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Ask HN: Is Paul Graham a libertarian?
Some of his writing, like these has made me think so:
http://www.paulgraham.com/inequality.html
http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html
But I've never seen him say it explicitly anywhere.
More generally, are many hackers libertarians (or advocates of free market approaches)? Are there any recommended groups in this vein around the silicon valley area (an otherwise, fairly liberal place)?
- RiderOfGiraffes 17y agoClickable: http://www.paulgraham.com/inequality.html http://www.paulgraham.com/inequality.html http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html
- wmf 17y agoI think the libertarian idea of deriving ethics/politics/economics from a small set of self-consistent principles appeals to many hackers.
- Semiapies 17y ago"More generally, are many hackers libertarians?" Possibly slightly more than the general population. I used to see a lot of claims that libertarians were very common among hackers and geeks, but that's never seemed to pan out. Even the sort of left-wing and right-wing people who call themselves "libertarians" because they like some civil liberties issue or hate taxes don't seem any more common than normal. Mind, I don't hear those claims as much, anymore.
- johngalt 17y agoMost hackers I know are anti-authoritarian more than anything else. This board tends to attract the more capitalistic types because of it's subject matter. I'm sure there are slashdot'ers that would call many of us "sellouts". I think PG said it best in his "Keep your identity small" essay. Ultimately we all have different viewpoints. Being known for any particular -ism will generally hurt more than help. The trick is self-organizing around people/teams that can accomplish goals because of (or in spite of) their various viewpoints.
- barmstrong 17y agoYep I remember reading that in Hackers & Painters. My guess was that this was his approach - be probably is, but doesn't want to draw attention to it. Nice username btw, I'm reading that book right now too (first time) :)
- philwelch 17y agoYou can find his--and for that matter, everyone's--political donations on this site: http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/index.php http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/index.php
- barmstrong 17y agoInteresting site! There were a few Paul Graham's listed, none that looked like him though.
- rms 17y agoMaybe a little, but having libertarian ideas doesn't mean one identifies as a libertarian or with the libertarian political party.
- Semiapies 17y agoThose last two aren't even that mutually implicative. :)