6 ms·

Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions

134 points by dougludlow 10y ago

jpt4 10y ago
Reporting for future record: This post was flagged less than ten minutes after being posted, without any comments.
- alistproducer2 10y ago
  It seems all threads related to this matter are falling off the front age or disappearing quite rapidly.
- fooey 10y ago
  The author is Ellen Pao, so it's a safe bet this is an instance of the messenger getting in the way of the message
aclimatt 10y ago
The first time it had 270+ upvotes and was flagged off the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970 There seems to be some censorship going on...
- torgoguys 10y ago
  sctb says it is user flags: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728092 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728092
  - MBCook 10y ago
    I'm not surprised. There are a lot of people who don't like discussing this stuff (either because they don't agree with it or they just don't want to deal with any more stuff about politics/social issues).
    - to3m 10y ago
      The discussions are often not productive, or, worse yet, predictable.
    - dozzie 10y ago
      > There are a lot of people who don't like discussing this stuff [... or because] they just don't want to deal with any more stuff about politics/social issues Especially those of a foreign country, in which they don't have right to vote or even visit (because of visas).
      - thecolorblue 10y ago
        But you can still have an opinion, correct? It seems this conversation, whether it is productive or not, is relevant to this community. If I can't here the other sides arguments here, where will I hear them?
        dozzie 10y ago
        > But you can still have an opinion, correct? But do I really have to? And do I really have to see this completely irrelevant to me topic?
SEJeff 10y ago
Sam's post on this was great where he admits it strained his relationship with Peter Theil: http://blog.samaltman.com/the-2016-election http://blog.samaltman.com/the-2016-election
dredmorbius 10y ago
"Money doesn't talk, it swears." -- Some Nobel Prize Dude.
dredmorbius 10y ago
The discussion appears live here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970
zelon88 10y ago
I get that this is a big deal and it will keep coming back... But is there anyone other than Ellen Pao who could tell this story? Seriously?
wanderingjew 10y ago
Disregarding any issues surrounding the author of this piece, Theil himself, and a cornucopia of issues surrounding the RNC keynote, I must ask one question: Why is political speech only an issue when that speech comes from the political right? This isn't a modern thing, either. I've never seen anyone claim Brendan Eich didn't have a right to donate to his cause, it's just that he donated to the wrong cause, at least in they eyes of the media and the Twitterverse, of all places. Here, we're seeing it again with Thiel: he has the right to donate to whatever cause he wants, but we criticize him for donating to the wrong causes. For all the talk of cultural and gender diversity, political diversity is shunned. This is far more pernicious than criticizing a startup because they haven't hired enough women or PoC
- ryanobjc 10y ago
  Wow, I really couldn't disagree with you more. It's not left vs right, its humanity denying stances. Denying LGBT are human (which is what the "8" people were about) is a critical issue. Eich tied himself to the wrong side of history, and epically fucked up his CEO response proving he was a bad candidate for that role. He made his own bed and now lies in it. As for Trump... well, this is a presidential candidate describing HOW exactly he sexually assaults women. It wasn't a theoretical "what I could do" conversation, it was a "this is what I do" bragging talk. Again, dehumanizing 51% of the population. Maybe basic human rights is just a "cause" for you, but for the 60-70% of humanity you're trashing, it's kind of their lives.
  - peterhadlaw 10y ago
    No one is trashing rights. No one is denying LGBT people, their humanity. Thiel is literally a homosexual, why do you choose to ignore that. I don't think it is in his self interest to dehumanize himself.
    - ryanobjc 10y ago
      It's quite well known that rich people are the least affected by policies like anti-LGBT. Thiel may not personally have much to lose if gay marriage was banned, but for many people it makes a huge difference. For example child rights, tax advantages, end of life decisions. Anyways, you're actually very wrong - people ARE trashing rights. People in Trump's camp ARE denying LGBT their humanity. Evangelicals for example. How about "kick out every muslim"? The constitution explicitly doesn't call for a religious test to apply.
postcarnival 10y ago
wow talk about delusional... how does she reconcile this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY

