4 ms·

Off topic but David Sacks / Peter Thiel / Elon - We should not give importance to these guys. Anti-democratic. You would think such smart people would preserve

by d3vmax 4y ago

Off topic but David Sacks / Peter Thiel / Elon - We should not give importance to these guys. Anti-democratic. You would think such smart people would preserve their eco-system . society for future and great good, but they think so short-term as now they have money and self-preservation kicks in. Screw this guy and let's stop putting him on a pedestal for our future common good.

xwdv 4y ago
Honestly I can see their logic. I think democratic principles fail as the general population gets desperate and votes in their short term self interests instead of a long term common good. This is why it’s popular to vote for people who will immediately lower your taxes, damaging as it may be to the governments funding. We need leaders who can make decisive actions on generational time scales.
- woodruffw 4y ago
  This implies that, contrary to all evidence, David Sacks (and Elon Musk) are interested in any combination of "long term" or "the common good." To a first approximation, everybody agrees that we should plant trees for our grandchildren to sit under.
  - xwdv 4y ago
    Elon Musk has done plenty of long term thinking. Colonizing mars isn’t something we will see much benefit from, but our grandchildren and great grandchildren might.
    - woodruffw 4y ago
      I do lots of long term thinking as well, but you probably don't want me as your autocratic ruler. I'd like my grandchildren to have a chance at surviving on this world.
    - tptacek 4y ago
      Attempting to colonize Mars is idiotic, as is setting in motion plans to begin working towards that goal. There's an entire continent on Earth we haven't figured out how to colonize yet. This is exactly why we don't want a new Caesar: we'll be hostage to their dumb science fiction kinks (until they murder us for pointing out how dumb what they're saying is, if history is any guide).
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > need leaders who can make decisive actions on generational time scales Blake Masters, a Thyle acolyte, is a literal monarchist. That is not generational thinking, it’s looking at Rome and thinking it would be swell to live under Augustus if you’re already at least a bit rich. I have never campaigned in Arizona, and I donated heavily in Maricopa county in the last Senate cycle.
  - tptacek 4y ago
    "Monarchist", for what it's worth, is a euphemism. There is a more precise term for looking back at Rome and thinking we'd be better off with an Augustus.
    - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
      > is a more precise term for looking back at Rome and thinking we'd be better off with an Augustus Ha! Did that unintentionally.
    - shuckles 4y ago
      What’s the term?
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - skedaddle 4y ago
        It's "fascist", classically. For the Italian movement during the 20s-30s this idea was quite explicit. Roman empire was a strong theme in Italian propaganda, with Mussolini fashioned as a Caesar / Augustus type. It was effectively the same in Germany, although less literal.
- marcinzm 4y ago
  >We need leaders who can make decisive actions on generational time scales. Which works right until their actions are to ensure their future generations have the most power and money while yours have the least power and money.
neurobot123 4y ago
[dead]
paulcole 4y ago
> You would think such smart people would preserve their eco-system Maybe they aren’t that smart after all? Being good at computers and getting rich doesn’t mean somebody is a genius.
- d3vmax 4y ago
  True. Not smart in all areas. However, it is disheartening to see they can't put 2+2 together or they can but as money is involved, they are being **ts.
padjo 4y ago
At the very least let’s start calling them what they are: oligarchs. Never understood why we reserve that term for Russians.
- danpalmer 4y ago
  I think because it became synonymous with the specific things that happened around the fall of the Soviet Union that caused them to rise to power. Not saying it’s right! But that was a very specific and rare set of circumstances that maybe deserves it’s own recognition.
darth_avocado 4y ago
It should be worth noting that Elon hasn’t paid rent in any of the Twitter offices globally. And has been evicted for rent non payment in some of them. David Sacks is his close ally and I would not be surprised if this was some weird renegotiation tactic for their offices. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-31/twitter-sued-for-nonpayment-of-rent-on-san-francisco-office https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-31/twitter-s...
- MuffinFlavored 4y ago
  what’s his plan? get sued and win in court somehow?
mrlatinos 4y ago
Yes, it is off topic
jmyeet 4y ago
Every billionaire is a policy failure. You seem to recognize that the three people you mentioned are, by any objective standard, awful people. Depending on which billionaire you look at, you'll see variations of this. For example, the billionaires (eg Koch, Musk) who spend huge sums in derailing (pun intended) any effort to build public transport infrastructure in the US (eg [1][2]). The question then becomes why. There are really three roads you can go down: 1. You blame a specific group (eg ethnicity, religion, etc). We'll call this the Kanye Road to Antisemitism; 2. You see such individuals as simply bad apples, exceptions. If however you look you'll find pretty much any billionaire is awful and in some way is seeking to destroy the system that made (and continues to make) their very wealthy possible; or 3. You realize this is a systemic problem. I would put to you that the problem is (3). [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/climate/koch-brothers-public-transit.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/climate/koch-brothers-pub... [2]: https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-california-high-spee-1849402460 https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-cali...

