This is good news, I think? Thiel has some extremish views, but I generally regard him as intelligent and thoughtful. And he's in close contact with other smart, influential people (e.g. Musk, Sam Altman, etc.), which gives them some indirect influence. Not that this makes things substantially better. But maybe a little bit? Hopefully?

Theil is very interesting from a Marxist point of view. https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio... A few summary points: - Did a BA in philosophy at Stanford--an analytic department--in the late 80s. - As Reaganism was reaching its apex, he became a libertarian. - The 90s were a period of pessimism. As the Reagan revolution was in retreat, and as conservatives retreated with it, the "smartest" li…

I think you overestimate the significance of random asshats with some 80s BA in philosophy from Stanford. He somehow came to decent amounts of money, that's about all there is to say about Thiel's intellectual achievements. Nothing against the fact that an ordinary businessman's can have various more or less well-argued world views, but comparing him to Rousseau or Lenin is, frankly speaking, ridiculous.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#660

Post by BurningFrog »

59nadir wrote: post #655
masondixon wrote: post #646

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So is your argument that "statesmen" have failed to avoid crisis, therefore someone who is not a "statesman" will be able to better avoid crisis? Nope. Only the fact that a "statesman" doesn't imply good foreign policy. Trump does imply more uncertainty though I would say. We will see. Its worth trying out. Unless you think he will launch the nukes. Which is a big part of the liberal narrative.

> Its worth trying out. I think this sums most of it up. People think things are getting worse and their lives very likely are, so why not try something different? It's the reason for most "unforeseen" results for ultrarightwing parties in Europe, I imagine. People want "someone who'll stir the pot". I've never felt like that, but I can understand the sentiment, after hearing it so many times.

How willing you are to take a chance depends on how desperate you are.
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