134 points by dougludlow 10y ago

jpt4 10y ago

Reporting for future record: This post was flagged less than ten minutes after being posted, without any comments.

alistproducer2 10y ago
It seems all threads related to this matter are falling off the front age or disappearing quite rapidly.
fooey 10y ago
The author is Ellen Pao, so it's a safe bet this is an instance of the messenger getting in the way of the message

aclimatt 10y ago

The first time it had 270+ upvotes and was flagged off the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970 There seems to be some censorship going on...

torgoguys 10y ago
sctb says it is user flags: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728092 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728092
- MBCook 10y ago
  I'm not surprised. There are a lot of people who don't like discussing this stuff (either because they don't agree with it or they just don't want to deal with any more stuff about politics/social issues).
  - to3m 10y ago
    The discussions are often not productive, or, worse yet, predictable.
  - dozzie 10y ago
    > There are a lot of people who don't like discussing this stuff [... or because] they just don't want to deal with any more stuff about politics/social issues Especially those of a foreign country, in which they don't have right to vote or even visit (because of visas).
    - thecolorblue 10y ago
      But you can still have an opinion, correct? It seems this conversation, whether it is productive or not, is relevant to this community. If I can't here the other sides arguments here, where will I hear them?
      - dozzie 10y ago
        > But you can still have an opinion, correct? But do I really have to? And do I really have to see this completely irrelevant to me topic?

SEJeff 10y ago

Sam's post on this was great where he admits it strained his relationship with Peter Theil: http://blog.samaltman.com/the-2016-election http://blog.samaltman.com/the-2016-election

dredmorbius 10y ago

"Money doesn't talk, it swears." -- Some Nobel Prize Dude.

dredmorbius 10y ago

The discussion appears live here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12726970

zelon88 10y ago

I get that this is a big deal and it will keep coming back... But is there anyone other than Ellen Pao who could tell this story? Seriously?

wanderingjew 10y ago

Disregarding any issues surrounding the author of this piece, Theil himself, and a cornucopia of issues surrounding the RNC keynote, I must ask one question: Why is political speech only an issue when that speech comes from the political right? This isn't a modern thing, either. I've never seen anyone claim Brendan Eich didn't have a right to donate to his cause, it's just that he donated to the wrong cause, at least in they eyes of the media and the Twitterverse, of all places. Here, we're seeing it again with Thiel: he has the right to donate to whatever cause he wants, but we criticize him for donating to the wrong causes. For all the talk of cultural and gender diversity, political diversity is shunned. This is far more pernicious than criticizing a startup because they haven't hired enough women or PoC

ryanobjc 10y ago
Wow, I really couldn't disagree with you more. It's not left vs right, its humanity denying stances. Denying LGBT are human (which is what the "8" people were about) is a critical issue. Eich tied himself to the wrong side of history, and epically fucked up his CEO response proving he was a bad candidate for that role. He made his own bed and now lies in it. As for Trump... well, this is a presidential candidate describing HOW exactly he sexually assaults women. It wasn't a theoretical "what I could do" conversation, it was a "this is what I do" bragging talk. Again, dehumanizing 51% of the population. Maybe basic human rights is just a "cause" for you, but for the 60-70% of humanity you're trashing, it's kind of their lives.
- peterhadlaw 10y ago
  No one is trashing rights. No one is denying LGBT people, their humanity. Thiel is literally a homosexual, why do you choose to ignore that. I don't think it is in his self interest to dehumanize himself.
  - ryanobjc 10y ago
    It's quite well known that rich people are the least affected by policies like anti-LGBT. Thiel may not personally have much to lose if gay marriage was banned, but for many people it makes a huge difference. For example child rights, tax advantages, end of life decisions. Anyways, you're actually very wrong - people ARE trashing rights. People in Trump's camp ARE denying LGBT their humanity. Evangelicals for example. How about "kick out every muslim"? The constitution explicitly doesn't call for a religious test to apply.

postcarnival 10y ago

wow talk about delusional... how does she reconcile this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY