7 ms·

Gotta say, I'm extremely disappointed in Thiel. For being such a "visionary" he has really chosen a terrible investment in Trump.

by meritt 10y ago

Aloha 10y ago
You must have a better crystal ball than I do. Clinton is a known quantity, yes. But I know that a Hillary Clinton presidency will be 8 years of investigations and recriminations into crimes, real or imagined. I also know that very little will change going from an Obama presidency to a Clinton one. Trump is an unknown quantity that has said some scary things when taken out of context - but speaks the things people won't say, but think. Is probably equal to our current president in the ability to sell a message. The worst case I see for a Trump presidency is something ineffectual. The middle case, he's a wrecking ball, and breaks up enough to the deadlock, fake culture wars, and stupidity in politics to unite our country against him and on to further greatness. The best case, he's a very effective president and can break down walls, modernize the executive branch and shave off trillions in waste. In short, if you think things are fine as they are - and only incremental improvements are needed, Clinton is your lady - if you think the system is broken and needs a wrecking ball, Trump is your guy. I'm confident enough in the fundamentals of our system of government, that I'm not concerned about the future of our country with either outcome.
- dreyfan 10y ago
  I'd try to intellectually point out why you're completely wrong and Trump is an imminent danger to our country (see: Turkey the past two years), but I see that you live in Washington, which means your vote for Trump is irrelevant.
  - Aloha 10y ago
    I'm probably going to vote for Gary Johnson - if I vote at all. I'm so disgusted by the Republican Party Platform, what I was considering before the convention is all for naught now.
  - dang 10y ago
    Please don't bring someone's personal details into an argument on HN. That's a breach of civility.
    - dreyfan 10y ago
      It's listed in his public HN profile, it's not like I'm doxxing him. It's also relevant to the discussion at hand: a non-democratic vote in the state of Washington, due to the electoral college winner-take-all allotment, will not have any impact on the final outcome of the state. I'm not attacking him for where he lives; it's merely pointing out a fact of life.
      - dang 10y ago
        No, this is established moderation practice on HN and I must insist on the point. Finding personal details and bringing them back to an argument as ammunition is unduly personal and therefore not allowed here. I'm sure you didn't mean any harm and agree that doxxing would be worse, but it still degrades the quality of discourse when people do this. So please don't do this.
- alexmingoia 10y ago
  What - exactly - do you think Trump as president will do to breakup the culture wars? What - exactly - will he do to shave "trillions" in government waste, assuming there is trillions in government waste. Simply saying so and pointing to his net worth is not policy, it's not a solution, it's grandstanding.
  - Aloha 10y ago
    I expect his mere lack of participation in the culture wars in any meaningful way would be enough to kill them. Someone who is at least thinking about inefficiency and waste is sure gonna do a better job getting rid of it than someone not thinking about it at all. The exact figure is unknown, it could be billions or just millions or even trillions - trillions is perhaps however in this case speechifying hyperbole.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- cttet 10y ago
  But Mike Pence though...
  - Aloha 10y ago
    Mike Pence is a serious problem for me, for his religious views mostly. Economically, he seems to have helped Indiana do well - I don't know if that scales nationally or not. Gary Johnson s a choice is looking likely for me.
- techolic 10y ago
  > The best case, he's a very effective president and can break down walls, Hmm... I thought he had been talking about building walls
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  >Clinton is a known quantity, yes. But I know that a Hillary Clinton presidency will be 8 years of investigations and recriminations into crimes, real or imagined. I also know that very little will change going from an Obama presidency to a Clinton one. If people wanted real, substantial change in a positive direction (in the sense of having a positive program: things the candidate stands for rather than against), they'd have voted for Bernie Sanders.
  - DefaultUserHN 10y ago
    Turns out the majority of people don't like Communism/Socialism.
chronic81 10y ago
I'm extremely disappointed that my fellow engineers and technology entrepreneurs think this.

