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Peter Thiel’s Money Talks, in Contentious Ways. But What Does He Say?

56 points by uptown 9y ago

vinhboy 9y ago
> “It’s been a crazier two years than I would have thought,” Mr. Thiel said in his new Midtown Manhattan apartment, which is so far up in the clouds that it literally looks down on Trump Tower. This guy lives in such privilege, I think he forgets that his actions have real life consequences. Like helping Trump into power has made life difficult for thousands of Dreamers, refugees, etc... and a ton of other obstacles I don't really have room to record here. To him it's just a thought experiment. If it doesn't work out, he moves on, neglecting all the lives he made worse. Highly hypocritical of him to say he "warned" against bad things when he helped create it. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against privileged/smart people, but this dude just has some really whack ideas on how to improve society.
- beguiledfoil 9y ago
  The contrarian right has no answers, only cynical observations. If they were more transparent about this they would be dismissed as sadists but they keep their cards close to their chest and allow for the occasional sympathetic portrait to drip out. What does Peter Thiel love? Want? I'll never know. He's just another rich guy jet setting between NY and LA now. My guess is he spends some time advocating for impractically expensive cross continent transit and fades into the noise of wealthy-but-not-wealthiest elite. Maybe he'll become interested in those green grids he spends so much time flying over and does something in a midsized American city - probably healthcare related given the demographics.
  - tclancy 9y ago
    >He's just another rich guy jet setting between NY and LA now That is totally unfair. He's also interested in going to New Zealand in case his choice in presidents happens to irradiate North America.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - stevenwoo 9y ago
    Maybe it's because they (SV entrepeneurs) have so much wealth thay can afford to indulge any whim, I can imagine the scenario of society collapsing but planning for it isn't in my disposable income. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/why-does-peter-thiel-have-new-zealand-citizenship https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/why-does-peter-thiel...
  - notMick 9y ago
    If I break into your house, am I part of your family? Border laws don't stop being laws because of emotions, and every decision to ignore the law has major consequences. Being naive or not thinking of consequences doesn't work in chess or in life. We need thiel to help balance the insane part of the echo chamber. let's hope they bring him more on board.
    - beguiledfoil 9y ago
      So closed borders, closed trade? Is that your ambition? You sound like a lover of discipline, why don't you just tell me and the other posters what you want? Why attack what you oppose rather than striking out in the direction you intend to set out in?
- sseveran 9y ago
  If you read 0 to 1 his support for Trump was really unsurprising whatever you think about it. He outlined what he viewed as important and acted accordingly. I think he like most people today however have the wrong diagnosis to what is going on in the world today.
Covzire 9y ago
"there were unsourced media reports that said Mr. Trump wanted to put him on the Supreme Court. But now even photo ops are rare." This is where I stopped reading. This article is poorly disguised political hackery. It takes very little evidence to suggest the silliest notion about your political enemies these days.
- cycrutchfield 9y ago
  What is not factual about that statement?
  - Natsu 9y ago
    The better question is 'what's factual' as that's a random, unsourced rumor. Literally anyone can make those up and the vast majority are forgotten when they are eventually proven wrong. Yes, every so often one happens to be a real leak, but you're misinforming yourself if you treat them as credible in general. When they do that, you should treat the people with the byline on the article as having said it themselves and then evaluate what evidence (if any) they can give for that and whether they have an ulterior motive (e.g. being a partisan hack).
    - notMick 9y ago
      Well said. Media which have been selling bullshit might be making some sort term profits - however are destroying their credibility and brand.
      - cycrutchfield 9y ago
        Anonymous sources have been a thing in journalism since, like, forever.
        Natsu 9y ago
        That's not actually a defense of the practice. To make it a defense, you would have to actually argue why a long history of yellow journalism means the public should believe anonymous rumors and to deal with arguments that even supposedly trustworthy papers have betrayed that trust, for example with the Jayson Blair scandal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair
muglug 9y ago
