Utah tech executive resigns after anti-semitic email rant(fox13now.com)
fox13now.com
Utah tech executive resigns after anti-semitic email rant
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/entrata-chair-emails-tech-ceos-claiming-covid-vaccine-part-of-sterilization-plot-by-the-jews
22 comments
Thank you for this humane point of view instead of just making fun or getting enraged.
Literally the late-life story of Tony from Zappos - https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-death-of-zappos-tony-hsieh-...
Hopefully this case will turn out better than Tony's tragedy, but it is also important to remember, just because Bateman is mentally ill doesn't mean he should get a pass for spreading hateful and harmful ideas. You can be mentally ill (paranoid even) without developing a hatred for a particular marginalized group.
Hopefully this case will turn out better than Tony's tragedy, but it is also important to remember, just because Bateman is mentally ill doesn't mean he should get a pass for spreading hateful and harmful ideas. You can be mentally ill (paranoid even) without developing a hatred for a particular marginalized group.
[deleted]
I agree with everything you said and it was all thoughtful, with the one caveat that I think this exact style of writing and object of concern is now in the realm of the "normal" political spectrum. Yes, that may mean that being emotionally/mentally unwell is a part of the "normal" political spectrum, though small - but it seems to be true.
> Unfortunately, being a wealthy ex-CEO and ex-pat living in another country
Puerto Rico is another country?
Puerto Rico is another country?
Is that where he is currently living? Puerto Rico is proper American territory and they're all American citizens there, so I definitely wouldn't call it another country (source: I'm Puerto Rican.)
Per the article that’s where he established residency, in order to avoid paying taxes.
Unsurprising. Crypto millionaires retire there too. It's a tax haven thanks to not being a state -- plenty of loopholes you can leverage.
I thought there was an exit tax when you move there
First I've heard of it! I haven't checked the relevant literature in a while. Even so it might still be a net gain for them. Puerto Rico is susceptible to great hurricane tragedies, however (recall Maria.)
> This wasn't just normal politics - This was deep conspiracy theory nonsense.
It's 2022 - Qanon-level nonsense is very much "normal politics" at present, however much we wish it weren't.
It's 2022 - Qanon-level nonsense is very much "normal politics" at present, however much we wish it weren't.
Vitriol against Jews has been around since the Middle Ages at the very least and pops up in almost every culture I can think of. The Nazi leadership were obsessed by it, just to name one obvious example. I'm generally very optimistic about humanity, but this is really our heart of darkness.
btw, "Heart of Darkness" is a great book. Did you read it?
Many times. Also saw the movie. (Apocalypse Now)
I am Jewish and I have a Jewish cousin who thinks more stupid things.
Jews are out to get us! And they have been trying to do so since Moses! They want to sacrifice people for gods because gods like the smell of burning blood!
Last time I met this person was 2 years ago. He was obsessed with Trump. Back then I thought in 10-15 years he is gonna be into many conspiracy theories but this time i met him he sounded completely insane.
And I hate that for this guy everyone is saying its because he is rich. There is plenty of dumb conspiracies that people in the US are believing en masse across all classes and ages. Its sad that we can just sit around and do nothing.
Last time I met this person was 2 years ago. He was obsessed with Trump. Back then I thought in 10-15 years he is gonna be into many conspiracy theories but this time i met him he sounded completely insane.
And I hate that for this guy everyone is saying its because he is rich. There is plenty of dumb conspiracies that people in the US are believing en masse across all classes and ages. Its sad that we can just sit around and do nothing.
>This wasn't just normal politics - This was deep conspiracy theory nonsense.
A woman who believes Jewish space lasers create widlfires was elected to the House of Representatives on behalf of a movement that believes the Democratic Party is a secret cult of Satanic pedophiles. A movement following a President who, among other things[0], believed Barack Obama was a secret Kenyan Muslim Marxist extremist who founded Al Qaeda.
This is what normal is now. This is the Overton Window starting to move right from talk radio scale crazy after 9/11 and not stopping even when it hit the batshit insanity of QAnon. Mere anti-semitism is quaint in comparison to what the mainstream believes nowadays, and so common as to be banal. This guy was just stupid enough to say the quiet part out loud.
Oh, and of course it's tied in to vaccinations because... of course it is.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories_pr...
A woman who believes Jewish space lasers create widlfires was elected to the House of Representatives on behalf of a movement that believes the Democratic Party is a secret cult of Satanic pedophiles. A movement following a President who, among other things[0], believed Barack Obama was a secret Kenyan Muslim Marxist extremist who founded Al Qaeda.
This is what normal is now. This is the Overton Window starting to move right from talk radio scale crazy after 9/11 and not stopping even when it hit the batshit insanity of QAnon. Mere anti-semitism is quaint in comparison to what the mainstream believes nowadays, and so common as to be banal. This guy was just stupid enough to say the quiet part out loud.
Oh, and of course it's tied in to vaccinations because... of course it is.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories_pr...
>that believes the Democratic Party is a secret cult of Satanic pedophiles
With Jeffery Epsteins deep connections, I wouldn't think it strange if both parties are full of pedophiles.
With Jeffery Epsteins deep connections, I wouldn't think it strange if both parties are full of pedophiles.
Yeah I've never heard of him but saw that he was retired as CEO and wondering how old he is. Could be a sign of dementia or Alzheimers. Something has gone wrong in his head.
>Could be a sign of dementia or Alzheimers
He appears to be pretty young, see the photo at the top: https://forward.com/fast-forward/480359/david-bateman-entrat...
So, perhaps some other kind of mental illness. It was telling that he basically doubled down with a sort of "sorry, sorry, but it's still a Jewish plot" in his apology.
Edit: He's likely 42 or 43, based on some old (2002/2003) stories about founding the company after dropping out of BYU.
He appears to be pretty young, see the photo at the top: https://forward.com/fast-forward/480359/david-bateman-entrat...
So, perhaps some other kind of mental illness. It was telling that he basically doubled down with a sort of "sorry, sorry, but it's still a Jewish plot" in his apology.
Edit: He's likely 42 or 43, based on some old (2002/2003) stories about founding the company after dropping out of BYU.
Although, being young doesn’t entirely exclude certain forms of dementia (namely, frontotemporal dementia). See, e.g.: https://www.wired.com/story/lee-holloway-devastating-decline...
