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> Over the course of two hours, the CEO of startup incubator Y Combinator personally attacks or retweets criticism of “extremist judges,” whom he accuses of emb
by tikkun 3y ago
> Over the course of two hours, the CEO of startup incubator Y Combinator personally attacks or retweets criticism of “extremist judges,” whom he accuses of emboldening criminals with the help of local media; any supervisor who dares to oppose bonuses to hire more cops; Nancy Pelosi and lawmakers concerned about the safety of autonomous vehicles; education activists who want to change math curriculum in public schools; venture capitalists who are “evil” to startup founders; “decels” who want to pump the brakes on technological progress; Apple’s monopoly on apps; YouTube censors; and last, but certainly not least, NIMBYs.
I once learned a lot about helping people with alcohol addition for a family friend. A few of the things I learned were: 1) labeling the person as an alcoholic will make them drink more 2) yelling at them and forcing them to defend themselves will make them drink more 3) any kind of aggressive intervention will make them drink more.
Unfortunately, attacking people generally serves to make them feel defensive and want to defend themselves. When we defend ourselves, that generally makes us dig in further.
I'll note that I hope that SF shifts in the direction of Garry's vision, and I'm in favor of the end outcome.
If Garry's goal is attention ("if you want to get an audience, start a fight") then attacks are a good method. If his goal is to change minds, I'd note that he may be more successful if he picks up a few books on helping people who have addictions, and borrows some of the methods from them (in short: make them first feel understood by you, and understand their hesitations and what makes them tick).
He could kind of treat it like he's doing customer development for a startup. Find people who've gone from one side to the other, talk to them about their journey, and so on.
The main point I'm hoping to emphasize is that attacking the other side like this to win may result in victory, but it won't result in peace.
- lazide 3y agoHo man. If ever there was a place that was a perfect example of the limits of this approach, it’s SF. How is that peace and understanding coming along in dealing with that street drugs/addiction problem? How is that non-confrontation approach to politics on getting things done/getting effective decisions made?
- bilbo0s 3y agoHow is that non-confrontation approach to politics on getting things done/getting effective decisions made? Just Devil's Advocate, but in DC we have a confrontational approach and we still get nothing done. Nor do we get any effective decisions made. My suspicion is that anyone doing anything other than collaborating with each other, is probably not getting anything real done. I guess I'm just not sure any of what you said is unique to San Fran. Or even if the opposite of what you just said would yield any better results in San Fran. In fact, I'm positive that it won't, because that's not really a San Fran problem. That's the public discourse problem that we've been having in the US nationally for 30 plus years now.
- lazide 3y agoIf it consistently hasn’t worked, perhaps it’s worth trying something else in each of these jurisdictions at least? Rather than continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results.
- next_xibalba 3y ago> I once learned a lot about helping people with alcohol addition for a family friend I had quite the opposite experience. We held an intervention for my father, sent him to rehab, and he hasn't drank again in 25 years. The bottom line is, there are prerequisites for maintaining a functional, prosperous society. Preventing crime, enforcing laws, and ensuring order and decorum in public spaces are among them. Several of the board of supervisors, through what is most generously described as extreme naïveté, have done their best to undermine these things. Garry and other prominent people have taken it upon themselves to try to intervene. It appears to me that he is trying to draw attention to how SF has been degraded by its board of supervisors' disastrous policies. My anecdotal experience is that things have gotten so bad that even SF's leftist core is waking up to how calamitous their voting choices have been. > it won't result in peace You may be right. But what choice do we have? This is not a fight over which statues to erect. This is a civic emergency. People are dying on the streets and SF is spiraling into a doom loop. Drastic action is needed.
- Zigurd 3y agoActual drastic action would be to structure a public safety department that could manage mental health crises without an armed response every time, and would make police more effective at the crimes that matter to the middle class. Throwing money at police has zero success stories.
- next_xibalba 3y agoThe large majority of the problems stem from the rampant, open air drug dealing and use, as well as the tidal wave of theft and robbery that goes virtually unpoliced and unpunished. These are not "mental health crises". In the real world, there are numerous examples that refute your suggestion as the best/only alternative to the current mess. For example, drug dealing and possession: Singapore executes drug dealers. Tokyo sentences drug dealers to long stretches of imprisonment and large fines. Stockholm practices zero tolerance towards drug dealing and possession. Calgary imposes jail sentences for drug possession. The list goes on and on.
- swsdsailor 3y agoIf you don't like mudslinging, stay out of politics. Otherwise, maybe try understanding WHAT people are saying and not just focus on HOW they say it.
- calderwoodra 3y agoInterestingly, Garry's father was also an alcoholic so I'd assume he he'd know a thing or two about them as well.