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My opinion: The people that bailed on Peter Thiel would have been potential flighty partners for other reasons later on. If someone can't abide by a business p

My opinion: The people that bailed on Peter Thiel would have been potential flighty partners for other reasons later on. If someone can't abide by a business partner having a different political view then that could indicate a rather rigid mindset - and given the fluid nature of business, that could become a liability at some point in future.

MBCook 10y ago
There is a big difference between a different political view and the words and actions of Donald Trump. If it was Romney or Cruz or Rubio or almost anyone else I don't think you'd see any of this happen.
- thinkpad20 10y ago
  Yes, agreed. That said, Peter Thiel has said and done offensive things in the past on many occasions. Support of a Trump candidacy should not be surprising for someone who has said that women's right to vote is a threat to democracy, or who would bankrupt a company to retaliate for an employee outing him. I'm happy to see Thiel start to have repercussions for his actions, but the same tech community that forced Brendan Eich out of a job for a $1000 political donation has taken years to start forcibly taking a stand against Peter Thiel. Clearly, Thiel has tons of money and business acumen, which a lot of people want more than to "do the right thing". I imagine all of this -- if it is significant at all -- dies down after the election anyway.
- ashark 10y ago
  There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do something like that. Acting the part of the big-money political oligarch-influencer draws heat and has consequences, and it ought to. The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd. They're obviously tightly linked. It reminds me of the outrage a kid expresses when they think they've found a way to be a jerk and not get in trouble for it, then get called out on it by an adult.
  - grzm 10y ago
    "The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd." Agreed. Throw in with a campaign or do anything else for that matter. Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? I think it's highly likely he anticipated some kind of response to his donation. He may well have weighed this very response when making his decision to donate.
    - ashark 10y ago
      > Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? Right, to be clear I wasn't likening Thiel in particular to the kid in my analogy, since, like you, I'm not aware of how or even whether he's weighed in on this.
      - grzm 10y ago
        That was clear to me. Likewise I hope you didn't take my comment as assuming you were! Your analogy got me thinking about the situation from Thiel's perspective. This whole election has had me thinking about a lot of things. Frankly, part of why I responded to you was because it looks like you're trying to look at the behavior in general rather than the politics in particular, and I appreciate that. I'm trying to do the same. Thanks for being part of that!
  - random_upvoter 10y ago
    > that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. To me this just seems part of democracy. Popular ideas will get a lot of financial support, and unpopular ideas will not get a lot of support. Have you considered the reach, the power and the wealth of the media establishment that is railing against Trump? I highly doubt that a million dollar is more than a drop in this contest. If Trump should not be allowed to get substantial financial support, why don't we simply forbid Trump to run at all?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
arkitaip 10y ago
This isn't about politics. Trump is a con man, sexual predator and racist and by donating millions to him, Thiel's judgement and ethics should be questioned.
- modsin321 10y ago
  And Hilary is a corrupt warmonger who habitually lies to everyone around her.
- latch 10y ago
  Yup. I don't know if Trump's a con man. I don't know if he's a sexual predator (doesn't look good though). But he is a racist. Even if you agree with some of what Trump says (audit the fed!), the racism is such an big part of his platform, that supporting him is actively and knowingly supporting [extreme] racism. Whenever something bad happens, people here get on their high horse. "The VW engineers should have quit", "How do NSA employees sleep at night?". The VW engineers are looking relatively ethical all of a sudden.
  - goalieca 10y ago
    The courts are busy deciding if he is a conman. That's when his racist comment against a judge came out.
VikingCoder 10y ago
Calling them "flighty" and "rigid" (and aren't those antonyms anyway?) is a lazy ad hominem attack, ignoring even the possibility that there's logic in their actions. To wit: If you think that the political platform of a potential business partner would do long-term harm to your own business, then you might want to re-consider the relationship. If a Presidential candidate advocated policies that would for instance harm the United States' relationship with China, and business in China are major partners of yours, you may feel the need to shy away from business partners who are actively working to elect that candidate. This is just normal business self-preservation, not a character flaw.

MBCook 10y ago

There is a big difference between a different political view and the words and actions of Donald Trump. If it was Romney or Cruz or Rubio or almost anyone else I don't think you'd see any of this happen.

thinkpad20 10y ago
Yes, agreed. That said, Peter Thiel has said and done offensive things in the past on many occasions. Support of a Trump candidacy should not be surprising for someone who has said that women's right to vote is a threat to democracy, or who would bankrupt a company to retaliate for an employee outing him. I'm happy to see Thiel start to have repercussions for his actions, but the same tech community that forced Brendan Eich out of a job for a $1000 political donation has taken years to start forcibly taking a stand against Peter Thiel. Clearly, Thiel has tons of money and business acumen, which a lot of people want more than to "do the right thing". I imagine all of this -- if it is significant at all -- dies down after the election anyway.
ashark 10y ago
There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do something like that. Acting the part of the big-money political oligarch-influencer draws heat and has consequences, and it ought to. The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd. They're obviously tightly linked. It reminds me of the outrage a kid expresses when they think they've found a way to be a jerk and not get in trouble for it, then get called out on it by an adult.
- grzm 10y ago
  "The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd." Agreed. Throw in with a campaign or do anything else for that matter. Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? I think it's highly likely he anticipated some kind of response to his donation. He may well have weighed this very response when making his decision to donate.
  - ashark 10y ago
    > Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? Right, to be clear I wasn't likening Thiel in particular to the kid in my analogy, since, like you, I'm not aware of how or even whether he's weighed in on this.
    - grzm 10y ago
      That was clear to me. Likewise I hope you didn't take my comment as assuming you were! Your analogy got me thinking about the situation from Thiel's perspective. This whole election has had me thinking about a lot of things. Frankly, part of why I responded to you was because it looks like you're trying to look at the behavior in general rather than the politics in particular, and I appreciate that. I'm trying to do the same. Thanks for being part of that!
- random_upvoter 10y ago
  > that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. To me this just seems part of democracy. Popular ideas will get a lot of financial support, and unpopular ideas will not get a lot of support. Have you considered the reach, the power and the wealth of the media establishment that is railing against Trump? I highly doubt that a million dollar is more than a drop in this contest. If Trump should not be allowed to get substantial financial support, why don't we simply forbid Trump to run at all?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

arkitaip 10y ago

This isn't about politics. Trump is a con man, sexual predator and racist and by donating millions to him, Thiel's judgement and ethics should be questioned.

modsin321 10y ago
And Hilary is a corrupt warmonger who habitually lies to everyone around her.
latch 10y ago
Yup. I don't know if Trump's a con man. I don't know if he's a sexual predator (doesn't look good though). But he is a racist. Even if you agree with some of what Trump says (audit the fed!), the racism is such an big part of his platform, that supporting him is actively and knowingly supporting [extreme] racism. Whenever something bad happens, people here get on their high horse. "The VW engineers should have quit", "How do NSA employees sleep at night?". The VW engineers are looking relatively ethical all of a sudden.
- goalieca 10y ago
  The courts are busy deciding if he is a conman. That's when his racist comment against a judge came out.

VikingCoder 10y ago

Calling them "flighty" and "rigid" (and aren't those antonyms anyway?) is a lazy ad hominem attack, ignoring even the possibility that there's logic in their actions. To wit: If you think that the political platform of a potential business partner would do long-term harm to your own business, then you might want to re-consider the relationship. If a Presidential candidate advocated policies that would for instance harm the United States' relationship with China, and business in China are major partners of yours, you may feel the need to shy away from business partners who are actively working to elect that candidate. This is just normal business self-preservation, not a character flaw.