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Comment by enraged_camel | Hacker News Reader

Counterpoint: Tennessee is very religious and also backwards as hell[1], and if you aren’t white you will have a difficult time fitting in.

[1]Just one recent example: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tennessee-lawmakers-pass-...

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Backwards is relative. Being religious, anti-globalization, or conservative doesn't make you a horrible person. The bay area is probably the most intolerant place I've ever been. I've personally seen people unfriend friends because of politics without even being able to have a thoughtful and educated discussion about the issues. The bay area is group thinking "madness of crowds" at its worse.

I encourage watching Peter Thiel explain why he left San Francisco (albeit for LA): https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=5V8YXmkBHok...

Opinions contrary to the hackernews bubble are met with the same intolerance.

Let’s be real. Aren’t you just trading one groupthink (liberal west coast) for another groupthink (conservative south east) that meets your desires? Do you really think a thoughtful and educated discussion would have really helped?

Wow you’re trapped in a bubble. The valley is the most close minded place I’ve ever lived. Live in NYC for a bit, it’s the polar opposite.

It varies from place to place. The Bay Area is liberal groupthink, but Portland, OR is liberal but not groupthink (when I lived there 10 years ago, anyway).

I reject your notion that all ideas deserve equal treatment.

If I come to you and say “a woman’s place is the kitchen” and you unfriend me, it would be super dumb for me to claim that you are being intolerant for not taking me seriously by entertaining my opinion. On the contrary, it is me who is being intolerant, and I cannot fault you for not tolerating my intolerance.

Is it really so strange to factor political beliefs into your decisions about who to spend time and invest in relationships with? A lot of friendships are based on compatibility in things like hobbies, musical taste, or sense of humor. I don’t see anything wrong with that, and some political issues are (I would argue) more fundamental and important than what sports teams I follow or what types of movies I enjoy.

I know many in Seattle who draw an extreme image of the South and for the most part it feels highly political. In that case I remember that Intolerance of other points of view is the definition of bigotry. It's important to not color an entire state of people with specific moral values.

Counter-counter point: the valley is filled with over inflated egos and developers whose sole business model is stealing people’s private data to sell ads. They tend to think tech wouldn’t exist without them when in reality their only contribution to the world is a few crappy web frameworks.

Edit: looks like I struck a nerve with the valley script kiddies. Keep on downvoting. You’re the reason n-gate.com was created.

those things can both be true

  whose sole business model is stealing people’s private data to sell ads

Well, a few actually do make things or provide identifiable services. They just don't get much press.

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