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You're comparing Peter Thiel to Stalin? I don't have any issue with calling Stalin a monster because of his actions. Has Peter Thiel undertaken actions that co

You're comparing Peter Thiel to Stalin? I don't have any issue with calling Stalin a monster because of his actions. Has Peter Thiel undertaken actions that could be compared to Stalin's?

untog 10y ago
As I said in my post, I'm not comparing him in the sense that "Thiel is Stalin". I'm saying that you can compare anyone to Stalin on a grand spectrum. I invoked him because he's someone that, broadly speaking, people accept is a "monster". He's the conclusive, non-debatable end of the monster spectrum, if you will. I'm not suggesting in any way that his actions are on the same level as Stalin's, but where is the "monster line" drawn? I don't see how you could ever answer that question without factoring in someone's own political opinions. So I don't know how you could do a politically neutral examination of Thiel's supposed monstrousness.
- downandout 10y ago
  As I said in my post, I'm not comparing him in the sense that "Thiel is Stalin". You added your parenthesis after I responded (or perhaps while I was responding). But nevertheless, I can't come close to relating the two. Nothing I am aware of with Thiel would make a reasonable person consider him to be a "monster". This will be my last response to this, since I apparently forgot how many ultra-liberals that hate Thiel and everyone like him would be brought out by such a seemingly simple, non-controversial, genuine question that I posed to OP (not necessarily referring to you, but there seem to be alot of people backing up this opinion based upon nothing other than politics, which makes me sad both for HN and the state of political discourse in the US).
  - untog 10y ago
    Yes, I added the parenthesis after posting because I was concerned that someone might do exactly what you did - focus on the most controversial possible interpretation of my statement rather than address it at face value. I'll follow your lead and say that this will be my last response too, because your post has shown to me that we're talking past each other entirely. > there seem to be alot of people backing up this opinion based upon nothing other than politics The point I've been making this whole time is that you simply cannot separate politics from "other" in the way you wish to. Politics is intertwined in every decision we make and every opinion we hold. The fact that you choose (without evidence) to label those you disagree with as "ultra-liberals" underlines this. You paint yourself as politically neutral yet you are clearly evaluating others in political terms. We can't have "politically neutral" political discourse, it makes no sense. There is no "non-political Peter Thiel".
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - omonra 10y ago
      So do you call every one of the 60 odd million people who voted for Trump a monster?
krylon 10y ago
> You're comparing Peter Thiel to Stalin? Making an analogy between two things/people/events/actions is not the same as claiming the two are equal. Of course, Peter Thiel is nowhere near as bad as Stalin. Then again, "better than Stalin" is a pretty low bar.

You're comparing Peter Thiel to Stalin? I don't have any issue with calling Stalin a monster because of his actions. Has Peter Thiel undertaken actions that could be compared to Stalin's?

untog 10y ago

As I said in my post, I'm not comparing him in the sense that "Thiel is Stalin". I'm saying that you can compare anyone to Stalin on a grand spectrum. I invoked him because he's someone that, broadly speaking, people accept is a "monster". He's the conclusive, non-debatable end of the monster spectrum, if you will. I'm not suggesting in any way that his actions are on the same level as Stalin's, but where is the "monster line" drawn? I don't see how you could ever answer that question without factoring in someone's own political opinions. So I don't know how you could do a politically neutral examination of Thiel's supposed monstrousness.

downandout 10y ago
As I said in my post, I'm not comparing him in the sense that "Thiel is Stalin". You added your parenthesis after I responded (or perhaps while I was responding). But nevertheless, I can't come close to relating the two. Nothing I am aware of with Thiel would make a reasonable person consider him to be a "monster". This will be my last response to this, since I apparently forgot how many ultra-liberals that hate Thiel and everyone like him would be brought out by such a seemingly simple, non-controversial, genuine question that I posed to OP (not necessarily referring to you, but there seem to be alot of people backing up this opinion based upon nothing other than politics, which makes me sad both for HN and the state of political discourse in the US).
- untog 10y ago
  Yes, I added the parenthesis after posting because I was concerned that someone might do exactly what you did - focus on the most controversial possible interpretation of my statement rather than address it at face value. I'll follow your lead and say that this will be my last response too, because your post has shown to me that we're talking past each other entirely. > there seem to be alot of people backing up this opinion based upon nothing other than politics The point I've been making this whole time is that you simply cannot separate politics from "other" in the way you wish to. Politics is intertwined in every decision we make and every opinion we hold. The fact that you choose (without evidence) to label those you disagree with as "ultra-liberals" underlines this. You paint yourself as politically neutral yet you are clearly evaluating others in political terms. We can't have "politically neutral" political discourse, it makes no sense. There is no "non-political Peter Thiel".
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - omonra 10y ago
    So do you call every one of the 60 odd million people who voted for Trump a monster?

krylon 10y ago

> You're comparing Peter Thiel to Stalin? Making an analogy between two things/people/events/actions is not the same as claiming the two are equal. Of course, Peter Thiel is nowhere near as bad as Stalin. Then again, "better than Stalin" is a pretty low bar.