> “The ability to speak and not have every word you say get distorted, to have wrong ideas and then be able to correct them — these notions were powerfully undercut by Gawker.” That's called reporting. The chief difference between Gawker and the New York Times is that Gawker took far greater risks for its size than the Grey Lady. Thiel isn't even particularly unique – other billionaires (e.g. Sir James Goldsmith) have tried to kneecap publications they viewed as too disrespectful.
- lr4444lr 9y ago
  Gawker - without permission - publicly aired a tape of an intimate moment from Hulk Hogan. That's borderline if not actually criminal in some jurisdictions. Gawker didn't just "take journalistic risks" - they glorified the pursuit of ratings over truth and accuracy, which cuts the very heart of what's making journalism sick.
  - unchocked 9y ago
    Airing an intimate tape isn't contrary to the pursuit of truth and accuracy.
  - radicaldreamer 9y ago
    Well, Gawker is based in the United States, where there's plenty of federal case law saying it is not illegal for a public figure. "Borderline" criminal isn't criminal and Gawker didn't operate from the United Kingdom or a jurisdiction where this isn't allowed, it operated in the United States, where the courts have been very clear on this.
    - lr4444lr 9y ago
      In some jurisdictions, it probably soon will be[0]. [0] https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/s2725/amendment/a https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/s2725/amendm...
    - Natsu 9y ago
      It's not that simple. There's not much of a public interest angle in Hogan's sex life, so he still had a claim for invasion of privacy, same as anyone else who had non-consensual porn of them stolen and knowingly published. Also, Gawker was actually taken down for defying the court's orders. Even if they knew they were right, that was a dumb move. You sort that out on appeal, rather than defying the courts. That is absolutely illegal, regardless of whatever defenses they might have had for invasion of privacy. Gawker then compounded that by saying that they would have also posted stolen child pornography of anyone not under 4 in their deposition, as you can see on video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0p4V1-va00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0p4V1-va00 So you're not going to get much sympathy from normal people for a pedo-friendly, non-consensual porn publisher going down the toilet.
yosho 9y ago
I, for one, applaud FB's decision to keep him on the board. A lot has been said about this already, but it's true that Silicon Valley is an echo chamber that tends to push out dissenting opinions. It's valuable to have someone on the other side that can challenge your views, as painful as it might be and as much as you might disagree.
- radicaldreamer 9y ago
  Does Silicon Valley really push out dissenting opinions? There seem to be plenty of people with very out of the mainstream and quirky opinions who have thrived in the valley for years and plenty of obnoxious people who try to emulate them by having dissenting opinions for the sake of having a dissenting opinion.
  - yosho 9y ago
    The James Damore Google manifesto and the Youtube creator demonetization censorship comes to mind right now. Granted that's only one company, Google, but I think there's a general feeling that if you're not on the left leaning political spectrum, you're going to have your opinions shuttered.
    - gameswithgo 9y ago
      Google has also fired two liberal employees for being insufferable (that are known/public). So perhaps it is more a case of Google firing insufferable people rather than particular views.
      - rapsey 9y ago
        No account of events leading to Demores firing portrayed him as insufferable.
        keo92znx 9y ago
        His manifesto alone paints such a picture. No anecdotes from others necessary. One coder with no unique personal success outside being hireable by Google painting the majority of the species as lesser, with cherry picked stats that ignore human history and social trends? Edit: I don’t care about what numbers he put in his memo. It’s the idea of peddling such a thing in the first place by someone who has no authority Saying math says we should behave a certain way is enabling authoritarian rule, IMO Demore forgets that he’s one of billions. He can think what he wants using his numbers, but it’s not iron clad and means nothing given that the data is generated in a highly curated social structure It’s less “his math is off” and more “why do I care who this Demore fellow is? Because he has math? Meh lots of people do. It’s not very interesting math and theory.” That’s not likely to connect with this crowd. Pretty self-aggrandizing and full of shit, IMO. Not something a “place of business” as Google has painted itself in these situations, should support
greywolf 9y ago
lame, if anything he should be warning of the upcoming unemployment wave due largely to new ai and machine learning.
account999 9y ago
Peter Thiel is evil incarnate
- dang 9y ago
  Maybe so, but please don't post unsubstantive comments to Hacker News.
moomin 9y ago
AFAICT mostly his money says “shut up” to people with less money than him.

