An attempt to understand Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, critiques American liberalism and capitalism, advocating for secretive governance. His views, influenced by Christian themes, may gain traction amid societal unrest and technological change.
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Peter Thiel, a prominent figure in the tech industry, co-founded PayPal and Palantir, invested early in Facebook, and played a significant role in the 2016 Trump campaign. He is often described as a "philosophical paranoid self-loathing conservative amoral genius billionaire." Thiel's writings, particularly a dense 2007 article, reveal his historical perspective on Western society's crossroads post-Enlightenment, contrasting with typical venture capitalists who focus on business metrics. He critiques American liberalism for neglecting fundamental human questions, arguing that modern capitalism reduces individuals to mere economic actors. Thiel believes that humans are inherently violent, a view that informs his support for intelligence initiatives like Palantir. He expresses contempt for conventional political processes, suggesting that true governance should be secretive and efficient, as exemplified by intelligence agencies. His strategic support for Trump is seen as a means to convey controversial truths through a disreputable figure. Thiel's worldview is influenced by Christian themes, contemplating the future's potential for violence or peace. His ideas resonate in a time of unrest and technological change, suggesting that his influence may grow as people seek answers to profound questions. Thiel's connection to pop culture, such as his reference to "Lord of the Rings," reflects a blend of serious ideology with a unique cultural lens, raising concerns about the implications of his powerful position in shaping contemporary thought.
6 commentstl;dw "Rich white men support Republicans, who tend to enact policies that benefit rich white men"
Are they really? Feels like many of the most prominent VCs have written philosophical essays of one type or another. At some point a good VC surely has to think about the broader social trends behind the success and failure of the Ventures they gave Capital to.
Everything else Peter says is distraction. Occams Razor: he has lots of money and wants more
> I have to say, I think this describes my worldview pretty well (although I would argue that in my limited knowledge of the past, it does seem to me like an increasing level of abundance and education can ward off violence pretty well).
I’m surprised the author (oh, hi submitter!) hasn’t clued in that perhaps it’s time to put blogs to the side and learn a bit more about history and how today came to be prior to attempting to “understand” Peter Thiel.
The thinly veiled “weird” memery going around as of late in the subtitle is trite and immediately, in my mind, devalues the blog post. It basically signals “this isn’t an objective attempt to understand as much as it is me taking the piss out on Peter Thiel.”
I gained no new knowledge about the guy, unfortunately. Hyper focused on trump and the like as usual and treats the guy like he’s a 1D political villain. So this was essentially empty content.
Put another way, I’ve seen much better shitposts about Thiel than “this guy thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.”