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Look at the list of prominent SV VCs and execs who were recently 'named to a Saudi advisory board': Sam Altman, Marc Andreessen, Travis Kalanick etc. https://w
by Jerry2 8y ago
Look at the list of prominent SV VCs and execs who were recently 'named to a Saudi advisory board': Sam Altman, Marc Andreessen, Travis Kalanick etc.
https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-execs-named-saudi-board-controversy-jamal-khashoggi-disappearance-2018-10?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-execs-named-saudi-board...
- SauciestGNU 8y agoSurprised Sam Altman would sign on. Doesn't Saudi Arabia execute non-heterosexual people?
- subliminalpanda 8y agoLGBT rights in Saudi Arabia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia
- blattimwind 8y agoKSA is not exactly under the rule of law.
- int_19h 8y agoI believe it technically is, in a sense that Sharia (which is the supreme law) is supposed to be applicable even to the royal family. But I doubt that's how it works in practice.
- piva00 8y agoThat is almost exactly what it means to not be under the rule of law, when laws can be applied selectively you technically aren't under the rule of it, if there is a group above it they also can get away of going against it.
- int_19h 8y agoWhat I mean is that formally, those laws (Sharia) are not applied selectively. The practice is different, but that's not quite the same thing. Historically, when the concept of rule of law was first introduced, it was to counter the then-prevailing idea that laws officially don't apply to kings, who are above the law. In places like Russia, this was even manifested as part of the title - "autokrator" grew to specifically mean that the ruler is not subject to anyone else's will (including any laws).
- joel_ms 8y agoHow does that differ from this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity_in_the_Unit... ?
- int_19h 8y agoYou can still sue any specific person, just not the office they represent. E.g. if the Senate passes a law, all senators are still subject to that law as individuals. The other side to rule of law is that the government can't punish you arbitrarily - they need to have an applicable law, and they can only apply it to you as written (including penalties etc). In a system without rule of law, a subject can be charged with wrongdoing on the whim of the ruler. That part is also missing in KSA.
- andrepd 8y agoSurprised that a rich person contradicted his stated "beliefs" when time came to make himself a stack? Don't be.
- awakeasleep 8y agoSam makes himself available to discuss issues publicly, and seems to have a functioning sense of morality. Do you have any knowledge to contradict this picture? Surely billionaires are as individual as anyone else. I agree this sounds like a contradiction, and I'm curious to hear Sam's reply. Let's not pre-judge him.
- staticautomatic 8y agoYou mean like the knowledge that he works with Saudis?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- andrepd 8y agoI will await for that explanation. I believe however you are very naive.
- mercer 8y agoI agree. I'm inclined to think there's very little excuse to 'get in bed' with the Saudis in the first place, but at the very least we should wait for a statement.
- throw34583945 8y agoIsn't being jewish (like most of YC) an even bigger issue to the saudis?
- acjohnson55 8y agoMaybe 30+ years ago. Not these days.
- throw34583945 8y agoAccording to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Saudi_Arabia_relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Saudi_Arabia_re..., Saudia Arabia forbids aircraft traveling to Israel from overflying Saudi airspace. Doesn't seem very friendly to me.
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago> Saudia Arabia forbids aircraft traveling to Israel from overflying Saudi airspace Anti-Israel, not (as) anti-Judaism. Saudi Arabia and Israel have a rough history. I know plenty of Jews who safely do business in the KSA. That said, they tend to stay within the larger cities of Riyadh and the more-liberal Jeddah.
- throw34583945 8y agoThat's interesting, thanks for sharing. I guess pragmatic commerce finds a way. I thought it was more black and white.
- ethbro 8y agoA friend from Bahrain put Middle East politics this way: 'Look at the Palestinians. Every country's government decries how poorly they've been treated, but none of them lift a finger to do anything about it.' In other words, money and business >> beliefs.
- deleted 8y ago
- 3131s 8y agoNot surprising, just another rich asshole.