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Comment by dominotw | Hacker News Reader

can someone explain to me why nytimes gets away with these ridiculous moral exhortations while at the same time stealing money from poor Mexicans [1].

I don't mean this to be an ad hominem but it seems kind of hypocritical to write some boring tripe about empathy/morality/ethics every single day[2] when they themselves don't give a shit about it.

1. See OECD report on Slim

2. One from yesterday http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/12/29/does-empathy...

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The New York Times is stealing money from poor Mexicans because Carlos Slim is a minority shareholder (17%) ad Carlos Slim engages in shady business dealings?

That doesn't seem hypocritical to me. I don't think Arthur C. Brooks has any control over who buys equity in the NY Times.

>The New York Times is stealing money from poor Mexicans because Carlos Slim is a minority shareholder (17%) ad Carlos Slim engages in shady business dealings?

Yes if you can't keep the lights on without accepting money from shady sources then maybe they should get off their moral high horse?

>I don't think Arthur C. Brooks has any control over who buys equity in the NY Times.

Surely no one forced them to accept "loans" stolen from Mexicans [1]

1. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-times-warrants-ca...

The term "moral high horse" refers to someone who is elevating themselves above you in effort to show/feel superiority. I did not get that tone from the article at all. If anything, it seems you are trying to "pull him down" in effort to invalidate his noble suggestions.

noone is trying to pull anyone down. Don't you see the lack of self awareness of waxing eloquent about " people in need " while accepting money stolen from them at the same time.

NYT is a publicly traded company. I don't see how a publicly traded company can control who buys it's stocks.

They have control over who they accept "loans" from. Google it.

I think this is in part what you are referring to?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399675,00.asp

Noting that you are getting downvoted I am wondering if people are disagreeing that he is 'stealing' or that NYTimes (if he is in fact stealing and honestly I don't have time to vet that) is wrong for taking an investment from him?

My thought is that if in fact he is stealing (once again if proven) I agree NYTimes taking money from him is hypocritical because this is not an ordinary stockholder or arms length investment.

Taking it to an extreme what would anyone think if a startup took an investment from Assad of Syria?

Yes its a complex issue for sure, no doubt . I am referring to the act of exhorting morality and taking a 'better than you' attitude while doing so, not the actual act of taking money. Nytimes public editor Liz spayd herself said that nytimes is now a hive mind totally isolated in a bubble from people whose cause they are supposedly championing.

>Taking it to an extreme what would anyone think if a startup took an investment from Assad of Syria?

It is equivalent of startup called 'savior of people' doing so.

No idea what the downvotes are for, I've wondered about this topic for months .

Maybe because your accusation that Slim steals money to fund the NYT? Yes, his telecom company charges more for a crappy service than it possibly could if Mexico had a better regulated market with more competition. Is that stealing? No. Is it moral? Probably not, depending on who you ask. But that's what you get when you mix free market with government corruption.

Do you apply this logic universally or only to people you have prior reason to dislike?

I certainly hope you don't have any dealings with any noxious entities like the US government, or any large multinational firm, so that I can take your advice seriously.

I apply this logic universally. Do you?

>so that I can take your advice seriously.

Why would i give you advice.

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