It seems likelier he’s just adopted (or felt emboldened to give voice to) extremist views. But it’s also possible that some mental disturbance is behind the behavior.
It seems likelier he’s just adopted (or felt emboldened to give voice to) extremist views. But it’s also possible that some mental disturbance is behind the behavior.
Ah well, I guess not then. I imagined someone a lot older. Some form of schizophrenia perhaps.
There's an entire subculture that promotes and amplifies this kind of thing for political ends. Is it really so hard to believe that maybe the guy is just a closet nazi? It's not that uncommon for people to make very bad decisions about internet activity under the influence of alcohol or recreational/abused prescription drugs.
He did double-down in his "apology", which is a bit unusual.
My first thoughts were to suspect serious drug use.
This guy needs help. I'm kind of surprised nobody in the article suggested it.
This guy needs help. I'm kind of surprised nobody in the article suggested it.
Racism isn’t a disease
I'm not going to join on the outrage/mental illness bandwagon based on the media's interpretation of an email they are not releasing.
I'm guessing that the email is indeed anti-semitic, and I'm guessing that the media doesn't want to legitimize anything he's saying by publishing the entire email.
...but I'm not going to throw stones without seeing the evidence myself. This is the trade-off. Unfortunately, the media knows full well that accusations alone are all it takes these days - evidence is optional.
I'm guessing that the email is indeed anti-semitic, and I'm guessing that the media doesn't want to legitimize anything he's saying by publishing the entire email.
...but I'm not going to throw stones without seeing the evidence myself. This is the trade-off. Unfortunately, the media knows full well that accusations alone are all it takes these days - evidence is optional.
There's a screenshot of part of it in the OpenGraph image for the FOX 13 article: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ba27103/21...
That same portion is copied verbatim into the article.
And if that's not enough, someone copied his recent Instagram activity to Twitter: https://twitter.com/elisenicscott/status/1478470250307981324 I'm no doctor, but those are not the ramblings of a mentally sound individual.
That same portion is copied verbatim into the article.
And if that's not enough, someone copied his recent Instagram activity to Twitter: https://twitter.com/elisenicscott/status/1478470250307981324 I'm no doctor, but those are not the ramblings of a mentally sound individual.
Again - we are judging him on an email he sent. ...yet that email is nowhere. All we have is the media's impressions of an email they have not released.
Your links ALSO do not disclose the original email this is all about.
I'm not going to judge this guy without the actual evidence. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills being the only one in this thread demanding to see the evidence against him.
Your links ALSO do not disclose the original email this is all about.
I'm not going to judge this guy without the actual evidence. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills being the only one in this thread demanding to see the evidence against him.
1. The first link contains, at minimum, a significant portion of the original email.
2. The individual in question has resigned without releasing the full email.
3. The individual's statement on the matter is nearly as bad as the portion of the email we've seen.
4. The second link shows a pattern of similar behavior.
> I'm not going to judge this guy without the actual evidence.
There appears to be a treasure trove of evidence against this individual, and no attempt has been made by anyone to dispute it. It's rare that we get this much evidence. If you really want the full email, just ask the people who received it--they sound as though they're eager to hand it to anyone who's interested.
2. The individual in question has resigned without releasing the full email.
3. The individual's statement on the matter is nearly as bad as the portion of the email we've seen.
4. The second link shows a pattern of similar behavior.
> I'm not going to judge this guy without the actual evidence.
There appears to be a treasure trove of evidence against this individual, and no attempt has been made by anyone to dispute it. It's rare that we get this much evidence. If you really want the full email, just ask the people who received it--they sound as though they're eager to hand it to anyone who's interested.
This is a tactic the soviets used. They would call someone mentally ill, and take them away to the mental word.
Interestingly enough, without casting any judgment on the claim. Canada put a doctor that claimed a rise in vaccine related still births in the mental hospital recently, and treated him with psychotic medication.
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/12/scicheck-doctor-makes-fals...
https://jessicar.substack.com/p/dr-mel-bruchet-did-you-know-...
Interestingly enough, without casting any judgment on the claim. Canada put a doctor that claimed a rise in vaccine related still births in the mental hospital recently, and treated him with psychotic medication.
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/12/scicheck-doctor-makes-fals...
https://jessicar.substack.com/p/dr-mel-bruchet-did-you-know-...
Having just read it, this sounds like a mental health issue to me. It's well outside the bounds of opinion, even a ridiculous or hateful opinion.
I worry that people are running to mock this guy because they want to portray these views as the kind of things their opponents actually think, while in reality there is clearly something wrong with him and he may need some compassion. This is not a fringe opinion, there is some problem that's causing him to behave like this.
I worry that people are running to mock this guy because they want to portray these views as the kind of things their opponents actually think, while in reality there is clearly something wrong with him and he may need some compassion. This is not a fringe opinion, there is some problem that's causing him to behave like this.
You do realize that a non-trivial amount of politicians have publicly made similar claims about the Jews? It's not like this is some isolated incident.
According to the article he believed that Jews have managed to take over the Catholic church. We are well past standard conspiracy theories here.
Can you name some politicians that claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine is part of a plot by "the Jews" to exterminate people or something similar?
Ron DeSantis spokeswoman
https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-governors-press-secret...
Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/...
Ohio US Senate candidate Josh Mandel
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-jewish-go...
https://ktxs.com/news/local/shackleford-county-gop-chairwoma...
And these are just the outright ones, there is plenty of this stuff at rallies and protests that help fund politicians - there are hardly any condemnations unless it's so blatant it hurts their war chest.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-governors-press-secret...
Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/...
Ohio US Senate candidate Josh Mandel
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-jewish-go...
https://ktxs.com/news/local/shackleford-county-gop-chairwoma...
And these are just the outright ones, there is plenty of this stuff at rallies and protests that help fund politicians - there are hardly any condemnations unless it's so blatant it hurts their war chest.
Sen. Wendy Rogers's quote was not about Jews at all. It was about latino migrants (not that that's better).
Ron DeSantis spokeswoman isn't, what I would call, a politician - and her quote was specifically about the Rothschild family. Although it's not clear which conspiracy theory she's refering too - many of them (while all irrational) are not anti-semitic. It also doesn't seem to be a serious comment.
Your other two links are for a candidate, not an active politician.
