6 ms·

I honestly don't think the 'boycott' was reflective the majority's opinion. Unless someone can compile a list of people who've said they outright weren't going

by CN7R 10y ago

I honestly don't think the 'boycott' was reflective the majority's opinion. Unless someone can compile a list of people who've said they outright weren't going to do business with Thiel.

chronic6l 10y ago
People on HN like to complain (expected from the 18-25 year old crowd). But at the end of the day, they realize business is business and will do what's necessary to survive. Boycott Thiel in front of your friends (a public position) but continue secretly dealing with him (a private) position. Sound oddly familiar...
- lathiat 10y ago
  It's also entirely possibly you're legally obligated to do so. As a simplified example; if they are the only option to get funding, it may be fiscally irresponsible to the other share holders to deny that option. Same thing happens with bankruptcies, mergers & acquisitions, etc all the time - stuff may be sold to a company that the founders or anyone else is very objectionte to but they may have absolutely no say in the matter whether through no control in bankruptcy or simply not enough voting power with multiple interests. Makes you really think about contracts and other such sometimes, just because you trust this company and it's founders or leadership now doesn't mean you can trust them later if they lose control.
tyre 10y ago
We are a YC S16 company and will not take money from Peter Thiel. May not be the majority's opinion, but that seems irrelevant.
- potatosoup 10y ago
  That's an unusual stance for someone who is a CEO of a company for "rekindling passion for public service in millions of local government employees" and is worrisome. You wouldn't support people like these government employees to have freedom of political opinion?
  - tyre 10y ago
    It's not about political opinion or because he supports the Republican nominee. He has a plethora of public comments revealing a shocking lack of empathy or caring about the greater good. This isn't about politics. We're specifically apolitical (https://octopoedi.gitbooks.io/employee-handbook/content/Company%20Policies/politics.html https://octopoedi.gitbooks.io/employee-handbook/content/Comp...). As I choose investors, it's very important that they are aligned with the impact we want to have on the world. Thiel is, to be generous, no where fucking close.
    - potatosoup 10y ago
      That's fair and respectable. E.g. Martin Shkreli would probably not be a suitable investor for you. However: "He has a plethora of public comments revealing a shocking lack of empathy or caring about the greater good." Very much "citation needed." If anything, I've seen Thiel genuinely want to improve our world.
      - pjc50 10y ago
        Peter Thiel is on record on his own blog as describing votes for women as a bad thing. https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio...
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
        dsp1234 10y ago
        and starting in just the second paragraph: "Most importantly, I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible."
        saosebastiao 10y ago
        Democracy and freedom do have a tendency to be at odds with each other on occasion. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority
- meritt 10y ago
  Thank you. It's not going unnoticed.
venomsnake 10y ago
On the issues - as my HN comment history shows - I am firmly on the democrats side - pro abortion, pro gay marriage, for sensible gun ownership, taxes on the rich, investment in infrastructure and education, single payer health care and so on. And yet - the zealotry and fanaticism on the left to extinguish any kind of "wrong" thoughts, deviation from the norm, or perceived transgression is extremely off putting - around the time the Eich drama unfolded - I realized that these people are at least as dangerous as the conservative Christians when they had the upper hand in the discourse. They are against all and any forms of discrimination - unless the people discriminated disagree with them. Destroying someone's livelihood just because they don't have the "right" values showed me that the new cultural overlords are the same as the old one. So I support Trump just to piss them off. So I would not be surprised if a lot of Trump/Thiel boycotters are Jedi in the streets, Sith in the sheets - because real hackers always have a rebellion streak in them - and right now the left is "The Man"
- pjc50 10y ago
  Destroying someone's livelihood You mean like suing Gawker out of existence? the left is "The Man" I get the impression from a lot of the alt-right that what they object to is not so much "the man" as "the woman".
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

by CN7R 10y ago

I honestly don't think the 'boycott' was reflective the majority's opinion. Unless someone can compile a list of people who've said they outright weren't going to do business with Thiel.

chronic6l 10y ago

People on HN like to complain (expected from the 18-25 year old crowd). But at the end of the day, they realize business is business and will do what's necessary to survive. Boycott Thiel in front of your friends (a public position) but continue secretly dealing with him (a private) position. Sound oddly familiar...

lathiat 10y ago
It's also entirely possibly you're legally obligated to do so. As a simplified example; if they are the only option to get funding, it may be fiscally irresponsible to the other share holders to deny that option. Same thing happens with bankruptcies, mergers & acquisitions, etc all the time - stuff may be sold to a company that the founders or anyone else is very objectionte to but they may have absolutely no say in the matter whether through no control in bankruptcy or simply not enough voting power with multiple interests. Makes you really think about contracts and other such sometimes, just because you trust this company and it's founders or leadership now doesn't mean you can trust them later if they lose control.

tyre 10y ago

We are a YC S16 company and will not take money from Peter Thiel. May not be the majority's opinion, but that seems irrelevant.

potatosoup 10y ago
That's an unusual stance for someone who is a CEO of a company for "rekindling passion for public service in millions of local government employees" and is worrisome. You wouldn't support people like these government employees to have freedom of political opinion?
- tyre 10y ago
  It's not about political opinion or because he supports the Republican nominee. He has a plethora of public comments revealing a shocking lack of empathy or caring about the greater good. This isn't about politics. We're specifically apolitical (https://octopoedi.gitbooks.io/employee-handbook/content/Company%20Policies/politics.html https://octopoedi.gitbooks.io/employee-handbook/content/Comp...). As I choose investors, it's very important that they are aligned with the impact we want to have on the world. Thiel is, to be generous, no where fucking close.
  - potatosoup 10y ago
    That's fair and respectable. E.g. Martin Shkreli would probably not be a suitable investor for you. However: "He has a plethora of public comments revealing a shocking lack of empathy or caring about the greater good." Very much "citation needed." If anything, I've seen Thiel genuinely want to improve our world.
    - pjc50 10y ago
      Peter Thiel is on record on his own blog as describing votes for women as a bad thing. https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio...
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - dsp1234 10y ago
        and starting in just the second paragraph: "Most importantly, I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible."
        saosebastiao 10y ago
        Democracy and freedom do have a tendency to be at odds with each other on occasion. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority
meritt 10y ago
Thank you. It's not going unnoticed.

venomsnake 10y ago

On the issues - as my HN comment history shows - I am firmly on the democrats side - pro abortion, pro gay marriage, for sensible gun ownership, taxes on the rich, investment in infrastructure and education, single payer health care and so on. And yet - the zealotry and fanaticism on the left to extinguish any kind of "wrong" thoughts, deviation from the norm, or perceived transgression is extremely off putting - around the time the Eich drama unfolded - I realized that these people are at least as dangerous as the conservative Christians when they had the upper hand in the discourse. They are against all and any forms of discrimination - unless the people discriminated disagree with them. Destroying someone's livelihood just because they don't have the "right" values showed me that the new cultural overlords are the same as the old one. So I support Trump just to piss them off. So I would not be surprised if a lot of Trump/Thiel boycotters are Jedi in the streets, Sith in the sheets - because real hackers always have a rebellion streak in them - and right now the left is "The Man"

pjc50 10y ago
Destroying someone's livelihood You mean like suing Gawker out of existence? the left is "The Man" I get the impression from a lot of the alt-right that what they object to is not so much "the man" as "the woman".
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]