Gotta say, I'm extremely disappointed in Thiel. For being such a "visionary" he has really chosen a terrible investment in Trump.

by meritt 10y ago

Gotta say, I'm extremely disappointed in Thiel. For being such a "visionary" he has really chosen a terrible investment in Trump.

Aloha 10y ago

You must have a better crystal ball than I do. Clinton is a known quantity, yes. But I know that a Hillary Clinton presidency will be 8 years of investigations and recriminations into crimes, real or imagined. I also know that very little will change going from an Obama presidency to a Clinton one. Trump is an unknown quantity that has said some scary things when taken out of context - but speaks the things people won't say, but think. Is probably equal to our current president in the ability to sell a message. The worst case I see for a Trump presidency is something ineffectual. The middle case, he's a wrecking ball, and breaks up enough to the deadlock, fake culture wars, and stupidity in politics to unite our country against him and on to further greatness. The best case, he's a very effective president and can break down walls, modernize the executive branch and shave off trillions in waste. In short, if you think things are fine as they are - and only incremental improvements are needed, Clinton is your lady - if you think the system is broken and needs a wrecking ball, Trump is your guy. I'm confident enough in the fundamentals of our system of government, that I'm not concerned about the future of our country with either outcome.

dreyfan 10y ago
I'd try to intellectually point out why you're completely wrong and Trump is an imminent danger to our country (see: Turkey the past two years), but I see that you live in Washington, which means your vote for Trump is irrelevant.
- Aloha 10y ago
  I'm probably going to vote for Gary Johnson - if I vote at all. I'm so disgusted by the Republican Party Platform, what I was considering before the convention is all for naught now.
- dang 10y ago
  Please don't bring someone's personal details into an argument on HN. That's a breach of civility.
  - dreyfan 10y ago
    It's listed in his public HN profile, it's not like I'm doxxing him. It's also relevant to the discussion at hand: a non-democratic vote in the state of Washington, due to the electoral college winner-take-all allotment, will not have any impact on the final outcome of the state. I'm not attacking him for where he lives; it's merely pointing out a fact of life.
    - dang 10y ago
      No, this is established moderation practice on HN and I must insist on the point. Finding personal details and bringing them back to an argument as ammunition is unduly personal and therefore not allowed here. I'm sure you didn't mean any harm and agree that doxxing would be worse, but it still degrades the quality of discourse when people do this. So please don't do this.
alexmingoia 10y ago
What - exactly - do you think Trump as president will do to breakup the culture wars? What - exactly - will he do to shave "trillions" in government waste, assuming there is trillions in government waste. Simply saying so and pointing to his net worth is not policy, it's not a solution, it's grandstanding.
- Aloha 10y ago
  I expect his mere lack of participation in the culture wars in any meaningful way would be enough to kill them. Someone who is at least thinking about inefficiency and waste is sure gonna do a better job getting rid of it than someone not thinking about it at all. The exact figure is unknown, it could be billions or just millions or even trillions - trillions is perhaps however in this case speechifying hyperbole.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
cttet 10y ago
But Mike Pence though...
- Aloha 10y ago
  Mike Pence is a serious problem for me, for his religious views mostly. Economically, he seems to have helped Indiana do well - I don't know if that scales nationally or not. Gary Johnson s a choice is looking likely for me.
techolic 10y ago
> The best case, he's a very effective president and can break down walls, Hmm... I thought he had been talking about building walls
eli_gottlieb 10y ago
>Clinton is a known quantity, yes. But I know that a Hillary Clinton presidency will be 8 years of investigations and recriminations into crimes, real or imagined. I also know that very little will change going from an Obama presidency to a Clinton one. If people wanted real, substantial change in a positive direction (in the sense of having a positive program: things the candidate stands for rather than against), they'd have voted for Bernie Sanders.
- DefaultUserHN 10y ago
  Turns out the majority of people don't like Communism/Socialism.

chronic81 10y ago

I'm extremely disappointed that my fellow engineers and technology entrepreneurs think this.