These are not good examples.
Ron DeSantis spokeswoman isn't, what I would call, a politician - and her quote was specifically about the Rothschild family. Although it's not clear which conspiracy theory she's refering too - many of them (while all irrational) are not anti-semitic. It also doesn't seem to be a serious comment.
Your other two links are for a candidate, not an active politician.
These are not good examples.
>Ron DeSantis spokeswoman
There is no direct antisemitism, only some sort of wink-wink dog whistle accusations.
>Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers
Demographic concerns are common across the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_threat). There is really nothing special about it. And there are always fears of "voter importation". It is not comparable to "Jews want to exterminate others with vaccines".
>Ohio US Senate candidate Josh Mandel
I guess if he weren't Jewish, he would also be accused of antisemitism because he mentioned Soros? Thankfully for him he ticked the right box when he was born. And yeah, this seems to be the only person who openly articulated conspiracy theories. But again, that's your run-of-the-mill "deep state is puppeteering social movements to keep power", it doesn't look like "similar claims about the Jews".
There is no direct antisemitism, only some sort of wink-wink dog whistle accusations.
>Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers
Demographic concerns are common across the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_threat). There is really nothing special about it. And there are always fears of "voter importation". It is not comparable to "Jews want to exterminate others with vaccines".
>Ohio US Senate candidate Josh Mandel
I guess if he weren't Jewish, he would also be accused of antisemitism because he mentioned Soros? Thankfully for him he ticked the right box when he was born. And yeah, this seems to be the only person who openly articulated conspiracy theories. But again, that's your run-of-the-mill "deep state is puppeteering social movements to keep power", it doesn't look like "similar claims about the Jews".
Majore Taylor Green thought Jewish space lasers started the California fires
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/article/marjorie-taylor-...
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/article/marjorie-taylor-...
Plenty of otherwise intelligent people have believed in conspiratorial nonsense through history. Especially when that nonsense was about Jews.
If it is a mental health issue, then that issue affects a very substantial double-digit percentage of the population, something approximating the count of vax refusers. They don't believe in the same nuttery, but they do subscribe to one of the many flavors of anti-science aggression.
What is most fascinating and frightening is that there are many who, rather than understand that the world has serious random phenomena, or at least phenomena that are not yet fully explained (or the explanation is beyond their understanding), would choose to instead of believing scientists who spend their entire lives trying to sort it out, instead believe that there is some evil cabal of people responsible for the misery in their lives.
What is most fascinating and frightening is that there are many who, rather than understand that the world has serious random phenomena, or at least phenomena that are not yet fully explained (or the explanation is beyond their understanding), would choose to instead of believing scientists who spend their entire lives trying to sort it out, instead believe that there is some evil cabal of people responsible for the misery in their lives.
This is generalization without substance is very likely part of the road that lead him develop such believes.
There are cabals among scientists that need to be questioned. On fossil fuel, tobacco, medical topics and a lot of other issues. Germany had a lot of science on why Jews are inferior. Even scientists have an agency that does not have to align with public interest. Your comment suggests blind faith which is certainly not a good idea.
> cabal of people responsible for the misery in their lives
conservatives, liberals, rock musicians, the church, homosexuals...
There are cabals among scientists that need to be questioned. On fossil fuel, tobacco, medical topics and a lot of other issues. Germany had a lot of science on why Jews are inferior. Even scientists have an agency that does not have to align with public interest. Your comment suggests blind faith which is certainly not a good idea.
> cabal of people responsible for the misery in their lives
conservatives, liberals, rock musicians, the church, homosexuals...
The generalization has a lot of substance, I'm just trying to be general in order to avoid political flamewars here on HN. I'm referring to the set of right-wingers who are going down the Qanon rathole, and their like in cult-like evangelical groups who are so willfully ignorant as to insist on believing easily disproven conspiracy theories such as flat-earth, chemtrails, antivaxxers, Big Lie, etc.
I am absolutely not expecting any kind of blind faith in science, but an understanding of science. I'm talking about genuine debate, not anti-science aggression with the goal of destroying the notion that truth can be known.
Voltaire got it right long ago: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Those people who willfully ignore science for conspiracy theory, etc. are the targets of the leaders of that political wing and other media and online manipulators -- they are being happily led to believe absurdities, and will commit atrocities. One example was exactly one year ago today. There is no reason to expect it will be the last or the least.
I am absolutely not expecting any kind of blind faith in science, but an understanding of science. I'm talking about genuine debate, not anti-science aggression with the goal of destroying the notion that truth can be known.
Voltaire got it right long ago: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Those people who willfully ignore science for conspiracy theory, etc. are the targets of the leaders of that political wing and other media and online manipulators -- they are being happily led to believe absurdities, and will commit atrocities. One example was exactly one year ago today. There is no reason to expect it will be the last or the least.
Understandable that you reject the beliefs of Qanon, that is quite easy actually, but arguing against them is a waste of time and leaves your more elaborate opposition ignored. At some point this opposition will be firmly against you because there is no way for political discourse and no way to hold people representing your political opinion to account.
There will only be fronts that become more and more polarized. That is also true for yourself, at some point you start to believe that any objection to your position is a flat earther. Of course they are not, these beliefs aren't relevant to the tiniest degree. Same would be true for QAnon if people didn't get themselves riled up.
Again, that flat earthers or QAnon are relevant or indicative of everyone of your political opposition is indeed an absurd belief. If you look hard enough, you will find them, even in high places, out of the question. Even wackos can have success. But I am sure you would also agree that it isn't right to leverage intelligence agencies against your opposition with slanderous dossiers. I think it is understandable that this can be more concerning than someone running around asserting the earth were flat.
There will only be fronts that become more and more polarized. That is also true for yourself, at some point you start to believe that any objection to your position is a flat earther. Of course they are not, these beliefs aren't relevant to the tiniest degree. Same would be true for QAnon if people didn't get themselves riled up.
Again, that flat earthers or QAnon are relevant or indicative of everyone of your political opposition is indeed an absurd belief. If you look hard enough, you will find them, even in high places, out of the question. Even wackos can have success. But I am sure you would also agree that it isn't right to leverage intelligence agencies against your opposition with slanderous dossiers. I think it is understandable that this can be more concerning than someone running around asserting the earth were flat.
I am not fomenting polarization, I am recognizing that it exists, and why.
