
Peter Thiel won’t be involved in YC’s work with the ACLU - haaen
https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/02/peter-thiel-y-combinator-aclu/
======
headcanon
I don't think this is really saying anything at all, other than to drum up a
negative association (or positive, depending on how you look at it). Thiel is
not involved with YC-backed ACLU, just as he is not involved with the YC-
backed company I work at.

Business is as business does. Sam Altman has stated he is not going to cut
ties with Thiel over political issues [1]. At their level of influence, doing
so burns bridges unnecessarily, and sends a clear message that polarization
and bubble-creating is OK, and its not. YC wants to set a good example for the
tech community by influencing the world in a positive way (e.g. ACLU) and not
in a negative, spiteful way (dropping Thiel).

[http://www.recode.net/2016/10/16/13302120/y-combinator-
sam-a...](http://www.recode.net/2016/10/16/13302120/y-combinator-sam-altman-
peter-thiel-donald-trump)

~~~
albertTJames
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed
ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” F.
Scott Fitzgerald

It is something I was never able to do. It is clear that to really make it in
life, idealist have to dial down their inner voice - a lot.

I do not think that, given the chance, I would ever be able to work for/with
people like Peter Thiel. But I have great respect for educated, smart, strong
and generous people, who are able to work with those who doubt evolution, who
doubt climate change, or who put their archaic beliefs above those of others
and decide how they should live their life. But the world it seems is
increasingly fractured, and a lot of doors open up for those able to work
efficiently with the other team, or outside of any team.

------
tabeth
So he's never been a partner and doesn't work "very closely with the
companies." Yet he's still affiliated with YC?

Actions speak louder than words: drop him or acknowledge that YC at some level
acknowledges his views (this isn't bad, or good, just something that should be
done in my view).

Even something as simple as "we acknowledge that people have differing
political views, yadda yadda... would be sufficient).

Why say anything about him? Well, clearly he's the elephant in the room. They
should acknowledge this and move on.

~~~
a_j_c
> Even something as simple as "we acknowledge that people have differing
> political views, yadda yadda... would be sufficient).

Why do they need to publicly admit the obvious? What is the angle here?

~~~
tabeth
It's obvious that Thiel supports an individual that contradicts many of YC's
own goals and interests?

------
jkelsey
> “He is not a partner,” Manalac said. “He never has been. We have 19 full-
> time partners who work very closely with the companies.” She went on to say
> that she “can understand why people would be very scared and nervous about
> that but he will definitely have no interaction with the ACLU.

So why not cut ties already? If Thiel isn't involved anymore, and he's working
with the Trump administration, why doesn't he resign his partnership and move
on?

~~~
dragonwriter
> > “He is not a partner,” Manalac said. “He never has been. [...]”

> why doesn't he resign his partnership and move on?

Because to resign his partnership, he'd first have to _be_ a partner.

~~~
jkelsey
What are you talking about? Yes he is: [http://blog.ycombinator.com/welcome-
peter/](http://blog.ycombinator.com/welcome-peter/)

~~~
dragonwriter
> What are you talking about?

I'm quoting the statement from YC Partner Kat Manalac in TFA, which was also
quoted in the post I was responding to.

If you want to ask why YC is denying that he has ever been a partner now after
welcoming him as a "part-time partner" previously, well, you'd have to ask
someone else.

But it doesn't make sense to quote a statement about how he never has been a
partner and respond to it with a question about why he doesn't resign his
partnership.

~~~
jkelsey
It does make sense. Y Combinator has a relationship with Thiel. He's been
declared as a partner many times in the past; now they're saying he's not.
That's why I'm asking the rhetorical question. I'm afraid you're taking the
passage quoted here and removing all other context.

------
dpweb
Sorry if negative, but I like my tech companies pushing their political
agendas on me, as much as I like Hollywood stars doing it.

I'm sure they're all good guys, but now that the Prez has proven you can get
elected as a billionaire non-politician it took about 45 seconds to start
hearing about candidate Zuck.

Would argue, the Hacker way is to be skeptical of all of it.

------
seppin
I think people vastly overestimate how much ideology matters once you get past
a certain net worth. At that point, they're all in it for the same reasons

 _cue the picture of the Clintons laughing at Trump 's wedding_

~~~
a_j_c
Yeah...But don't tell the party loyalists on either side about it.

