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Geeks have a hard time understanding the deeply political nature of the world. Not playing politics doesn't make you wiser or smarter, it just makes you a schmu

Geeks have a hard time understanding the deeply political nature of the world. Not playing politics doesn't make you wiser or smarter, it just makes you a schmuck, because someone that plays politics will come around and eat your lunch. Why the democrats? On social (think Mozilla and Eich) and science/tech issues (the evangelicals), they're far more in tune with Bay Area techies than republicans. If you doubt this, I will give you a tour of Crazytown (aka Toronto) where Rob Ford has made track gauges a political issue. 1435 mm? You're a liberal! 1495mm? You're a conservative!

supergeek133 13y ago
I don't think that's completely true. The point is for many that we all complain about how businesses get breaks from the government, and vice versa. Then things like this happen and we are all supposed to be "OK" with it? The idea is we need to get past crap like this, not play along with it.
coherentpony 13y ago
>Not playing politics doesn't make you wiser or smarter, it just makes you a schmuck, because someone that plays politics will come around and eat your lunch. That's not an argument to play politics. That's an argument as to why the system is fundamentally flawed.
- sillysaurus3 13y ago
  It's the only system we have. The system can theoretically change itself, but that's not going to happen by abstaining from it.
  - supergeek133 13y ago
    The approach can just change. If YC wants to come out and say "I support policy XY and/or Z" and I go find the candidate that matches that, awesome! I'm sick of businesses endorsing people or party via fundraiser. Support an idea, not a person. Let the voter decide the person.
  - coherentpony 13y ago
    No, it's going to happen when the people do something. Unfortunately, the people that have influence are the people that have the money. Money talks, and more money talks louder. Companies and the well-endowed are in the privileged position of having the politicians' ears to complain to.
- coherentpony 13y ago
  Wow, just look at all those butthurt downvotes sans open discussion. Great job, HN. Great job.
- zenbowman 13y ago
  I think its attributable to fact that we are social animals. Politics is just the art of socializing at a large scale.
- stcredzero 13y ago
  That's an argument as to why the system is fundamentally flawed. Then humans are fundamentally flawed. So are all social animals. To borrow a phrase: Politics is the worst paradigm within which sentients can settle disputes while minimizing suffering -- except all of the others. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091064/quotes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091064/quotes What are the alternatives to politics? Doesn't human rights come out of politics in which individuals have a small but significant agency which can be aggregated to create collective agencies of vast power? Maybe there is a far more rational way of organizing groups of sentients completely apart from politics, and political social animals are regarded as an atavistic scourge in the galaxy. This is why the aliens don't talk to us. They can't trust us, but since we're sentient as individuals, they can't ethically kill us either. Perhaps this is the solution to the Fermi paradox.
stcredzero 13y ago
Not playing politics doesn't make you wiser or smarter, it just makes you a schmuck, because someone that plays politics will come around and eat your lunch. Heinlein once said something to the effect that politics was like digestion. The end-product is as unpleasant, but it's no less vital to your continued well being. It's especially odd that geeks have a hard time understanding "the deeply political nature of the world." Because they're constantly playing tribal politics around languages/environments/static-vs-dynamic typing...
marshray 13y ago
You mean railway 'track gauges'? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1495_mm_gauge_railways#Track_gauge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1495_mm_gauge_railways#Track_g...
SirensOfTitan 13y ago
Supporting politicians who share policy ideas with your organization is necessary. On the other hand, there are enemies of tech throughout the Democratic party (and friends of tech in the GOP as well), and blanket support of the party like this is irresponsible.
rhizome 13y ago
Geeks have a hard time understanding the deeply political nature of the world. This is terribly condescending, similar to saying that vegetarians have a hard time understanding food. The status quo is not the system, it's just one implementation of it.
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > The status quo is not the system, it's just one implementation of it. A system is just one implementation -- and the status quo is the one implementation we have. That's not to say that it can't be improved or that their aren't better alternatives -- but the idea that the status quo is not the system is deeply wrong.
  - rhizome 13y ago
    It is not "deeply wrong," and you're making a category error. If as OP suggests, the system is politics, as in, "you're soaking in it," the status quo is the current and recent-history shape of the subset of politics that has evolved to this point in time, a particular configuration of values within the landscape of possible value systems we call "politics in general."

