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

Shame on Y Combinator

marco.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

761–770 of 1001 posts

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#761

Post by joshberkus »

Given Thiel's long history of crazy an immoral utterances and behavior, why pick out his support of Trump as the "line in the sand"? It's practically normal compared to his other activities, and protected by law to boot. Compared to:

* Suing a news publication (Gawker) out of business for criticizing him * Funding research into vampirism (stealing young people's blood so he can live longer) * Paying to design an actual John Gault Island * Funding an initiative to split California into 6 states * Saying that women shouldn't be allowed to vote

There are tons of reasons why YC should disassociate form Thiel, but his donation to the Trump campaign has got to be the least of them.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#762

Post by maxxxxx »

MattBearman wrote: post #510
VLM wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans (at least the left leaning ones) also love holiness spiral signalling wars. Its quite possible OP doesn't believe anything in the linked to article, but that style of writing is how the left does sophistry, its the progressive modern way to signal superiority and worth. Op wants attention and smugness, that's how its done in 2016. People who believe any of the linked article is literally true end up with th…

Its quite possible OP doesn't believe anything in the linked to article By OP I assume you mean me, ie: the guy who submitted the article to HN, not the author. First, I'm not out for attention, but thanks for that unprompted attack (dick). I submitted this as it seemed wrong that it kept being censored/flagged off HN. Honestly I expected it to be flagged off again, but hoped at least a few more people would get to s…

Their main values are making boatloads of money legally. That unifies Thiel, YC and everybody else.

I don't think Thiel should be ostracized but it would be nice if he was asked to explain his thinking a little more instead of just yelling at him. He is a smart guy, maybe there is something to learn.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#763

Post by forgetsusername »

tptacek wrote: post #204
ThomPete wrote: post #127

Marcos understanding of this situation is extremely telling for a fundamental problem with many americans relationship with politics. Most only get involved around election. After that their political interest is non existing. It's easy to get lured into the idea that politics is a simple choice between the moral good and the moral bad, that the choice is simple and that there is a one to one relationship between wha…

That is in fact not a fundamental principle of democracy. There is no work of political philosophy anywhere that suggests we should be able to say whatever we'd like "without fear of repercussions". What is a principle of liberal philosophy, though, is that we should be tolerant of the beliefs of others (in the sense of not intervening to suppress them), including intolerant beliefs, until those intolerant beliefs th…

>Nobody denies Sam Altman's right to support Peter Thiel, or, for that matter, Thiel's right to support Trump

But if Trump threatens society, and you've deemed beliefs tolerable unless they threaten society...aren't you granting yourself permission to dole out "repercussions" for these beliefs?

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#764

Post by GrumpyYoungMan »

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #512
GrumpyYoungMan wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So? Then they are wrong as well then, at least in that particular, their eminence notwithstanding. Appealing to authority makes your position no more tenable. Principles that are abandoned when under duress are no principles at all.

I'm seeing variants of this thrown around a lot here, but I don't see people engaging with tptacek's point, at least to my reading of it. Let me turn this around. When corporations choose to get actively political, like Chick-Fil-A's support of anti-gay groups and Ben & Jerry's support of Black Lives Matter, should we not take that into account when we decide whether to do business with them? I don't think you'd make…

"try to get them to come around to our point of view" sounds genteel but rather understates the ferocity of the persuasion, don't you think?

In any case, the Wikipedia article on shunning sums it up nicely:

Some aspects of shunning may also be seen as being at odds with civil rights or human rights, especially those behaviours that coerce and attack. When a group seeks to have an effect through such practices outside its own membership, for instance when a group seeks to cause financial harm through isolation and disassociation, they can come at odds with their surrounding civil society, if such a society enshrines rights such as freedom of association, conscience, or belief.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunning#Civil_rights_implicat...

