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Comment by Zigurd | Hacker News Reader

It's fun to make fun of rich weirdos because they always have their money to comfort them, but the current crop of tech weirdos, because of their excessive influence, are bad for the tech industry as a whole.

Their support of Trumpism has made US tech toxic outside the US, when historically half the revenue of a tech company you start in the US ends up being earned outside the US. If that stops being true, you can discount the value of US startups by half.

But that's not all. Normies don't like the rich tech weirdos. Normies know Putin is bad. They know shutting off your satellites in the middle of a battle costs lives.

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Being (exorbitantly) rich in the USA buys you many things.

For example, if it doesn't buy you full on immunity, it buys you lawyers other people can't pay. And if they mess up, your wealth will buy you a pardon.

Also, it automatically buys you a whole clique of people who will defend you online (for free!), by telling criticasters their opinions don't count because they're jealous or not smart enough, because they automatically assume rich people are brilliant and only to be admired and envied. Musk and Thiel are pretty clear examples.

>it automatically buys you a whole clique of people who will defend you online (for free!)

It's wild how just having the facade of wealth will get you a following in the US, for free.

Americans blindly idolize the wealthy. It's crazy. Truly a "not get millionaire" mindset for a lot of this country.

Hustle culture and the Elon cult keep young men docile. There is value, and perhaps intentionality, in that.

There’s a reason it’s called “fuck you money” and the wealthy tech guys really lean into the “fuck you” part. They seem to think it’s fun. It’s also the mark of a sociopath!

When/how did Thiel fuck you over?

He created JD Vance in a test tube. Like a pathogen leaking from a lab.

Vance really is something. American's own little Smeagol. Sad little twisted creature that doesn't even understand the power that is bending him.

Do you think he realizes he will be discarded?

Wiktionary lists two definitions of "fuck you money":

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fuck_you_money

I was unfamiliar with the second one, which is the one you give.

I was familiar only with the first one: the ability to leave your job, and burn your bridges behind you by swearing at your former co-workers. I think that's the older meaning; I found it in a 1970 book:

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Deceivers/XoxBAAAAI...

Other books from the 70s appear to have that sense.

"US tech toxic outside of the US" what does this mean? "support of Trumpism" .. you probably dont know that once in the country it was acceptable to have differing political opinions, and it made our society a better place for it. Communism ruins everything. No wonder people start liking the only strongmen who can have a chance to stand up to the institutions.

> you probably dont know that once in the country it was acceptable to have differing political opinions

"acceptable to have differing political opinions" is not the same thing as "all political opinions were acceptable". The former was true, and still is. The later never was true, and never will be. But supporters of deeply unpopular opinions always try to pretend those two things are the same.

Yes but you just have to make the other side extreme and voila now you have people fighting in the street over stupid things like politics. wasn't like that before my time. trying to delete my comment, forgot to never speak my mind here unless it conforms to whats on tv

> now you have people fighting in the street over stupid things like politics. wasn't like that before my time.

What are you talking about? The US was founded by getting people out into the streets and countryside to fight over politics. The Civil War was a fight over politics (the politics of slavery for the South where they wanted to keep it legal). The US has constantly had fights, actual violent fights with many deaths, over politics. It isn't something that just started after you were born.

A lot of young men in the US have suddenly become "disinterested" in politics. They used to be so militantly disinterested only around women.

> now you have people fighting in the street over stupid things like politics.

Politics is how we interact with each other as a group, how we make decisions as a society and put those decisions into effect. That seems like one of the least stupid things I can think of.

> wasn't like that before my time

As the great William Martin Joel once said, "We didn't start the fire. It was always burning, since the world's been turning."

> wasn't like that before my time

You haven't done much reading about history, did you?

Ask your favorite LLM about the Kent State shooting. While you're there, ask about the Robert Kennedy assasination.

> you probably dont know that once in the country it was acceptable to have differing political opinions

...

> Communism ruins everything.

The absolute irony here aside, when, specifically, was communism involved in anything in this country? When, specifically, did it "ruin" anything, let alone "everything"?

Surely you're not just repeating bumper stickers? Right?

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