You overlook several key factors
1) the polarization has already been created and is being deliberately magnified
2) this is being done by a set of RW leaders, authoritarians, and some media, each for their own reasons
3) A primary tool that is being used is amplifying perceived grievances & racism and spreading desinformatsyia and distrust (where the goal isn't necessarily to get people to believe the BS, which is a nice bonus, but to get ppl to think the truth is unknowable because you can't trust anything).
>>at some point this opposition will be firmly against you because there is no way for political discourse
Have you bothered to look around? Coming from the right wing movements in US, Hiungary, France, GB, etc, is nothing but firm opposition. If you are not with them, you are the enemy. Just look at what comes out of Fox News in the US - who is the biggest enemy? Liberals. Not totalitarian states who murder their own citizens at home and abroad -- liberals, and independents who are not with them, even in The Big Lie that the loser of the election was the winner.
>>at some point you start to believe that any objection to your position is a flat earther. No, that is an utterly false and reprehensible accusation. I'm happy to openly discuss anything, and have even done so with flat earthers.
The fact is that if a party to a discussion rejects facts, or is aggressively anti-science, i.e., anti-facts and anti-reality, there is no real basis for discussion.
More importantly, this is NOT some kind of balanced failure of both parties, but specifically the fault of party rejecting reality who is making real discussion impossible.
Merely recognizing a fact such as that does not make me or anyone else the cause of the problem. In fact, your failure to recognize the problem contributes to enabling it.
I am happy to attempt to talk to even the most extreme on any side. I have in fact repeatedly attempted to do so, including with people in my own family. But when the fact is that they refuse to accept objective reality — not that they don't have the intelligence to know, but they actively remain willfully ignorant — it fits a good definition of insanity to not recognize that fact.
>>at some point you start to believe that any objection to your position is a flat earther. Of course they are not, these beliefs aren't relevant to the tiniest degree.
Again the first sentence is false. And more importantly, the beliefs like "flat-earther", "NASA is a hoax", "chemtrails", "antivaxxer", etc. are anything but irrelevant.
The spreading of these beliefs is the exact tool used to breed distrust and polarization. It leads the followers to believe that truth cannot be known, so to blindly follow their leaders, and to believe that anyone not "in" on the beliefs is an enemy.
With this group and its leaders, ordinary political discourse is not possible, as there is not even a shared reality, and no argument is ever made in good faith.
Recognizing that this is already a fact is not furthering the polarization, it is recognizing reality, and is the first step to finding a remedy.
Anything less is simply enabling authoritarians.
You overlook several key factors
1) the polarization has already been created and is being deliberately magnified
2) this is being done by a set of RW leaders, authoritarians, and some media, each for their own reasons
3) A primary tool that is being used is amplifying perceived grievances & racism and spreading desinformatsyia and distrust (where the goal isn't necessarily to get people to believe the BS, which is a nice bonus, but to get ppl to think the truth is unknowable because you can't trust anything).
>>at some point this opposition will be firmly against you because there is no way for political discourse
Have you bothered to look around? Coming from the right wing movements in US, Hiungary, France, GB, etc, is nothing but firm opposition. If you are not with them, you are the enemy. Just look at what comes out of Fox News in the US - who is the biggest enemy? Liberals. Not totalitarian states who murder their own citizens at home and abroad -- liberals, and independents who are not with them, even in The Big Lie that the loser of the election was the winner.
>>at some point you start to believe that any objection to your position is a flat earther. No, that is an utterly false and reprehensible accusation. I'm happy to openly discuss anything, and have even done so with flat earthers.
The fact is that if a party to a discussion rejects facts, or is aggressively anti-science, i.e., anti-facts and anti-reality, there is no real basis for discussion.
More importantly, this is NOT some kind of balanced failure of both parties, but specifically the fault of party rejecting reality who is making real discussion impossible.
Merely recognizing a fact such as that does not make me or anyone else the cause of the problem. In fact, your failure to recognize the problem contributes to enabling it.
I am happy to attempt to talk to even the most extreme on any side. I have in fact repeatedly attempted to do so, including with people in my own family. But when the fact is that they refuse to accept objective reality — not that they don't have the intelligence to know, but they actively remain willfully ignorant — it fits a good definition of insanity to not recognize that fact.
>>at some point you start to believe that any objection to your position is a flat earther. Of course they are not, these beliefs aren't relevant to the tiniest degree.
Again the first sentence is false. And more importantly, the beliefs like "flat-earther", "NASA is a hoax", "chemtrails", "antivaxxer", etc. are anything but irrelevant.
The spreading of these beliefs is the exact tool used to breed distrust and polarization. It leads the followers to believe that truth cannot be known, so to blindly follow their leaders, and to believe that anyone not "in" on the beliefs is an enemy.
With this group and its leaders, ordinary political discourse is not possible, as there is not even a shared reality, and no argument is ever made in good faith.
Recognizing that this is already a fact is not furthering the polarization, it is recognizing reality, and is the first step to finding a remedy.
Anything less is simply enabling authoritarians.
Sure, they pray on the emotional need of their audience to "own the libs". Little use to deny that. But it is not a position you can engage with and win anything.
> Again the first sentence is false. And more importantly, the beliefs like "flat-earther", "NASA is a hoax", "chemtrails", "antivaxxer", etc. are anything but irrelevant.
They are irrelevant aside from being a boogeyman. Even combined you are probably talking about a very small group, although I would explicitly exclude antivaxxer here because it is another quality. I am vaccinated but against mandates and have been called antivaxxer, so you have only grown opposition. I see the opposition not holding people to account because their eyes are focused on a group that does not have the tiniest inch of political influence and therefore cannot be responsible for much in society anyway. Antivaxxer are also no authoritarians, they argue for the opposite.
I don't think they cause the distrust, the distrust is caused in how you engage with them. While the play of politics usually suggest that you should not engage with unhappy people (inhuman, I know), you conduct with them is relevant. I don't believe people blaming anitvaxxers are capable of holding leadership to account because they waste their energy in criticising people that don't have influence on policy. It would be foolish to align myself here, I don't need and image of an enemy.
