4 ms·

2 Silicon Valley Billionaires Want to Reinvent the Democratic Party

towndrunk 9y ago
Good luck. It appears to me these people don't take kindly to outsiders. Look at how both sides have treated Trump. Anyone from the outside is going to get the same treatment no matter what side you are on.
- Caveman_Coder 9y ago
  Yeah, we really have one party, the business party. The Dems are the business party that is more multi-cultural and socially progressive...and the GOP is the business party that caters to the religious folk and more socially conservative...either way, we get the business party. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...
- anth1988 9y ago
  is that because they don't like outsiders or because they don't like Trump? Most people don't like Trump.
r00fus 9y ago
I can't speak to Hoffman, but Pincus sounds like a poor fit for the Democratic party. A former coworker went to work for Zynga pre-IPO and I got the gist that the leadership/organization values and DEM values are a very thin venn diagram overall.
- gozur88 9y ago
  Isn't Pincus famous for threatening to fire people unless they surrendered their stock options a few months before IPO? Just the kind of guy I'd want running my party.
rhapsodic 9y ago
These guys are about as out of touch with reality as the Democratic party is. "Making engineering degrees free for everyone"? That question is of little interest to a 45 year old of average or below intelligence who struggles to earn his living by low-skilled, manual labor. And those are the people the Democratic party has driven into the arms of the Republicans by their desire to flood the country with low-skilled, low-educated immigrants who will compete for the shrinking number of jobs available to that person.
- muninn_ 9y ago
  And identity politics and constantly reminding white people how bad they are, are of interest to this mythical 45 year old man (god forbid it be a woman)? Sorry, the Dems (and I was one) have really lost their way. Anything that might force them to get their shit together is good, as far as I'm concerned.
tqkxzugoaupvwqr 9y ago
Looking from the outside, the US needs more than two mainstream parties. The Republicans-Democrats play is nothing more than Good cop/Bad cop with changing roles of who is the good and who is the bad cop. Instead of reinventing a major party to work better in a broken system, fix (or replace) the broken system.
- twobyfour 9y ago
  That will never happen so long as we have winner-takes-all elections.
  - matt_wulfeck 9y ago
    It's happened before and it will happen again.
    - twobyfour 9y ago
      It never lasts more than a couple of election cycles, though, and basically coincides with a realignment between the dominant parties.
matt_wulfeck 9y ago
Why reinvent it? Let it die like the whigs, when republicans came on the scene and represented new ideals in liberalism (not to be confused with republicans of present day). We're on the verge of a tectonic shift in the way people identify and if you cling to the past you'll be left behind. Look at who now represents the poor, rural, working class? Look who represents the urban intelligentsia? These are interesting times indeed.
Aron 9y ago
Personally, I vote for decentralizing power a little bit. Got a problem getting red and blue states to agree on healthcare? Fine. Let the states decide.

Good luck. It appears to me these people don't take kindly to outsiders. Look at how both sides have treated Trump. Anyone from the outside is going to get the same treatment no matter what side you are on.

Caveman_Coder 9y ago
Yeah, we really have one party, the business party. The Dems are the business party that is more multi-cultural and socially progressive...and the GOP is the business party that caters to the religious folk and more socially conservative...either way, we get the business party. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...
anth1988 9y ago
is that because they don't like outsiders or because they don't like Trump? Most people don't like Trump.

r00fus 9y ago

I can't speak to Hoffman, but Pincus sounds like a poor fit for the Democratic party. A former coworker went to work for Zynga pre-IPO and I got the gist that the leadership/organization values and DEM values are a very thin venn diagram overall.

gozur88 9y ago
Isn't Pincus famous for threatening to fire people unless they surrendered their stock options a few months before IPO? Just the kind of guy I'd want running my party.

rhapsodic 9y ago

These guys are about as out of touch with reality as the Democratic party is. "Making engineering degrees free for everyone"? That question is of little interest to a 45 year old of average or below intelligence who struggles to earn his living by low-skilled, manual labor. And those are the people the Democratic party has driven into the arms of the Republicans by their desire to flood the country with low-skilled, low-educated immigrants who will compete for the shrinking number of jobs available to that person.

muninn_ 9y ago
And identity politics and constantly reminding white people how bad they are, are of interest to this mythical 45 year old man (god forbid it be a woman)? Sorry, the Dems (and I was one) have really lost their way. Anything that might force them to get their shit together is good, as far as I'm concerned.

tqkxzugoaupvwqr 9y ago

Looking from the outside, the US needs more than two mainstream parties. The Republicans-Democrats play is nothing more than Good cop/Bad cop with changing roles of who is the good and who is the bad cop. Instead of reinventing a major party to work better in a broken system, fix (or replace) the broken system.

twobyfour 9y ago
That will never happen so long as we have winner-takes-all elections.
- matt_wulfeck 9y ago
  It's happened before and it will happen again.
  - twobyfour 9y ago
    It never lasts more than a couple of election cycles, though, and basically coincides with a realignment between the dominant parties.

matt_wulfeck 9y ago

Why reinvent it? Let it die like the whigs, when republicans came on the scene and represented new ideals in liberalism (not to be confused with republicans of present day). We're on the verge of a tectonic shift in the way people identify and if you cling to the past you'll be left behind. Look at who now represents the poor, rural, working class? Look who represents the urban intelligentsia? These are interesting times indeed.

Aron 9y ago

Personally, I vote for decentralizing power a little bit. Got a problem getting red and blue states to agree on healthcare? Fine. Let the states decide.