
Peter Thiel Defends His Most Contrarian Move Yet: Supporting Trump - endswapper
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/technology/peter-thiel-defends-his-most-contrarian-move-yet-supporting-trump.html
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sean_patel
Here we go again. Another Peter Thiel story on HN gets flagged and removed.
For a discussion on why Peter Thiel stories are getting flagged and removed,
see this thread (which, ironically, has also been flagged and removed lol)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12716662](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12716662)

~~~
lj3
I flag anything related to the election. That topic consistently brings out
the worst in hacker news.

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aakilfernandes
Title should be change to "plans to defend".

> On Monday, Mr. Thiel plans to defend his position in a speech and then a
> question-and-answer session with reporters at the National Press Club in
> Washington.

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gragas
>Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, defended the company’s
association with Mr. Thiel, emphasizing that it did not endorse his views —
and much less Mr. Trump’s — but was striving to be inclusive toward those
whose values differed from its own. Critics noted that if diversity was such a
cherished value in Silicon Valley, why wasn’t there more of it?

What an awful argument by the critics; I'm not sure that it should even be
called an argument. Zuckerburg did the right thing.

~~~
Alex3917
> What an awful argument by the critics; I'm not sure that it should even be
> called an argument.

How is it a bad argument? At least in the U.S., the places that consider
themselves the most tolerant tend to be the most segregated. E.g. the majority
of the most segregated cities in the U.S. are in the northeast, the midwest,
and the west coast.[1]

It's been especially noticeable this election, where many Clinton supporters
have been attacking Bernie for being racist because he lives in a state where
minorities aren't kept in special ghettos to be used as de facto slave labor.
(E.g. if you go to any gas station or restaurant in Vermont then you're likely
to be served by a white person, as opposed to in NYC where these places are
almost entirely staffed by minorities who are payed less than a living wage
and live in segregated neighborhoods.)

[1] [https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-
avenue/2015/12/08/census-...](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-
avenue/2015/12/08/census-shows-modest-declines-in-black-white-segregation/)

~~~
james2654
I'm white and used to live in the Bronx around Valentine Ave. I don't think
anybody I knew felt like we lived in a segregated neighborhood. Also, plenty
of people who do retail or food service work in NYC make good money, and
plenty make enough to live a good life in the outer burroughs. NYC is
accommodating of those that don't. I certainly never spoke to anybody who felt
like we were defacto enslaved. Just one person's experience...

~~~
Alex3917
> I'm white and used to live in the Bronx around Valentine Ave.

That's funny, I'm also white and currently live a few blocks from there. The
point though is that you'd need a ton of hispanic people from the Bronx to
move to SoHo in order to make it reflect the overall demographics of the city.

> I certainly never spoke to anybody who felt like we were defacto enslaved.

I mean there are tens of thousands of homeless people in NYC, many of whom
have jobs. Many folks forced to live in apartments with stachybotrys, the
subways are littered with folks whose skin is literally rotting off from a
combination of never showering and heroin-related infections, etc.

~~~
thesmallestcat
Yea, you make quite a leap from ethnic neighborhoods to "kept in special
ghettoes," but apparently only perfect geographic-racial balance disproves the
existence of these ghettos. Also you equate mental illness and homelessness
with _slavery_. I want some of what you're smoking! But seriously, if you want
a white dude pumping your gas, there is Vermont as you noted, and it isn't
very far from you!

~~~
Alex3917
> you make quite a leap from ethnic neighborhoods to "kept in special
> ghettoes"

[http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/100-bronx-
gang...](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/100-bronx-gang-members-
busted-largest-takedown-nyc-history-article-1.2615933)

87 people got arrested in a single bust about 12 blocks from where I live, for
a combination of selling crack and murder. They're all from the same housing
projects.

Yet despite being right around the corner, my neighborhood has one of the
lowest violent crime rates in NYC. If that's not an example of ghettoization,
I don't know what is.

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girmad
The disconnect for me is Palantir. Thiel's company provides the infrastructure
for some of the gravest privacy violations done by our government.

If Thiel is rooting for Tech in the race vs Politics, why is he investing his
resources in a company that converts Tech advances to personal freedom
limiting Political power?

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ageek123
For those wondering whether to read the article -- it has no content, just
says he will explain himself on Monday.

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droopyEyelids
If you'd like to learn a little more about Thiel's politics and why this is of
public interest, I recommend checking out his short manifesto "Education of a
libertarian"

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

~~~
gcb0
sounds a little demagogue and vague. did he close the first paragraph by
stating a belief in immortality? i can't even tell i got the first paragraph
right...

~~~
gragas
>sounds a little demagogue and vague

It's almost as if you didn't even read his essay before commenting on it.
Thiel explicitly states "Most importantly, I no longer believe that freedom
and democracy are compatible."

How could you possibly interpret that as demagogic? He's specifically against
tyranny by the masses.

~~~
gcb0
understood that part. then he moves to say, in the same phrase you quoted,
that he also no longer believe in mortality.

i did stop reading at around 60%... you are correct on that.

~~~
gragas
>understood that part. then he moves to say, in the same phrase you quoted,
that he also no longer believe in mortality.

Nowhere in that paragraph does he mention anything about mortality.

"But I must confess that over the last two decades, I have changed radically
on the question of how to achieve these goals. Most importantly, I no longer
believe that freedom and democracy are compatible. By tracing out the
development of my thinking, I hope to frame some of the challenges faced by
all classical liberals today."

~~~
rwbhn
Previous paragraph: "I stand against ... the ideology of the inevitability of
the death of every individual"

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rahrahrah
TL DR: he doesn't really defend it in the article linked. The article says he
will give a speech Monday.

