>for example, I think Donald Trump is extremely bad, and am disappointed in my fellow countrymen for voting for him
LessWrong is a special site in that there is a norm here against blunt political statements (since politics is the mind-killer). I am disappointed in you for burning the commons with a statement like this. You could make it on any other site, as they are all already cesspools of political-warring, but perhaps you desire to bring the same ugly battles here too. You should not desire this.
Eliezers post about how politics is the mind-killer is about the idea that if you talk in a non-political post about politics, you make it a lot harder for your reader to engage with the non-political part of your post.
The question about whether or not to donate money to political candidates is inherently a political question.
DanielFilan is essentially saying that even so, he thinks Trump is bad, people should still be wary about making certain donations for Democrats to oppose Trump.
That’s not true, the US is not equally governed by Republicans and Democrats at the same time with Republicans and Democrats always acting the same. The reason that this post exists is likely downstream of how the Trump administration manages hiring for positions.
While not specified in this post, and me not knowing the exact ground reality, it’s possible that the Biden administration was more technocratic about their hiring decisions. It’s certainly possible that a future democrat administration also cares a lot about this, but also possible that they don’t.
I disagree because Daniel’s opinion is bracketed and doesn’t invite or bait engagement on the object level (nor has it gotten any), and it’s a claim-by-example that he doesn’t endorse general cowardice and self censorship for political expediency. Without his included (importantly against the current regime) opinion, the piece would be easy to mistake with (Sarah Constantin’s) Ra worship, rather than a specific, bounded recommendation.
>for example, I think Donald Trump is extremely bad, and am disappointed in my fellow countrymen for voting for him
LessWrong is a special site in that there is a norm here against blunt political statements (since politics is the mind-killer). I am disappointed in you for burning the commons with a statement like this. You could make it on any other site, as they are all already cesspools of political-warring, but perhaps you desire to bring the same ugly battles here too. You should not desire this.
Eliezers post about how politics is the mind-killer is about the idea that if you talk in a non-political post about politics, you make it a lot harder for your reader to engage with the non-political part of your post.
The question about whether or not to donate money to political candidates is inherently a political question.
DanielFilan is essentially saying that even so, he thinks Trump is bad, people should still be wary about making certain donations for Democrats to oppose Trump.
That’s an interesting interpretation of politics-is-the-mind-killer, that sounds reasonable.
Yes, but the reasons explained apply equally to all political candidates.
That’s not true, the US is not equally governed by Republicans and Democrats at the same time with Republicans and Democrats always acting the same. The reason that this post exists is likely downstream of how the Trump administration manages hiring for positions.
While not specified in this post, and me not knowing the exact ground reality, it’s possible that the Biden administration was more technocratic about their hiring decisions. It’s certainly possible that a future democrat administration also cares a lot about this, but also possible that they don’t.
I disagree because Daniel’s opinion is bracketed and doesn’t invite or bait engagement on the object level (nor has it gotten any), and it’s a claim-by-example that he doesn’t endorse general cowardice and self censorship for political expediency. Without his included (importantly against the current regime) opinion, the piece would be easy to mistake with (Sarah Constantin’s) Ra worship, rather than a specific, bounded recommendation.
I agree it doesn’t invite engagement—it is just a drive-by shot, ugly to any reader who doesn’t agree with the bracketed text.