Dem pundit: "It's the uneducated white cis male patriarchy that wants the
south to rise again..."

GOP pundit: "Those minority transgender liberals want to take your guns and
religion..."

Oligarchy: smiles

~~~
r00fus
This is why Sanders wasn't so enamored about fighting the GOP. He was in it to
fight their funders.

------
orik
I imagine Peter Thiel is on a small list of people that could leave YC and
start an incubator on par. Probably best to keep him around.

p.s. We also never know how many individuals at YC personally hold views
closer aligned with thiel or with sama or somewhere else completely who don't
make a statement because they're not as bold / don't want to stick their name
out.

~~~
CalChris
Doubtful. He has the funds to be sure but incubators are many and good ones
are few. He'd be hella late to the game.

~~~
User23
He has the ear of the President of the United States. I don't know how to put
a price on that, but I'm positive it's worth a lot.

~~~
pmoriarty
_" Those who play with the devil's toys will be brought by degrees to wield
his sword."_ \-- Buckminster Fuller

------
olalonde
Does Peter Thiel still consider himself a libertarian? I just can't imagine
how Trump's positions on immigration can be justified on libertarian grounds.

~~~
User23
It's pretty easy actually. It's pretty much the same argument one uses to
justify building a fence around any other piece of property.

~~~
metaphorm
The United States of America is not "any other piece of property".

~~~
User23
I didn't say it is, just that an analogous argument can be applied. First you
postulate citizenship as membership in a private club. The club's bylaws
determine who gets to be a member and how the club's property is to be managed
and protected. The rest is trivial and I'm not actually a libertarian so I'm
not going to bother working through it.

~~~
olalonde
In other words, you can arrive to an incorrect conclusion by postulating
incorrectly. Free immigration (free movement of people) is regarded as one of
the core concepts of libertarian theory and philosophy. It's not "easy" to
argue for restrictive policies on immigration from a libertarian standpoint.

~~~
vedranm
That can happen only in a society where there are no public services and all
property is privately owned. Then crossing the "border" of the country is
considered trespassing on someone's private property and it's up to them to
allow or disallow it.

------
briholt
It's a worrying trend that tech and Silicon Valley are increasingly
politicizing. Excepting direct regulations, I'd like to keep business and
politics separate.

------
_pius
This is reaching the point of parody.

Imagine saying about your partner that you "can understand why people would be
very scared and nervous about [him] ... and then keeping him.

------
mychael
Close your eyes and imagine how alienating it must feel to be a
conservative/libertarian/non-leftist working in tech right now.

------
haaen
Sad that Katrina Manalac was wrong twitter about Peter Thiel.

He IS a YC partner, although part time. She tweeted: Thiel isn't a YC partner.

------
eddd
tl; dr. Thiel won't be involved in ACLU because he's is not a active member of
the YC.

------
metaphorm
@sama

care to comment on this one?

------
freshflowers
Whatever sincere doubts and supposed nuances may have lead YC to continue to
tolerate Thiel's presence before Trump took power, there can be no more doubts
today.

An organization that associates itself with both the ACLU and a fascist regime
lacks any kind of credibility. This reeks of PR driven opportunism.

~~~
ntelson1s
And this reeks of an unaccepting worldview to have of others.

~~~
breatheoften
Some world views should not be (and are not) accepted. Railroading damaging
world views has always been part of politics, and for good reason -- there are
plenty of world views whose existence damages everyone.

~~~
User23
Too bad nobody agrees on what those are. So you can tolerate each other,
segregate yourself, or fight.

~~~
breatheoften
There are plenty of examples of agreement on this. Cannibalism - to name one.