by d3vmax 4y ago

xwdv 4y ago

Honestly I can see their logic. I think democratic principles fail as the general population gets desperate and votes in their short term self interests instead of a long term common good. This is why it’s popular to vote for people who will immediately lower your taxes, damaging as it may be to the governments funding. We need leaders who can make decisive actions on generational time scales.

woodruffw 4y ago
This implies that, contrary to all evidence, David Sacks (and Elon Musk) are interested in any combination of "long term" or "the common good." To a first approximation, everybody agrees that we should plant trees for our grandchildren to sit under.
- xwdv 4y ago
  Elon Musk has done plenty of long term thinking. Colonizing mars isn’t something we will see much benefit from, but our grandchildren and great grandchildren might.
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    I do lots of long term thinking as well, but you probably don't want me as your autocratic ruler. I'd like my grandchildren to have a chance at surviving on this world.
  - tptacek 4y ago
    Attempting to colonize Mars is idiotic, as is setting in motion plans to begin working towards that goal. There's an entire continent on Earth we haven't figured out how to colonize yet. This is exactly why we don't want a new Caesar: we'll be hostage to their dumb science fiction kinks (until they murder us for pointing out how dumb what they're saying is, if history is any guide).
JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> need leaders who can make decisive actions on generational time scales Blake Masters, a Thyle acolyte, is a literal monarchist. That is not generational thinking, it’s looking at Rome and thinking it would be swell to live under Augustus if you’re already at least a bit rich. I have never campaigned in Arizona, and I donated heavily in Maricopa county in the last Senate cycle.
- tptacek 4y ago
  "Monarchist", for what it's worth, is a euphemism. There is a more precise term for looking back at Rome and thinking we'd be better off with an Augustus.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > is a more precise term for looking back at Rome and thinking we'd be better off with an Augustus Ha! Did that unintentionally.
  - shuckles 4y ago
    What’s the term?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - skedaddle 4y ago
      It's "fascist", classically. For the Italian movement during the 20s-30s this idea was quite explicit. Roman empire was a strong theme in Italian propaganda, with Mussolini fashioned as a Caesar / Augustus type. It was effectively the same in Germany, although less literal.
marcinzm 4y ago
>We need leaders who can make decisive actions on generational time scales. Which works right until their actions are to ensure their future generations have the most power and money while yours have the least power and money.

neurobot123 4y ago

[dead]

paulcole 4y ago

> You would think such smart people would preserve their eco-system Maybe they aren’t that smart after all? Being good at computers and getting rich doesn’t mean somebody is a genius.

d3vmax 4y ago
True. Not smart in all areas. However, it is disheartening to see they can't put 2+2 together or they can but as money is involved, they are being **ts.

padjo 4y ago

At the very least let’s start calling them what they are: oligarchs. Never understood why we reserve that term for Russians.

danpalmer 4y ago
I think because it became synonymous with the specific things that happened around the fall of the Soviet Union that caused them to rise to power. Not saying it’s right! But that was a very specific and rare set of circumstances that maybe deserves it’s own recognition.

darth_avocado 4y ago

It should be worth noting that Elon hasn’t paid rent in any of the Twitter offices globally. And has been evicted for rent non payment in some of them. David Sacks is his close ally and I would not be surprised if this was some weird renegotiation tactic for their offices. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-31/twitter-sued-for-nonpayment-of-rent-on-san-francisco-office https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-31/twitter-s...

MuffinFlavored 4y ago
what’s his plan? get sued and win in court somehow?

mrlatinos 4y ago

Yes, it is off topic

jmyeet 4y ago

Every billionaire is a policy failure. You seem to recognize that the three people you mentioned are, by any objective standard, awful people. Depending on which billionaire you look at, you'll see variations of this. For example, the billionaires (eg Koch, Musk) who spend huge sums in derailing (pun intended) any effort to build public transport infrastructure in the US (eg [1][2]). The question then becomes why. There are really three roads you can go down: 1. You blame a specific group (eg ethnicity, religion, etc). We'll call this the Kanye Road to Antisemitism; 2. You see such individuals as simply bad apples, exceptions. If however you look you'll find pretty much any billionaire is awful and in some way is seeking to destroy the system that made (and continues to make) their very wealthy possible; or 3. You realize this is a systemic problem. I would put to you that the problem is (3). [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/climate/koch-brothers-public-transit.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/climate/koch-brothers-pub... [2]: https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-california-high-spee-1849402460 https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-cali...