
Sam Altman: Social Change and Startups - dredmorbius
http://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2017-04-13/sam-altman-social-change-and-startups
======
dredmorbius
At 32m 41s in this podcast.

"People should be able to support a political candidate and express the
reasons they do especially if they're unpopular, without someone ascribing all
of [the candidate's] worst traits."

[http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/audio.commonwealthcl...](http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/audio.commonwealthclub.org/audio/podcast/cc_20170413_Inforum_Sam_Altman_Podcast.mp3)

Altman makes two revealing claims:

1\. That it's possible to support a political candidate without being accused
of supporting all their views.

2\. That the protests against Thiel are inneffective at changing Thiel's mind.

Taking each of these:

1\. If the candidate is openly inviting a historic national adversary to
disrupt an election, if he is a direct attack on liberal democracy itself, if
his platform is a direct translation of fascist platforms from the 1920s and
1930s, and all this is being openly discusse, then no, there is no conceivable
way in which support for that candidate, by someone claimed to be "one of the
smartest guys in Silicon Valley", can be considered to be anything other than
absolutely anathema, deliberate, and abhorrent.

Peter Thiel deserves all the approbrium he's received, a millionfold.

2\. The audience of the outrage is far from Thiel alone. It's to /all/ the
political and entrepreneurial class within Silicon Valley and elsewhere: you
must not do this, or tolerate those who do -- or their counsel, presence, or
money.

That Sam Altman, CEO of Ycombinator, and personal friend of Peter Thiel, fails
to grasp either point is beyond profoundly disturbing.

Wake up, Sam.

------
peter_retief
Understanding poverty and what it really takes to lift a person or a family
out of desperate poverty and into a steady state of self reliance is an
enormously complex issue. It involves whole communities and societies as well
as giving them a sense of value in society. You are a brave and kind soul for
trying, be pragmatic and hire a social worker to make it real