56 points by uptown 9y ago

> “It’s been a crazier two years than I would have thought,” Mr. Thiel said in his new Midtown Manhattan apartment, which is so far up in the clouds that it literally looks down on Trump Tower. This guy lives in such privilege, I think he forgets that his actions have real life consequences. Like helping Trump into power has made life difficult for thousands of Dreamers, refugees, etc... and a ton of other obstacles I don't really have room to record here. To him it's just a thought experiment. If it doesn't work out, he moves on, neglecting all the lives he made worse. Highly hypocritical of him to say he "warned" against bad things when he helped create it. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against privileged/smart people, but this dude just has some really whack ideas on how to improve society.

beguiledfoil 9y ago
The contrarian right has no answers, only cynical observations. If they were more transparent about this they would be dismissed as sadists but they keep their cards close to their chest and allow for the occasional sympathetic portrait to drip out. What does Peter Thiel love? Want? I'll never know. He's just another rich guy jet setting between NY and LA now. My guess is he spends some time advocating for impractically expensive cross continent transit and fades into the noise of wealthy-but-not-wealthiest elite. Maybe he'll become interested in those green grids he spends so much time flying over and does something in a midsized American city - probably healthcare related given the demographics.
- tclancy 9y ago
  >He's just another rich guy jet setting between NY and LA now That is totally unfair. He's also interested in going to New Zealand in case his choice in presidents happens to irradiate North America.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- stevenwoo 9y ago
  Maybe it's because they (SV entrepeneurs) have so much wealth thay can afford to indulge any whim, I can imagine the scenario of society collapsing but planning for it isn't in my disposable income. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/why-does-peter-thiel-have-new-zealand-citizenship https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/why-does-peter-thiel...
- notMick 9y ago
  If I break into your house, am I part of your family? Border laws don't stop being laws because of emotions, and every decision to ignore the law has major consequences. Being naive or not thinking of consequences doesn't work in chess or in life. We need thiel to help balance the insane part of the echo chamber. let's hope they bring him more on board.
  - beguiledfoil 9y ago
    So closed borders, closed trade? Is that your ambition? You sound like a lover of discipline, why don't you just tell me and the other posters what you want? Why attack what you oppose rather than striking out in the direction you intend to set out in?
sseveran 9y ago
If you read 0 to 1 his support for Trump was really unsurprising whatever you think about it. He outlined what he viewed as important and acted accordingly. I think he like most people today however have the wrong diagnosis to what is going on in the world today.

Covzire 9y ago

"there were unsourced media reports that said Mr. Trump wanted to put him on the Supreme Court. But now even photo ops are rare." This is where I stopped reading. This article is poorly disguised political hackery. It takes very little evidence to suggest the silliest notion about your political enemies these days.

cycrutchfield 9y ago
What is not factual about that statement?
- Natsu 9y ago
  The better question is 'what's factual' as that's a random, unsourced rumor. Literally anyone can make those up and the vast majority are forgotten when they are eventually proven wrong. Yes, every so often one happens to be a real leak, but you're misinforming yourself if you treat them as credible in general. When they do that, you should treat the people with the byline on the article as having said it themselves and then evaluate what evidence (if any) they can give for that and whether they have an ulterior motive (e.g. being a partisan hack).
  - notMick 9y ago
    Well said. Media which have been selling bullshit might be making some sort term profits - however are destroying their credibility and brand.
    - cycrutchfield 9y ago
      Anonymous sources have been a thing in journalism since, like, forever.
      - Natsu 9y ago
        That's not actually a defense of the practice. To make it a defense, you would have to actually argue why a long history of yellow journalism means the public should believe anonymous rumors and to deal with arguments that even supposedly trustworthy papers have betrayed that trust, for example with the Jayson Blair scandal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair

muglug 9y ago

> “The ability to speak and not have every word you say get distorted, to have wrong ideas and then be able to correct them — these notions were powerfully undercut by Gawker.” That's called reporting. The chief difference between Gawker and the New York Times is that Gawker took far greater risks for its size than the Grey Lady. Thiel isn't even particularly unique – other billionaires (e.g. Sir James Goldsmith) have tried to kneecap publications they viewed as too disrespectful.

