5 ms·

Regardless of thoughts on Thiel, the second link feels like a hit piece —- the entire article hinges on one paragraph “BuzzFeed News can reveal that in at least

by okino 4y ago

Regardless of thoughts on Thiel, the second link feels like a hit piece —- the entire article hinges on one paragraph “BuzzFeed News can reveal that in at least one instance during the summer of 2016, Thiel hosted a dinner with [white nationalist]… And then Thiel emailed the next day to say how much he’d enjoyed his company.“ How many other people were at the dinner? How many other people received this email? What were the contents of the email, i.e. was it a generic thank you? Left to suspect these details would make the story less interesting

elliekelly 4y ago
Does it matter? You couldn’t pay me enough to dine with a known white nationalist and I certainly wouldn’t be sending any thank you notes as a follow-up. I can’t imagine I’m unique in this regard.
- rhino369 4y ago
  The article doesn't establish Thiel knew the guy was a white nationalist. Guilt by association is weak by itself, but if the two just attended the same party unbeknownst to Thiel and then Thiel spammed a list-serve of attendees with "THANKS EVERYONE I ENJOYED ALL YOUR COMPANY"--that's not association. The article is so threadbare its impossible to know whether that happened or whether Thiel purposely hosted a dinner specifically for the white supremacist. Or something in between.
  - elliekelly 4y ago
    What are the odds the person at your table widely known for founding "Youth for Western Civilization" turns out to be a white supremacist? Talk about bad luck, Pete. It could happen to anyone, really. And it's not like Thiel has access to troves and troves of personal data on just about every person with an internet connection and a program specifically designed to identify "extremists" by analyzing patterns in their social network and interests. Oh wait...
    - rhino369 4y ago
      This analysis is based on many unfounded assumptions like he knew that the guy founded Youth for Western Civilization or even what that was. I traveled in right wing circles on colleges campuses in 2006-2008 and I never hear of them until today. If Thiel was getting into bed with this guy, then yea, you can probably impute some knowledge b/c Thiel would do some diligence. But we are talking about a dinner and an email. I met a new person this weekend under similar circumstances. You shouldn't take that as a a sign I agree with that person's politics.
- exolymph 4y ago
  Shrug. I would — and have — had dinner with all kinds of people whose beliefs and behavior diverge sharply from what I think is advisable or ethical. Having dinner with someone is not an endorsement of their worldview, full stop. Maybe this will sound corny, and I guess it probably won't land with non-Christians, but I'll offer my heuristic anyway: What would Jesus do? I don't think shunning is the answer.
  - OkayPhysicist 4y ago
    WWJD also entails vandalizing unethical businesses rather than operating them, so let's not get too self-righteous here.
    - exolymph 4y ago
      Moneychangers in the temple don't funge with other businesses. The issue was blasphemy.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  What exactly would your objection be? Personally, I would be open to such an experience. I am not so insecure in my beliefs that I would worry on that front. I might learn something about them and the nature of the world, and maybe they would too.
IfOnlyYouKnew 4y ago
"Hosting a dinner for" means the white nationalist was the star of the event, a proud Thiel introducing this fellow to his contacts.
- ApolloFortyNine 4y ago
  Using quotes when the quote doesn't exist should be enough to get this comment deleted. I know nothing about Thiel, but the actual quote is "hosted a dinner with" which like the one you responded to here said, could easily mean there were 50 guests at a party and one of them was this guy. Your made up quote is something entirely different.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

by okino 4y ago

elliekelly 4y ago

Does it matter? You couldn’t pay me enough to dine with a known white nationalist and I certainly wouldn’t be sending any thank you notes as a follow-up. I can’t imagine I’m unique in this regard.

rhino369 4y ago
The article doesn't establish Thiel knew the guy was a white nationalist. Guilt by association is weak by itself, but if the two just attended the same party unbeknownst to Thiel and then Thiel spammed a list-serve of attendees with "THANKS EVERYONE I ENJOYED ALL YOUR COMPANY"--that's not association. The article is so threadbare its impossible to know whether that happened or whether Thiel purposely hosted a dinner specifically for the white supremacist. Or something in between.
- elliekelly 4y ago
  What are the odds the person at your table widely known for founding "Youth for Western Civilization" turns out to be a white supremacist? Talk about bad luck, Pete. It could happen to anyone, really. And it's not like Thiel has access to troves and troves of personal data on just about every person with an internet connection and a program specifically designed to identify "extremists" by analyzing patterns in their social network and interests. Oh wait...
  - rhino369 4y ago
    This analysis is based on many unfounded assumptions like he knew that the guy founded Youth for Western Civilization or even what that was. I traveled in right wing circles on colleges campuses in 2006-2008 and I never hear of them until today. If Thiel was getting into bed with this guy, then yea, you can probably impute some knowledge b/c Thiel would do some diligence. But we are talking about a dinner and an email. I met a new person this weekend under similar circumstances. You shouldn't take that as a a sign I agree with that person's politics.
exolymph 4y ago
Shrug. I would — and have — had dinner with all kinds of people whose beliefs and behavior diverge sharply from what I think is advisable or ethical. Having dinner with someone is not an endorsement of their worldview, full stop. Maybe this will sound corny, and I guess it probably won't land with non-Christians, but I'll offer my heuristic anyway: What would Jesus do? I don't think shunning is the answer.
- OkayPhysicist 4y ago
  WWJD also entails vandalizing unethical businesses rather than operating them, so let's not get too self-righteous here.
  - exolymph 4y ago
    Moneychangers in the temple don't funge with other businesses. The issue was blasphemy.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
s1artibartfast 4y ago
What exactly would your objection be? Personally, I would be open to such an experience. I am not so insecure in my beliefs that I would worry on that front. I might learn something about them and the nature of the world, and maybe they would too.

IfOnlyYouKnew 4y ago

"Hosting a dinner for" means the white nationalist was the star of the event, a proud Thiel introducing this fellow to his contacts.

ApolloFortyNine 4y ago
Using quotes when the quote doesn't exist should be enough to get this comment deleted. I know nothing about Thiel, but the actual quote is "hosted a dinner with" which like the one you responded to here said, could easily mean there were 50 guests at a party and one of them was this guy. Your made up quote is something entirely different.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]