supergeek133 13y ago

I don't think that's completely true. The point is for many that we all complain about how businesses get breaks from the government, and vice versa. Then things like this happen and we are all supposed to be "OK" with it? The idea is we need to get past crap like this, not play along with it.

coherentpony 13y ago

>Not playing politics doesn't make you wiser or smarter, it just makes you a schmuck, because someone that plays politics will come around and eat your lunch. That's not an argument to play politics. That's an argument as to why the system is fundamentally flawed.

sillysaurus3 13y ago
It's the only system we have. The system can theoretically change itself, but that's not going to happen by abstaining from it.
- supergeek133 13y ago
  The approach can just change. If YC wants to come out and say "I support policy XY and/or Z" and I go find the candidate that matches that, awesome! I'm sick of businesses endorsing people or party via fundraiser. Support an idea, not a person. Let the voter decide the person.
- coherentpony 13y ago
  No, it's going to happen when the people do something. Unfortunately, the people that have influence are the people that have the money. Money talks, and more money talks louder. Companies and the well-endowed are in the privileged position of having the politicians' ears to complain to.
coherentpony 13y ago
Wow, just look at all those butthurt downvotes sans open discussion. Great job, HN. Great job.
zenbowman 13y ago
I think its attributable to fact that we are social animals. Politics is just the art of socializing at a large scale.
stcredzero 13y ago
That's an argument as to why the system is fundamentally flawed. Then humans are fundamentally flawed. So are all social animals. To borrow a phrase: Politics is the worst paradigm within which sentients can settle disputes while minimizing suffering -- except all of the others. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091064/quotes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091064/quotes What are the alternatives to politics? Doesn't human rights come out of politics in which individuals have a small but significant agency which can be aggregated to create collective agencies of vast power? Maybe there is a far more rational way of organizing groups of sentients completely apart from politics, and political social animals are regarded as an atavistic scourge in the galaxy. This is why the aliens don't talk to us. They can't trust us, but since we're sentient as individuals, they can't ethically kill us either. Perhaps this is the solution to the Fermi paradox.

stcredzero 13y ago

Not playing politics doesn't make you wiser or smarter, it just makes you a schmuck, because someone that plays politics will come around and eat your lunch. Heinlein once said something to the effect that politics was like digestion. The end-product is as unpleasant, but it's no less vital to your continued well being. It's especially odd that geeks have a hard time understanding "the deeply political nature of the world." Because they're constantly playing tribal politics around languages/environments/static-vs-dynamic typing...

marshray 13y ago

You mean railway 'track gauges'? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1495_mm_gauge_railways#Track_gauge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1495_mm_gauge_railways#Track_g...

SirensOfTitan 13y ago

Supporting politicians who share policy ideas with your organization is necessary. On the other hand, there are enemies of tech throughout the Democratic party (and friends of tech in the GOP as well), and blanket support of the party like this is irresponsible.

rhizome 13y ago

Geeks have a hard time understanding the deeply political nature of the world. This is terribly condescending, similar to saying that vegetarians have a hard time understanding food. The status quo is not the system, it's just one implementation of it.

dragonwriter 13y ago
> The status quo is not the system, it's just one implementation of it. A system is just one implementation -- and the status quo is the one implementation we have. That's not to say that it can't be improved or that their aren't better alternatives -- but the idea that the status quo is not the system is deeply wrong.
- rhizome 13y ago
  It is not "deeply wrong," and you're making a category error. If as OP suggests, the system is politics, as in, "you're soaking in it," the status quo is the current and recent-history shape of the subset of politics that has evolved to this point in time, a particular configuration of values within the landscape of possible value systems we call "politics in general."