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#765

Post by fredgrott »

I would just state that while we have political freedom and free speech in the USA..YC should not be ENDORSING those political forces who in their direct actions with a consistent basis regale in Sexism, Predatory Sexual behavior, Racism, Hate of Gays,etc.

Its time for YC take a stand..no try to sit on a fence

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#766

Post by phaus »

tptacek wrote: post #441
grandalf wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not believe Trump is significantly more intolerant than HRC or any other likely presidential candidate, he simply focuses his rhetoric on populist ire across all of his positions. It's the only trick he knows so he does it again and again. Additionally, HRC has in the past advocated a nearly identical "wall" policy but used softer rhetoric: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gUAdAYFbIc GOP candidates for several e…

That's fine. I mean, again: I would urge you to reconsider. But we otherwise don't have a live debate, I don't think. I am not here to argue that people who oppose Hillary Clinton should change their minds (they should, though!). I'm here to urge Sam Altman, who does not agree with you, that his continued support for Peter Thiel is harming the goal he shares with me of preventing a Trump Presidency now, or in 2020.

>I am not here to argue that people who oppose Hillary Clinton should change their minds (they should, though!).

This probably isn't the appropriate place for it, but have you written about your reasons that people should support Clinton anywhere else?

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#768

Post by 551199 »

danenania wrote: post #524
mi100hael wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The way Democrats are running their campaign they are the real threat to democracy. Yes, this exactly. While Trump is out there making lewd, offensive, or ignorant statements, the Clinton campaign and the Democratic party are actually carrying out actions that threaten the integrity of our democratic process. It's sad that all of those things are just from the newest leak. Way too much collusion amongst the party,…

Encouraging your well-armed nutjob supporters to go to the polls and 'monitor' them is kiiiind of on another level. Trump isn't just a moron spouting off nonsense--he's the leader of a large radicalized army, an army which includes large swathes of the police and military. Americans are so complacent and used to stability that they think this is all a crazy TV show that can't affect them personally, but this is a ver…

Project Veritas: Video II: Mass Voter Fraud[0]

Considering the newest leak came out showing just that this might not be so far fetched after all.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDc8PVCvfKs

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#769

Post by smsm42 »

tptacek wrote: post #422
grandalf wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> more and more Moral Fashion Police on the democratic side of the isle This hits the nail on the head. It's a moralistic sort of righteous indignation and it's profoundly, dangerously illiberal . In addition, many of these are the same people who are pleased that HRC is not being challenged over the revelations in the email leaks so far. I want whoever takes office to have been vetted as much as possible by journali…

People keep claiming that this sentiment is "profoundly illiberal". Those people should read more liberal philosophy, because it is not as if this is the first time this issue has come up. You can bring it back to John Stuart Mill if you like, but (very unsurprisingly) it's also one of the major themes of post-World-War-2 liberal philosophy. We are not required to tolerate intolerance when intolerance poses a threat…

The question is not who scores more imaginary points on John Stuart Mill's or anybody else's "liberality scale". They question is whether we want to have a community in which one has to constantly look over one's shoulder to not run afoul of the thought police, and where virtue signaling and participating in Two Minutes Hate becomes mandatory, or else. Programming and software community turning into this scares me much more than any presidential election could.

> We are not required to tolerate intolerance when intolerance poses a threat to society.

This is too easy. You just declare "this guy poses threat to society" and you don't have to play by the rules anymore.

Re: Shame on Y Combinator

#770

Post by Dylan16807 »

akvadrako wrote: post #732
cyborgx7 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Thiel, a non-employee (a “part-time partner”), is directly supporting Donald Trump at a massive scale — over a million dollars! — after we’ve learned even more of Trump’s horrendous statements, positions, and past actions than we could’ve ever imagined. I'm not sure but there is no mention of voting anywhere in the article.

Fine, swap "vote" for "support". Allowing people to vote for candidates but not support them is just mincing words.

It's really not. You don't "vote" for someone so hard you personally become an important part of the campaign.
Post reply on HN