5 ms·

Peter Thiel is a direct investor in Lyft. And Thiel donated $1M to Trump and was part of his transition party.

BuckRogers 10y ago
People keep saying that and it's just not a good point. I'm sure there's a lot of Republicans involved with every company. Peter Thiel is just yet another one of them. I wouldn't let him investing in Lyft turn you away- everyone including him is learning that Trump is bad for business. If you go off 1 guy's name to avoid a company rather than their actual business practices, no partisan from either side could buy anything. I'm a registered independent whose compass is science rather than ideology, (at least since the Bush Jr era, prior to which I was a registered Republican)- and I'm still deleting Uber and will use Lyft instead.
- pfarnsworth 10y ago
  If the argument is delete Uber because the CEO supports Trump because he's a part of Trump's advisory board, then it is a good point. Thiel directly helped Trump win and was a part of the transition board. If you just want to delete Uber not because of Trump, then it's not a big deal then.
  - BuckRogers 10y ago
    I don't really care who supports whom. If you vote Trump and use your company resources to feed the orphans then I'm going to patronize you anyway. Results, not intentions.
    - pfarnsworth 10y ago
      Assuming that you already know that Lyft also "broke the strike" in exactly the same way as Uber, Uber is paying for the earnings of Uber drivers trapped out of the US by the ban, and also set up a $3M legal fund to directly help any drivers that have troubles. How does that stack up vs the $250k/yr for 4 years that Lyft donated to ACLU?
      - BuckRogers 10y ago
        You're right about that[0] but I'm holding Uber to the fire nonetheless to send a message. It's a positive one. The same link also has plenty of reasoning why Lyft > Uber. This will be a big lesson for everyone, Peter Thiel notwithstanding. Trump is bad for business and now Uber is going to take the hit. [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/01/29/uber-triggers-protest-for-not-supporting-taxi-strike-against-refugee-ban/?utm_term=.d0e80452e0f4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/01/2...
untog 10y ago
...and Lyft have taken $1m of his money and donated it to the ACLU. The situation is confusing to say the least.
- dajohnson89 10y ago
  For clarity, it helps to realize that all parties involved are business entities which do whatever it takes to maximize profit. That is the main theme. There is no philosophical or moral consistency to be found. Don't look for something (is x or y pro or anti-z) which isn't there. Uber and Lyft are both for-profit enterprises answerable to pushy shareholders. They both have their hands dirty with Trump. They both keep their hands dirty while trying to appease their liberal customers. Everything else is implementation details.
  - rosser 10y ago
    I think that's a little reductive. Everything you say is true, but those "implementation details" aren't just implementation details. You say that like the actual implementation of a thing is immaterial. That's the meat of the thing; that's its substance. The stuff you're enumerating is more structural.
    - dajohnson89 10y ago
      How substantive is it, in the grand scheme of things, whether Uber lifts its surge pricing at 7pm or 4pm or 1pm or never. That truly is an implementation detail. I am not hand waving or being reductive -- do you really think that that anything Lyft does to show its solidarity with immigrants holds any weight with Thiel being where he is? There is no meat to the bandstanding outrage at Uber. It's all posturing. Boycott Uber for breaking the strike (sic) and also boycott Lyft for its Trump ties. That's hard though, let's just boycott the black Uber brand. The pink moustache is kinda cool.

People keep saying that and it's just not a good point. I'm sure there's a lot of Republicans involved with every company. Peter Thiel is just yet another one of them. I wouldn't let him investing in Lyft turn you away- everyone including him is learning that Trump is bad for business. If you go off 1 guy's name to avoid a company rather than their actual business practices, no partisan from either side could buy anything. I'm a registered independent whose compass is science rather than ideology, (at least since the Bush Jr era, prior to which I was a registered Republican)- and I'm still deleting Uber and will use Lyft instead.

pfarnsworth 10y ago
If the argument is delete Uber because the CEO supports Trump because he's a part of Trump's advisory board, then it is a good point. Thiel directly helped Trump win and was a part of the transition board. If you just want to delete Uber not because of Trump, then it's not a big deal then.
- BuckRogers 10y ago
  I don't really care who supports whom. If you vote Trump and use your company resources to feed the orphans then I'm going to patronize you anyway. Results, not intentions.
  - pfarnsworth 10y ago
    Assuming that you already know that Lyft also "broke the strike" in exactly the same way as Uber, Uber is paying for the earnings of Uber drivers trapped out of the US by the ban, and also set up a $3M legal fund to directly help any drivers that have troubles. How does that stack up vs the $250k/yr for 4 years that Lyft donated to ACLU?
    - BuckRogers 10y ago
      You're right about that[0] but I'm holding Uber to the fire nonetheless to send a message. It's a positive one. The same link also has plenty of reasoning why Lyft > Uber. This will be a big lesson for everyone, Peter Thiel notwithstanding. Trump is bad for business and now Uber is going to take the hit. [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/01/29/uber-triggers-protest-for-not-supporting-taxi-strike-against-refugee-ban/?utm_term=.d0e80452e0f4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/01/2...

untog 10y ago

...and Lyft have taken $1m of his money and donated it to the ACLU. The situation is confusing to say the least.

dajohnson89 10y ago
For clarity, it helps to realize that all parties involved are business entities which do whatever it takes to maximize profit. That is the main theme. There is no philosophical or moral consistency to be found. Don't look for something (is x or y pro or anti-z) which isn't there. Uber and Lyft are both for-profit enterprises answerable to pushy shareholders. They both have their hands dirty with Trump. They both keep their hands dirty while trying to appease their liberal customers. Everything else is implementation details.
- rosser 10y ago
  I think that's a little reductive. Everything you say is true, but those "implementation details" aren't just implementation details. You say that like the actual implementation of a thing is immaterial. That's the meat of the thing; that's its substance. The stuff you're enumerating is more structural.
  - dajohnson89 10y ago
    How substantive is it, in the grand scheme of things, whether Uber lifts its surge pricing at 7pm or 4pm or 1pm or never. That truly is an implementation detail. I am not hand waving or being reductive -- do you really think that that anything Lyft does to show its solidarity with immigrants holds any weight with Thiel being where he is? There is no meat to the bandstanding outrage at Uber. It's all posturing. Boycott Uber for breaking the strike (sic) and also boycott Lyft for its Trump ties. That's hard though, let's just boycott the black Uber brand. The pink moustache is kinda cool.