I am not from the US and mostly align with the democrat party, which is still very conservative from my point of view. But a few years ago I understood the objection many US conservatives harbor. And they are just as guilty of the same thing. In the Obama years many of his initiatives were blocked out of pure spite, no factual discussion could have changed that. I disliked them doing that only to learn that this is the usual conduct between political camps. But you are just making yourself a tool of the other political side. Perhaps better than other blind followers they have, but not by much for constructive dialogue.
> Again the first sentence is false. And more importantly, the beliefs like "flat-earther", "NASA is a hoax", "chemtrails", "antivaxxer", etc. are anything but irrelevant.
They are irrelevant aside from being a boogeyman. Even combined you are probably talking about a very small group, although I would explicitly exclude antivaxxer here because it is another quality. I am vaccinated but against mandates and have been called antivaxxer, so you have only grown opposition. I see the opposition not holding people to account because their eyes are focused on a group that does not have the tiniest inch of political influence and therefore cannot be responsible for much in society anyway. Antivaxxer are also no authoritarians, they argue for the opposite.
I don't think they cause the distrust, the distrust is caused in how you engage with them. While the play of politics usually suggest that you should not engage with unhappy people (inhuman, I know), you conduct with them is relevant. I don't believe people blaming anitvaxxers are capable of holding leadership to account because they waste their energy in criticising people that don't have influence on policy. It would be foolish to align myself here, I don't need and image of an enemy.
I am not from the US and mostly align with the democrat party, which is still very conservative from my point of view. But a few years ago I understood the objection many US conservatives harbor. And they are just as guilty of the same thing. In the Obama years many of his initiatives were blocked out of pure spite, no factual discussion could have changed that. I disliked them doing that only to learn that this is the usual conduct between political camps. But you are just making yourself a tool of the other political side. Perhaps better than other blind followers they have, but not by much for constructive dialogue.
Also,just a historical note, if you look into WWII, you'll find similar riling up of anti-intellectual sentiments, exploitation of bigotry, and conspiracy theories in the Axis powers.
Neville Chamberlain attempted the kind of constructive dialog with the leaders,and came back proclaiming "Peace for our time!". It was September 1938.
The Axis' people's and leaders' distrust was not caused by the failure of any non-Axis person to engage on friendly terms. It was caused by their leaders.
It took a war of scale and scope unprecedented in history, and death by the millions, to convince them that they were wrong. And their heirs are now on the march again.
I hope it does not take that much again, but understanding that the facts are not as pretty or amenable to friendly means as we hoped is no help.
Neville Chamberlain attempted the kind of constructive dialog with the leaders,and came back proclaiming "Peace for our time!". It was September 1938.
The Axis' people's and leaders' distrust was not caused by the failure of any non-Axis person to engage on friendly terms. It was caused by their leaders.
It took a war of scale and scope unprecedented in history, and death by the millions, to convince them that they were wrong. And their heirs are now on the march again.
I hope it does not take that much again, but understanding that the facts are not as pretty or amenable to friendly means as we hoped is no help.
I love your faith in constructive dialog — I wish it were all we needed. In more ordinary situations, it can be very effective. But it is an effect that works mainly on the margins.
We are in the situation where major global forces are actively working to destroy even the ability to communicate, literally attacking the idea that truth is knowable. The conspiracy theories don't come from nowhere to become widespread, they are specifically and relentlessly pushed - the specific goal isn't so much to gain adherents as to push so much noise that people abandon the concept that they can find any truth, and also to promote the concept that everything happens not because of knowable forces in the universe but because of a secret evil cabal, whose members can be identified by the conspiracy pushers (handy to leverage bigotry and claim the other party is the ultimate enemy).
This literally destroys the opportunity for factual discussion.
The result is to open the doors for authoritarians like Putin, Xi, Orban, and wannabes like Trump (who are all agents promoting this).
The problem is these specific efforts to promote distrust in humans, leadership (other than the chosen "strongmen"), and truth.
The fact that I have come, through direct experience and attempts starting with trust, to no longer trust them is now irrelevant. I neither caused nor amplify the distrust. Whether I (or you) trust them or not is irrelevant. They will continue to distrust unless I actively join their cult lunacy.
Can you provide a single example where your trust and conversation actually changed the mind of one of them? If so, how did that work? Did it "stick"?
We are in the situation where major global forces are actively working to destroy even the ability to communicate, literally attacking the idea that truth is knowable. The conspiracy theories don't come from nowhere to become widespread, they are specifically and relentlessly pushed - the specific goal isn't so much to gain adherents as to push so much noise that people abandon the concept that they can find any truth, and also to promote the concept that everything happens not because of knowable forces in the universe but because of a secret evil cabal, whose members can be identified by the conspiracy pushers (handy to leverage bigotry and claim the other party is the ultimate enemy).
This literally destroys the opportunity for factual discussion.
The result is to open the doors for authoritarians like Putin, Xi, Orban, and wannabes like Trump (who are all agents promoting this).
The problem is these specific efforts to promote distrust in humans, leadership (other than the chosen "strongmen"), and truth.
The fact that I have come, through direct experience and attempts starting with trust, to no longer trust them is now irrelevant. I neither caused nor amplify the distrust. Whether I (or you) trust them or not is irrelevant. They will continue to distrust unless I actively join their cult lunacy.
Can you provide a single example where your trust and conversation actually changed the mind of one of them? If so, how did that work? Did it "stick"?
Yeah, my guess would be mental illness.
We can say "what person is saying is very wrong" simultaneous with tryign to point that person towards medical care.
Mocking someone for bad behavior could have some upside (e.g., maybe it discourages them and others from doing the same). But if we imagine mocking someone with a debilitating illness, that image of ourselves should make us reconsider.
We can say "what person is saying is very wrong" simultaneous with tryign to point that person towards medical care.
Mocking someone for bad behavior could have some upside (e.g., maybe it discourages them and others from doing the same). But if we imagine mocking someone with a debilitating illness, that image of ourselves should make us reconsider.
Nah, it's fairly standard anti-semitism. It's not remotely outside the normal bounds.
It's not like he was caught by a hot mike or something. This guy widely sent out an emotional email to politicans and others pleading them to consider his "discovery". This in a world where you are advised to never say "you guys".
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here?
Might also be a drug problem, stimulants can make you say/do/think weird things.
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Does anyone have a link to the original email. I hate reading articles that just take snippets and add their outrage commentary.
