Scott Adams said some really stupid, poorly thought out things about minorities and women, and he faced real world consequences for his actions. But he also died slowly and painfully of cancer, and he died crying out for help very publicly. That’s objectively very sad, and if you should ever share the same fate I truly and genuinely hope your loved ones are there and with you, and choose to forgive you of any of your perceived sins.
I guess he got the death that he wished, personally and seriously, upon some large fraction of the Earth's population
I don't want anyone to misconstrue this post as satire or exaggeration. So I'll reiterate. If you have acted, or plan to act, in a way that keeps doctor-assisted suicide illegal, I see you as an accomplice in torturing my father, and perhaps me as well someday. I want you to die a painful death, and soon. And I'd be happy to tell you the same thing to your face.
https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003037/http://dilbert.co...René Girard explained this mechanism in his mimetic theory and the scapegoat mechanism. People here on hacker news are generally not fully formed human beings, and they instinctively believe that the more they group together in hate against different individuals, the more they will personally benefit. You see it here in every thread, no matter what subject.
Or may be he did know that there would be consequences? Many people who are financially secure do make provocative statements. I think he did many of us a favor, because many of us still have to earn a living and cannot speak out.
That is exactly what I mean about making bigotry shameful again. You should worry about losing your job, and your friends and family, for that.
If you stay quiet about your hateful views, then others are more likely too, and maybe some day we can eventually, slowly, move past all of you.