
Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions - trevorturk
https://medium.com/projectinclude/peter-thiel-yc-and-hard-decisions-2b91bab83764#.ajcow35xl
======
ericjang
Wow, this is the third time I've seen this link climbing up HN front page in
the past hour [1][2]. I'm interested in this topic, why does it keep getting
flagged?

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12727973](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12727973)
[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970)

~~~
torgoguys
I wonder why too. The thumb seems to be on the scale on this one, either
algorithmicly or by mods; which it is, I don't know.

The main discussion thread has been reliably showing up on page 2 in the past
hour or so.

~~~
labster
sctb claims that it's user flags; hopefully he's right:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728092](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728092)

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setra
For something that is so related to ycombinator, and hackernews, I find it odd
that so many people find this article worthy of purging.

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spdustin
From The Education of a Libertarian [0]

\---

"I believe that politics is way too intense. That’s why I’m a libertarian.
Politics gets people angry, destroys relationships, and polarizes peoples’
vision: the world is us versus them; good people versus the other. Politics is
about interfering with other people’s lives without their consent. That’s
probably why, in the past, libertarians have made little progress in the
political sphere. Thus, I advocate focusing energy elsewhere, onto peaceful
projects that some consider utopian." \- Peter Thiel [0]

[0]: [https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-
thiel/educatio...](https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-
thiel/education-libertarian)

\---

Leaving aside all the drama surrounding YC and Peter Thiel, this is where it
all breaks down for me. How am I supposed to take Thiel at his word today,
when less than a decade ago he was convinced that politics is "too intense"
because it angers people, divides them into us-vs-them groups, and tears them
apart.

Is it simply that he's changed who he is in that time? I mean, that's a
legitimate reason, and one I could respect even if it means I don't agree with
who he is today. I'd want to know what changed his mind.

Or are there different Peter Thiel personas? I can understand this, too. As
Hillary Clinton pointed out, Abraham Lincoln believed that politicians have a
private and a public persona, because most of the electorate would shudder to
see how our tasty, democratic sausage was being made.

Or is he a capricious man who doesn't stick to his principals when motivated
by financial or political need? That would be disappointing, but the cynic in
me says it wouldn't be surprising.

Without knowing who he truly is, and why there is such a divide between just 7
years ago (still fully within his adult life) and now, his whole persona just
doesn't compute with me and I'm left with the inescapable conclusion that he's
too chaotic to trust.

Does anyone have any insight?

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DyslexicAtheist
good to see Project Include standing up. now is a good time to stand up as an
organization CEO, director, investor and declare where you stand. It could
save your company lots of money down the road white-washing your history if
Trump implements only part of the things he says he will. Ask the likes of
Volkswagen & Daimler how they like their roots.

And don't tell me companies don't need to have an opinion. That was true 100
years ago not in the age of TTIP. But it could be that considering Thiel's
investment portfolio that he does want actually more war. Who is the biggest
spender right now in Cyber? (hint it's not just crappy IoT devices). Defense
applications are way more expensive and proftable to build than consumer apps.
Especially in times of fear.

Companies are people, so please YES do take a side and don't be a coward CEO
hiding behind "it's politics therefore we should not speak of it at work".

I wish YC would have followed the example and I'm still waiting from S.Altman
to say something on twitter that doesn't sound like an appalling excuse!

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davesque
I'm starting to feel a lot like Hacker News's aversion to political topics is
not only over-bearing but naive. The fact is, we don't live in a vacuum and
the political climate does affect us, even though we'd all like to pretend it
doesn't. This article has trended three times and been flagged three times.
What's the explanation for this?

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harshreality
> Today, we struggle to rationalize Peter Thiel’s power and influence as he
> moves further and further out there. We were _confused by his seasteading
> funding, angered by his negative views on women’s voting rights_ , amused by
> his reported fixation with living to 120, and annoyed by his keynoting the
> Republican National Convention.

He explains both his seasteading interest and his position on the apparent
statistical inevitabilities of voting patterns in the very essay Pao linked
(the link is on the words "negative views").

He explicitly states (whether he's lying or not is another matter, but let's
remember the principle of charity) that he's not in favor of disenfranchising
anyone within current political systems.

We can argue all day the egalitarian position, but if Thiel is right that the
future is dim under current politics, and bright under libertarian politics,
then there's a problem: do you sacrifice the future (potentially the future of
humanity) for equality now, or do you sacrifice equality, or set up
alternative political spaces with the characteristic that people who
participate in those political spaces are disproportionately libertarian?
Which may or may not, but probably would, mean relatively fewer women and
minorities self-select to participate in those political spaces.

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gjolund
The purge begins.

And the left calls Trump supporters fascists...

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batmanrc
Oh what a scholar!