Yeah it’s here http://Newsmax.com
I do not see it anywhere on that site. Perhaps the search doesn't work. Can you link it directly?
Wrong link, here http://nextdoor.com
You need to log in and you can read embarrassing problematic screeds
You need to log in and you can read embarrassing problematic screeds
What does nextdoor have to do with this? Are you just posting random urls?
I came into this thinking that he made a joke about Jews and money.
Nope. So much worse. And he doubled down too.
Definitely read the article to the end.
Anyone ever work with or meet this fellow? As he has fallen for such a large pile of nonsense that I wonder how he operates day to day?
Nope. So much worse. And he doubled down too.
Definitely read the article to the end.
Anyone ever work with or meet this fellow? As he has fallen for such a large pile of nonsense that I wonder how he operates day to day?
Same, I thought this was going to be a boring “casually racist grandmother at thanksgiving” situation. Instead it was closer to my grandmother on thanksgiving…Sigh…
Ah... Yet More Proof(tm) that "intelligence" is multi-dimentional. And that you can be very bright indeed in some dimensions (evidence - he was a tech executive), yet far dimmer than a box of rocks (has any box of rocks ever committed career suicide via anti-semitic rant?) in others.
A Modest Proposal: Mr. Bateman needs a 72-hour involuntary admission to a good psychiatric hospital. His recent behavior might be caused by a fast-growing brain tumor, or congenital malformation of the cerebrum, or abuse of high-risk recreational drugs, or be the first clear symptom of a late-manifesting major psychiatric disorder. It's for his own good, really.
A Modest Proposal: Mr. Bateman needs a 72-hour involuntary admission to a good psychiatric hospital. His recent behavior might be caused by a fast-growing brain tumor, or congenital malformation of the cerebrum, or abuse of high-risk recreational drugs, or be the first clear symptom of a late-manifesting major psychiatric disorder. It's for his own good, really.
> A Modest Proposal: Mr. Bateman needs a 72-hour involuntary admission to a good psychiatric hospital.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_...
"A Modest Proposal" is a flag for Juvenalian satire - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal
(Though such bizarre and self-destructive behavior is a red flag, and medical testing & psychiatric evaluation are quite reasonable. PragmaticPulp's comment kinda covers that.)
Yes, I know the USSR's history. In current-day America...the guy's chances of being forced into a psych. hospital by the government for this seem about as high as his chances of being tried for publicly insulting George III's honor.
(Though such bizarre and self-destructive behavior is a red flag, and medical testing & psychiatric evaluation are quite reasonable. PragmaticPulp's comment kinda covers that.)
Yes, I know the USSR's history. In current-day America...the guy's chances of being forced into a psych. hospital by the government for this seem about as high as his chances of being tried for publicly insulting George III's honor.
>Ah... Yet More Proof(tm) that "intelligence" is multi-dimensional
I thought of Mel Gibson when I read the story, who had some similar over-the-top crazy Jewish conspiracy tirades. But has done quite well, particularly as a movie director. And seems witty under the right circumstances, to me.
I thought of Mel Gibson when I read the story, who had some similar over-the-top crazy Jewish conspiracy tirades. But has done quite well, particularly as a movie director. And seems witty under the right circumstances, to me.
That intelligence is associated with mentally problems is a very old idea.
> Mr. Bateman needs a 72-hour involuntary admission to a good psychiatric hospital
I think he got a sentence to remember already. Don't think many Jews would think too favorably about this idea.
> Mr. Bateman needs a 72-hour involuntary admission to a good psychiatric hospital
I think he got a sentence to remember already. Don't think many Jews would think too favorably about this idea.
No conspiracy, but I think we are seeing the results when the professional class gets to rule. And I think its turning out bad.
Imagine if you were forced to follow the advice of you Doctor, Lawyer, and your Teacher every hour of the day. They all might mean well for you. But its turning out that its gets pretty bureaucratic and despotic very fast.
But on the other hand, if a super villain wanted to rid the world of people, an anti vaccine might be one way to do it.
Imagine if you were forced to follow the advice of you Doctor, Lawyer, and your Teacher every hour of the day. They all might mean well for you. But its turning out that its gets pretty bureaucratic and despotic very fast.
But on the other hand, if a super villain wanted to rid the world of people, an anti vaccine might be one way to do it.
I dunno. If I wanted to kill a bunch of people would it be easier to…
1. Wait for a pandemic, simultaneously develop multiple bogus vaccines at competing pharmaceutical companies, fake clinical trials at multiple in multiple countries, pass fake data through multiple regulatory agencies, and keep all of it secret.
2. Run some Facebook ads telling people not to protect themselves during a deadly pandemic?
1. Wait for a pandemic, simultaneously develop multiple bogus vaccines at competing pharmaceutical companies, fake clinical trials at multiple in multiple countries, pass fake data through multiple regulatory agencies, and keep all of it secret.
2. Run some Facebook ads telling people not to protect themselves during a deadly pandemic?
In Ontario, the vaccinated are getting infected at a higher rate than unvaccinated. Which seems a very strange effect for a vaccine to have.
On the conspiracy side, you can't really rule out a coordinated effort at this point. This video goes into how spreading confusion and fear, to create a state of public mass psychosis is a tactic employed by authoritarians in the past.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M
On the conspiracy side, you can't really rule out a coordinated effort at this point. This video goes into how spreading confusion and fear, to create a state of public mass psychosis is a tactic employed by authoritarians in the past.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M
I'm using the data at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data . It shows the inversion you've mentioned.
- Cases: vaccinated = 100/100k, unvaccinated = 80/100k
Vaccinations reduce the severity of the disease. If you get exposed, vaccination will prompt your body to deal with the infection more quickly when there's less of the virus. This can, but doesn't necessarily, clear the infection before it's detected. You can see the protective effect in Ontario by looking at different severities.
- Population 12+: vaccinated = 88%, unvaccinated = 9%
- Hospital non-ICU: vaccinated = 65%, unvaccinated = 25%
- Hospital ICU: vaccinated = 40%, unvaccinated = 50%
- Deaths aren't reported by vaccination status on this page
- Cases: vaccinated = 100/100k, unvaccinated = 80/100k
Vaccinations reduce the severity of the disease. If you get exposed, vaccination will prompt your body to deal with the infection more quickly when there's less of the virus. This can, but doesn't necessarily, clear the infection before it's detected. You can see the protective effect in Ontario by looking at different severities.
