The owner of the Golden State Warriors said the quiet part out loud this week, when he asserted “nobody cares” about China’s genocide of its Uyghur population.
“Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs, OK?” NBA team owner Chamath Palihapitiya said during an appearance on the “All In” podcast. “You bring it up because you care and I think it’s nice that you care. The rest of us don’t care. I’m just telling you a very hard, ugly truth. Of all the things that I care about, yes, it is below my line.”
Palihapitiya then listed the things he does, in fact, care about, among them being climate change, the possible economic ramifications of China invading Taiwan, U.S. supply chain issues, and America’s “crippling and decrepit health care infrastructure.”
“But if you’re asking me do I care about a segment of a class of people in another country? Not until we can take care of ourselves will I prioritize them over us,” he explained, adding, “Every time I say that I care about the Uyghurs, I’m really just lying if I don’t really care. And so I’d rather not lie to you and tell you the truth. It’s not a priority for me.”
Interestingly, Palihapitiya is the founder and CEO of Social Capital, whose stated mission is “to advance humanity by solving the world’s hardest problems.”
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Entrepreneur and “All In” co-host Jason Calacanis was clearly taken aback by Palihapitiya’s admission and asked the Warriors owner, “What? What do you mean no one cares?”
Calacanis described his colleague’s position as “disappointing,” later noting it’s a “sad state of affairs” when the general concept of human rights “falls beneath tactical and strategic issues.”
Palihapitiya, for his part, said such a perspective is a “luxury belief.”
This comes as Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom has unabashedly condemned China for its human rights abuses, even calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “brutal dictator” — an accusation that resulted in the communist country pulling the Celtics’ games from television in the country.
Freedom, though, has not backed down. He has since accused China of “modern-day slavery” and asserted Nike is profiting from China’s detainment of the Uyghur Muslims, who have been used for forced labor, according to the U.S. Department of State.
“Nike remains vocal about injustice here in America, but, when it comes to China, Nike remains silent,” he said in late October. “You do not address police brutality in China. You do not say a word about the oppression of minorities in China. You are scared to speak up.”
Speaking of Palihapitiya, Freedom accused the NBA team owner of “sell[ing]” his “soul for money [and] business.”
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