I think it's a shame that the only options we'll likely have are Trump or Clinton. I don't support either.
I'm also continually disappointed with some of the small mindedness I see in Silicon Valley towards people that don't think or believe what the herd does.
Why does everyone assume that nobody here _likes_ Trump? Granted, it's dangerous to be pro-Trump her in Silicon Valley; getting beaten up for these beliefs really happens. But maybe we should all have open minds.
I can understand why someone would vote for Romney, McCain, Bush, Dole, but for the life of me I assume that if you voted for Trump you were ok with everything that was known about him; e.g. you believe it is OK to talk about grabbing pussies in the locker room. Trump is special, never before have we had a candidate on either side like this, at least Bill Clinton appeared to be ashamed about his BJ in the whitehouse.
That really has nothing to do with Silicon Valley specifically, Trump supporter has become a bad word in many big cities that Bush supporter never was.
When was the last time you spoke to people in towns of less than 10k people about their most serious issues?
It's so odd to me that Silicon Valley simply can't comprehend that their values aren't shared by the rest of the country. Literally the only explanation they can produce to explain Trump votes is that everyone must have been brainwashed by Facebook news (despite the fact that millions of voters probably don't even have social media).
There was a time when democrats represented the blue collar working class -- who have watched helplessly as their jobs and security has been outsourced to china and Mexico. Now it's Trump who represents their values and clearly they're not alone.
You're getting downvoted because Trump is anti-intellectual, anti-small-business, and anti-American.
Everyone should feel violated by even knowing he exists. He is everything America isn't. If he becomes President (very unlikely), say goodbye to the Valley, say goodbye to every startup scene in this country, and watch the money flee to pro-business nations.
Side note, I expect to be also downvoted for my view (and for discussing politics on HN at all), but I don't really care.
I can appreciate this, but I find it both true and irrelevent. It is not as if many people here (I would assume) would choose Trump to be president out of some crowded room of well rounded and accomplished people.
I guess I'm still wondering what your larger point is? Do you plan to vote?
I feel more people support Trump than we know. Probably many billionaires, but don't announce it because the people who listen to two minute sound bites in between their cartoons and reality tv will call them "racist" and the other ist words.
I just don't get how business people can support democrats when republicans are supposed to be more business friendly(for smaller gov, less regulations from what I've heard).
I think big powerful rich people supporting Hillary is just a PR Stunt, and they secretly don't want her to win. Just a hunch I have. I just don't understand how they can fulfill their fiduciary duties to their shareholders when voting for a party wanting more rules and regulations.
Correct me if I'm viewing this wrong, I've just never understood how Silicon Vally is mainly democrat, but focused on entrepreneurship and innovation. Sounds like it should be a republican area then?
I don't support Trump, and I don't support his supporters or what happened at the capitol. I voted for Joe Biden this year, am a big supporter of my Democrat senators in Arizona (and hope to vote for Krysten Sinema as president one day specifically).
This is wrong, and this is a massive overreach. This is not the internet that we dreamed about and that many of us worked to build. Very sad day.
Given the libertarian/Randian streak that runs through silicon valley, support for Trump doesn't seem too outlandish. Especially when you consider his non-dedication to the typical right-wing 'family values' that aren't really popular in that region of California.
I don't think you really have your finger on the pulse of most voters.
I can tell you as someone in silicon valley who sort of vaguely supports trump, that I have been essentially not permitted to talk about it. What's the benefit to it? Why would I speak up and engage in a conversation? Any talk of Trump here isn't actually a real debate. It's everyone around you saying "Trump supporters are racists and bigots. They are disgusting."
Nobody _actually_ wants to hear any arguments from the other side. So I sit with my mouth closed. It's better than losing my friends and having my coworkers ostracize me for my political views. Which maybe they would have the chance to change if they were willing to listen, but aren't.
I know so many people like myself. I was surprised with the result of the election, but not surprised at the fact that there was a surprise like this. Places like SV don't know how many Trump supporters there are or even _why_ they really support him, because they've essentially put their hands over their eyes and their ears and spun in circles shouting "Trump is racist! You are racist!"
You mean I chose MIT. I didn't vote for Trump; I'm not even in the US. And even though I think Trump is a crackpot, I'd rather keep HN on tech, science, and programming. Same with MIT.
this isn't the sort of rhetoric I enjoy seeing on HN
Conversely, I don't enjoy seeing social justice rhetoric on HN. I come here for the tech, startup, and programming news and commentary. So I suppose we're even. The fact that you mistakenly read my view as pro-Trump only highlights the dangers of this kind of content on HN.
I'm very liberal and have a lot of admiration for Obama and Clinton, despite their flaws. I don't hate Donald Trump or Donald Trump voters. I feel sad for them and for the fact that our country has disemployed so many people, and left so many people out in the cold, that they felt like their only living option was... this. I'd pity them, but they want my pity even less than my hate.
I hate the racism and sexism that his movement represents. I hate that people are treating his election as a vindication of the worst elements of our nation's history, rather than an expression of sheer desperation from the burping turtle at the bottom of the stack.
I've worked in tech for 10 years. It's full of people who did not vocally support Trump (and may well have voted for Clinton) but who perpetuate sexism and racism and think that they're doing so for valid business reasons ("culture fit"). I know who the enemy is and I know who to hate. It's not the guy in Milwaukee who lost his job and his dignity and can't afford to insure his family and gets socked with an "individual mandate" penalty for it.
Well, I can't stand Trump, but I liked Thiel's speech. Trump's status as a political outsider (and political disruptor) seems pretty valuable to him. I haven't met anyone here in the valley who supports Trump. It's too bad that means there isn't much discussion about the broken state of national politics.
There are 'wrong political candidates,' and there are fascists.
The question is all the more urgent, but the conclusion that there is neither justification nor need to drawn clear bright lines is not.
Support for Trump is not something about which reasonable people can disagree.
People who do so should be called out, isolated, and challenged.
That goes double in environments like the Valley, given to libertarian hubris, over regard for one's own talents and discernment, and undo concentration of wealth married to an unjustified sense that it results from genius...
I voted for Trump, and found my justification after I had decided that I would probably do so. The bottom line was that I wasn't going to vote for Clinton and Trump was the only other viable option.
I've also chosen relatively untested libraries for projects because I'd already used the more mature choice for another project and hated it :)
sorry but that wasn't an opinion, that was a fact, you can't keep a job in SV or tech industry if you said you voted for Trump, you can't express any even a centric political opinion without massively downvoted here
I'm also continually disappointed with some of the small mindedness I see in Silicon Valley towards people that don't think or believe what the herd does.
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