- Population 12+: vaccinated = 88%, unvaccinated = 9%
- Hospital non-ICU: vaccinated = 65%, unvaccinated = 25%
- Hospital ICU: vaccinated = 40%, unvaccinated = 50%
- Deaths aren't reported by vaccination status on this page
Yes, but this is snapshot at this current time, in a changing situation. The hospitalization rate for the vaccinated has gone up by a lot in the last month.
Long term we don't really know how things will go, and if there will be more vaccinated people in hospital in ICU than unvaccinated.
One plausible explanation I heard is that the immune system does not recognize the virus, but rather the cells infected by the virus. The immune system uses T-cells to destroy those infected cells. The drop in effectiveness of each successive vaccine, suggests a diminishing ability for the immune system to recognize the infected cells. And its not really clear if repeated boosting will solve this problem. I think of it as a ai that's been over optimized to recognize only the training data.
Don't really have a background to evaluate if this is a valid explanation of why we are seeing this inversion.
One plausible explanation I heard is that the immune system does not recognize the virus, but rather the cells infected by the virus. The immune system uses T-cells to destroy those infected cells. The drop in effectiveness of each successive vaccine, suggests a diminishing ability for the immune system to recognize the infected cells. And its not really clear if repeated boosting will solve this problem. I think of it as a ai that's been over optimized to recognize only the training data.
Don't really have a background to evaluate if this is a valid explanation of why we are seeing this inversion.
An arguably much worse CEO that's still in power
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/aer...
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/aer...
Does being rich make people go crazy? And think that nothing can happen to them? I wouldn't even type this kind of thing into a private Google Doc, let alone send a mass email.
Probably the other way around. Obsessive behavior leads to high achievements when channeled into the right activity. Before it gets misdirected at Jews.
Yes definitely. Objectively less stuff _can_ happen to you - for example, you could write an insane racist rant and then still be rich!
I know people use “unhinged” a lot but if you read that email it is genuinely off the deep end. It’s like satire of what a racist dude would write.
The proper spelling and grammar threw me. Usually crazy writing is sloppier and weirder.
It's actually a bit scary that someone this successful not only believes, but openly proselytizes this kind of delusional racist thinking.
That’s not even the scary part to me. There are all sorts of people with whacked out ideas. The scary part is when they have power over others.
I hate to point this out but at least in the USA a high percentage of CVOID deaths are among unfortunately republican voters.
I think we could better face things if we loved ourselves more as when we do that our desire to attack others goes down and our desire to make things goes up. Just something that I picked up in getting my ADHD under control.
I think we could better face things if we loved ourselves more as when we do that our desire to attack others goes down and our desire to make things goes up. Just something that I picked up in getting my ADHD under control.
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I liked the Bill Burr take on this 'vaccine is to wipe us out' conspiracy.
The better logic is this invisible hand would not want to wipe out the vaccine takers as they are the 'sheeple' who are controlled. These powers would want to remove the trouble makers, the people that dont do what they are told. So a more likely conspiracy is the secret plan would be to release a second virus to kill the non-vaxed once the sheeple are vaxed.
Obviously this is a joke but it's a good spin to present to people that believe in the conspiracy of vaccination.
https://youtu.be/znI046F4FKg
The better logic is this invisible hand would not want to wipe out the vaccine takers as they are the 'sheeple' who are controlled. These powers would want to remove the trouble makers, the people that dont do what they are told. So a more likely conspiracy is the secret plan would be to release a second virus to kill the non-vaxed once the sheeple are vaxed.
Obviously this is a joke but it's a good spin to present to people that believe in the conspiracy of vaccination.
https://youtu.be/znI046F4FKg
Not a joke, it happened it’s Delta. Bill Burr’s joke is explain immunology to people hostile to immunology
>These powers would want to remove the trouble makers.
That is indeed a good argument.
I do not believe covid vaccines are intentionally killing people. The chance of that being the case is maybe 1 in a (m/b)illion who knows. (is it too much or not much risk to mandate it on everyone given the alternative(everyone gets infected etc)?)
There exist groups however who would decrease population no matter what, because they think that is the only way to "save the planet", right?
There are other possibilities where the vaccines are preferred by evil conspirators, but I won't go into it because figuring out how evil people would think is not making me happy at all.
That is indeed a good argument.
I do not believe covid vaccines are intentionally killing people. The chance of that being the case is maybe 1 in a (m/b)illion who knows. (is it too much or not much risk to mandate it on everyone given the alternative(everyone gets infected etc)?)
There exist groups however who would decrease population no matter what, because they think that is the only way to "save the planet", right?
There are other possibilities where the vaccines are preferred by evil conspirators, but I won't go into it because figuring out how evil people would think is not making me happy at all.
This is not a mental health issue. It's a result of misinformation and conspiracy theories being spread most likely on social media and people believing them. So many people just blindly trusting information being spread without properly fact checking or checking their sources. This is what's going on. It starts with bias towards a specific group, then they start searching for any evidence that can support their bias.
When a privileged white male has this bias towards Jews it's not a mental health issue, it's antisemitism which is a form of racism. Call it what it is.
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> Yes. I sent it. I have nothing but love for the Jewish people. Some of my closest friends are Jews.
Satire has nothing on this article
Satire has nothing on this article
I genuinely believe that these people see "the Jews" and "Jewish people" as two entirely separate concepts in their head. One is the group of people they may know, hang out with, be friends with, and one is the concept of evil brought up by conspiracy nuts that get associated with murdering babies and widespread paedophilia.
I've read an article, linked here during the Trump administration, about people of Mexican origin being deported from American towns. The townsfolk were upset that their friend or neighbour was being deported, but they still believed in Trump's promises. They didn't want this to happen, they only wanted "the bad ones" to get out, whatever abstract concept of "the bad ones" meant to them. The people they knew were always "one of the good ones".
Obviously, no group of people is uniform, but the human brain loves to think in groups. The groups can overlap and they don't need to make sense; they exist purely to attach some kind of judgement or prejudice onto. Probably a great feature of the human brain if you're a primate trying to make it to adulthood, but, in modern times, humanity's worst flaw.