lr4444lr 9y ago
Gawker - without permission - publicly aired a tape of an intimate moment from Hulk Hogan. That's borderline if not actually criminal in some jurisdictions. Gawker didn't just "take journalistic risks" - they glorified the pursuit of ratings over truth and accuracy, which cuts the very heart of what's making journalism sick.
- unchocked 9y ago
  Airing an intimate tape isn't contrary to the pursuit of truth and accuracy.
- radicaldreamer 9y ago
  Well, Gawker is based in the United States, where there's plenty of federal case law saying it is not illegal for a public figure. "Borderline" criminal isn't criminal and Gawker didn't operate from the United Kingdom or a jurisdiction where this isn't allowed, it operated in the United States, where the courts have been very clear on this.
  - lr4444lr 9y ago
    In some jurisdictions, it probably soon will be[0]. [0] https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/s2725/amendment/a https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/s2725/amendm...
  - Natsu 9y ago
    It's not that simple. There's not much of a public interest angle in Hogan's sex life, so he still had a claim for invasion of privacy, same as anyone else who had non-consensual porn of them stolen and knowingly published. Also, Gawker was actually taken down for defying the court's orders. Even if they knew they were right, that was a dumb move. You sort that out on appeal, rather than defying the courts. That is absolutely illegal, regardless of whatever defenses they might have had for invasion of privacy. Gawker then compounded that by saying that they would have also posted stolen child pornography of anyone not under 4 in their deposition, as you can see on video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0p4V1-va00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0p4V1-va00 So you're not going to get much sympathy from normal people for a pedo-friendly, non-consensual porn publisher going down the toilet.

yosho 9y ago

I, for one, applaud FB's decision to keep him on the board. A lot has been said about this already, but it's true that Silicon Valley is an echo chamber that tends to push out dissenting opinions. It's valuable to have someone on the other side that can challenge your views, as painful as it might be and as much as you might disagree.

radicaldreamer 9y ago
Does Silicon Valley really push out dissenting opinions? There seem to be plenty of people with very out of the mainstream and quirky opinions who have thrived in the valley for years and plenty of obnoxious people who try to emulate them by having dissenting opinions for the sake of having a dissenting opinion.
- yosho 9y ago
  The James Damore Google manifesto and the Youtube creator demonetization censorship comes to mind right now. Granted that's only one company, Google, but I think there's a general feeling that if you're not on the left leaning political spectrum, you're going to have your opinions shuttered.
  - gameswithgo 9y ago
    Google has also fired two liberal employees for being insufferable (that are known/public). So perhaps it is more a case of Google firing insufferable people rather than particular views.
    - rapsey 9y ago
      No account of events leading to Demores firing portrayed him as insufferable.
      - keo92znx 9y ago
        His manifesto alone paints such a picture. No anecdotes from others necessary. One coder with no unique personal success outside being hireable by Google painting the majority of the species as lesser, with cherry picked stats that ignore human history and social trends? Edit: I don’t care about what numbers he put in his memo. It’s the idea of peddling such a thing in the first place by someone who has no authority Saying math says we should behave a certain way is enabling authoritarian rule, IMO Demore forgets that he’s one of billions. He can think what he wants using his numbers, but it’s not iron clad and means nothing given that the data is generated in a highly curated social structure It’s less “his math is off” and more “why do I care who this Demore fellow is? Because he has math? Meh lots of people do. It’s not very interesting math and theory.” That’s not likely to connect with this crowd. Pretty self-aggrandizing and full of shit, IMO. Not something a “place of business” as Google has painted itself in these situations, should support

greywolf 9y ago

lame, if anything he should be warning of the upcoming unemployment wave due largely to new ai and machine learning.

account999 9y ago

Peter Thiel is evil incarnate

dang 9y ago
Maybe so, but please don't post unsubstantive comments to Hacker News.

moomin 9y ago

AFAICT mostly his money says “shut up” to people with less money than him.