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Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

forbes.com

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Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say your description is spot-on, at least culturally. It's also the end of the post-08 crash era and the start of the post-20 crash era

> It's also the end of the post-08 crash era and the start of the post-20 crash era What crash? SP500 hit an all time high on Friday.

The stock market isn't the economy

Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#22
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already let us fly with numerous lithium fire hazards per person. All you need is something like a metal barreled ink pen to pierce the battery pack. Heck, what protection is there from me getting some volume of mercury on board? A pressurized aluminum airframe would not take kindly to spilling any amount of that.

Destroying the aircraft in mid air isn't really the threat any more, though. The threat is using the airplane and its occupants as unwilling kamikaze weapons as in 9/11, and with the armored doors on the flight deck now it's unlikely the aircrew will allow the aircraft to be hijacked no matter what you bring on board. There's a reason the flight attendants stand in front of the door when the pilots have to use the wa…

Shoes are obstensibly removed to prevent the destruction of planes, not their hijacking. The problem of planes being hijacked was solved around 10am on 2001/9/11, before the government got involved. And if passengers fighting back isn't enough, locked cabin doors should be.

Incidentally, passengers kicked the shit out of the would-be shoe bomber too.

Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#23

The 21st century's "true start" was on New Year's Eve, 2000. Of course, I realize he's talking about defining events that delimit major changes between the previous century and its successor. And more specifically, major changes in what Thiel cares about, like financial markets, start-ups, monopolies, and money in general. But, really, we're only 20% into the century. Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even…

Sorry but no.

"It began on January 1, 2001, and ends on December 31, 2100"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_century

Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#26

The 21st century's "true start" was on New Year's Eve, 2000. Of course, I realize he's talking about defining events that delimit major changes between the previous century and its successor. And more specifically, major changes in what Thiel cares about, like financial markets, start-ups, monopolies, and money in general. But, really, we're only 20% into the century. Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even…

Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even within the parameters of what matters to Thiel. Did WWI define the 20th century, or was it WWII? I think WWI demarcates the 1st of a series of really big, interrelated events. I suspect Covid-19 could be the 1st of a series of really big, interrelated events.

To me it's quite obviously a preview of the ecological collapses that climate change will bring over the rest of the century. This is a small taste of things to come and the scale of the solutions and sacrifices required to adapt to them. The amount of government intervention, which was met with a lot of skepticism in the West, is going to remain a prominent feature.

Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#27

The 21st century's "true start" was on New Year's Eve, 2000. Of course, I realize he's talking about defining events that delimit major changes between the previous century and its successor. And more specifically, major changes in what Thiel cares about, like financial markets, start-ups, monopolies, and money in general. But, really, we're only 20% into the century. Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even…

> Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19

I doubt people will talk about Covid-19 much at all by the end of the century.

The 1918 flu was much, much worse in total number of deaths, and even worse when you consider how many fewer people existed at that time, and it killed people in the prime of their lives. And by the year 2000 very few people knew about it at all.

Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#28

The 21st century's "true start" was on New Year's Eve, 2000. Of course, I realize he's talking about defining events that delimit major changes between the previous century and its successor. And more specifically, major changes in what Thiel cares about, like financial markets, start-ups, monopolies, and money in general. But, really, we're only 20% into the century. Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even…

Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even within the parameters of what matters to Thiel. Did WWI define the 20th century, or was it WWII? I think WWI demarcates the 1st of a series of really big, interrelated events. I suspect Covid-19 could be the 1st of a series of really big, interrelated events.

That's a fair take. Before this year, most of us might have said 9/11 was the defining moment of the start of this century.

I'm not going to try to predict what history will look like 80 years from now, or whether 9/11 or covid will be considered more significant by then, but this does raise an interesting question of how people in 1913 perceived the nascent 20th century.

Obviously things happened over those 13 years, but whatever they were, history ultimately decided that they were inconsequential enough for the "20th-century events" Wikipedia article to not even mention anything before WWI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th-century_events

Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#29

The 21st century's "true start" was on New Year's Eve, 2000. Of course, I realize he's talking about defining events that delimit major changes between the previous century and its successor. And more specifically, major changes in what Thiel cares about, like financial markets, start-ups, monopolies, and money in general. But, really, we're only 20% into the century. Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even…

> Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 I doubt people will talk about Covid-19 much at all by the end of the century. The 1918 flu was much, much worse in total number of deaths, and even worse when you consider how many fewer people existed at that time, and it killed people in the prime of their lives. And by the year 2000 very few people knew about it at all.

I wonder if there wasn't something else going on in 1918 that perhaps eclipsed it in terms of importance.

Re: Peter Thiel Says Covid Marks 21st Century’s True Start

#30

The 21st century's "true start" was on New Year's Eve, 2000. Of course, I realize he's talking about defining events that delimit major changes between the previous century and its successor. And more specifically, major changes in what Thiel cares about, like financial markets, start-ups, monopolies, and money in general. But, really, we're only 20% into the century. Something else could easily eclipse Covid-19 even…

This article is a marketing submarine. Can you spot the product?
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