I've read an article, linked here during the Trump administration, about people of Mexican origin being deported from American towns. The townsfolk were upset that their friend or neighbour was being deported, but they still believed in Trump's promises. They didn't want this to happen, they only wanted "the bad ones" to get out, whatever abstract concept of "the bad ones" meant to them. The people they knew were always "one of the good ones".
Obviously, no group of people is uniform, but the human brain loves to think in groups. The groups can overlap and they don't need to make sense; they exist purely to attach some kind of judgement or prejudice onto. Probably a great feature of the human brain if you're a primate trying to make it to adulthood, but, in modern times, humanity's worst flaw.
> I genuinely believe that these people see "the Jews" and "Jewish people" as two entirely separate concepts in their head. One is the group of people they may know, hang out with, be friends with, and one is the concept of evil brought up by conspiracy nuts
One can only imagine that many people in, say, 19th-c. and early 20th-c. Germany held similar notions and views. This if anything makes such conspiracy nuttery even more dangerous.
One can only imagine that many people in, say, 19th-c. and early 20th-c. Germany held similar notions and views. This if anything makes such conspiracy nuttery even more dangerous.
I saw a video about this years ago by some racist idiot defining the “bad jews” as part of “international ‘Jewery’” and that he has no problem with Jewish individuals.
Are these the same Jews that control the space laser used to start the California wild fires? So crazy.
I'm Jewish, how come I don't have access to this laser? I've loved lasers since I was a kid. Life isn't fair!
You can sign up here: https://dissentpins.com/products/secret-jewish-space-laser-c... (no relation, just a guy who appreciates funny merch ideas)
You have to go to one of those laser time share meetings. Not sure it's worth it. It's like the whole afternoon and they say you're going to get tickets to Broadway but at the end it's just a screening of Santa inc.
These Jews are pretty inventive...first space lasers, now vaccines that render women baren to depopulate the earth...
Though, it's not a bad idea considering the food shortages, water shortages, supply chain issues, etc...we're nearing max capacity...
It's a fairytale, how this guy got to be a CEO when I'm struggling as a burned out developer w/ way more common sense I'll never know.
Though, it's not a bad idea considering the food shortages, water shortages, supply chain issues, etc...we're nearing max capacity...
It's a fairytale, how this guy got to be a CEO when I'm struggling as a burned out developer w/ way more common sense I'll never know.
From what I've seen, it has a lot to do with having rich parents as a fallback cushion.
yeah I followed that paulgraham thread or twitter war on this w/ I think the cloudflare founder of all things.... where he's basically saying ---95% is having a place to crash without fear of being homeless... and maybe luck...than actual having a good idea and work ethic.
All you need is a passion for apartment complex resident portals.
Original discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29803073
level1(4)
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Well he did say God said it. We're generally not allowed to question what God says.
To be honest, "God" has been saying all sorts of anti-semitic things for almost two thousand years. It's funny how the standards of sanity shift and sway over time. And we're talking Utah here.
Logically it doesn't make much sense, since Israel is one of the most vaxxed places. You'd think God had better control over scope, if the vaccine is the conspiracy by the Jews. You wouldn't see God turn the vaccine on them.
To be honest, "God" has been saying all sorts of anti-semitic things for almost two thousand years. It's funny how the standards of sanity shift and sway over time. And we're talking Utah here.
Logically it doesn't make much sense, since Israel is one of the most vaxxed places. You'd think God had better control over scope, if the vaccine is the conspiracy by the Jews. You wouldn't see God turn the vaccine on them.
Well, logically one could have two different vaccines. Where conspiracy theories fail is not a basic logic usually. They fail at the reason. There is no reason to decimate the US population in case you want to rule the world, that simply creates nothing but less wealth and more Eurasian influence.
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The free-speech brigade that rails against Cancel Culture will be speaking out against this any second
It's perfectly okay to be pro-free-speech while acknowledging people like this exist. Plus the guy resigned, not hounded into quitting by a Twitter mob.
Plenty of resignations, firings, bans and other things have been denounced as "cancel culture" by the free speech brigade which didn't involve a Twitter mob hounding anyone. But the article says he resigned after "condemnation throughout Utah's tech community." Surely that's cancel culture? The chilling effect of the mob, the jackboot of censorship?
The only reason no one is standing up and giving a full-throated defense of this man's right to speak his mind without consequence is that they're only willing to defend heinous speech in the abstract. Give them a concrete example and suddenly they discover the existence of nuance and sit in the corner whistling Dixie.
The only reason no one is standing up and giving a full-throated defense of this man's right to speak his mind without consequence is that they're only willing to defend heinous speech in the abstract. Give them a concrete example and suddenly they discover the existence of nuance and sit in the corner whistling Dixie.
I support complete free speech and also law. If some speeches are very bad for society make a law and enforce it. Otherwise it gives random group powers to accuse and persecute without a just trial.
All laws are human made and can be changed if society agrees. Even some kind of "canceling " can be part of law, if society wants to keep the absolute free speech.
From outside, if such emails can create violence then as a society we need to figure out how to develop more non violence in our culture other wise we will be just treating the symptoms and not the cause.
Edited part below: On more thoughts, if a person is making an accusations without substantial proof, a similar accusations can be made against that person without substantial proof. I think that is fine. However will like that to be in the law and done by proper procedure. Allowing groups to act as mob is dangerous.
All laws are human made and can be changed if society agrees. Even some kind of "canceling " can be part of law, if society wants to keep the absolute free speech.
From outside, if such emails can create violence then as a society we need to figure out how to develop more non violence in our culture other wise we will be just treating the symptoms and not the cause.
Edited part below: On more thoughts, if a person is making an accusations without substantial proof, a similar accusations can be made against that person without substantial proof. I think that is fine. However will like that to be in the law and done by proper procedure. Allowing groups to act as mob is dangerous.
I guess if it’s hounding by other rich men, it’s not a mob. It’s the people who have earned the right to do the cancellation.
Unfortunately, being a wealthy ex-CEO and ex-pat living in another country, away from his former social circles, has likely removed all social support and peer group balance against his decline. When you're that wealthy, you can afford to surround yourself with people who won't challenge your ideas or suggest that maybe you're not well. The yes-men don't want to risk being ostracized by saying the wrong thing, so they go along with it.
I hope someone can talk him into getting the help he needs. That doesn't excuse what he said, obviously, but I doubt this issue will resolve on its own.