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Re: undefined

#11

Post by randomNumber7 »

antinomicus wrote: post #5
ta9000 wrote: post #2

Or people are just seeing the real person. Before the filter was needed but now that views tangential to his are more mainstream it’s easier for him to let the full nut-job out. Same with the CEO of Salesforce.

I’m honestly thinking he saw all the attention Elon got and wanted some for himself. For real - ten years ago if you asked anyone if they knew who Peter thiel was, maybe 4/10 would be able to tell you. But even among those 4 if you asked do you know what Peter thiel looks like they might all have shrugged. Now, at least to me, it seems like Thiel has decided to do interviews and public appearances like he never did b…

He did some smart things in the past at least (I also think he is pretty insane).

But the article isn't very clear about what he said. I read sommewhere else his idea is more that someone would be able to unite the masses in the phase of economic trouble we are heading to. Like Hitler but for the whole world. I think its also funny that he suspects greta tunberg.

Re: undefined

#12

Post by mrbukkake »

davidw wrote: post #8

The current iteration of Silicon Valley is just sad to see. I remember the sort of techno-libertarianism from the 90ies, and... while I didn't always agree, it seemed at least kind of idealistic. Also unrealistic, but it didn't seem to come from a place of cruelty or a thirst for power. Quite the contrary, they didn't seem very good at getting the government on their side back then. Now they have money and power and…

[flagged]

Re: undefined

#13

Post by walkabout »

righthand wrote: post #9
lacker wrote: post #6

Personally, I'm not religious. But 20% of Americans believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. Is it really so crazy for one venture capitalist to believe that the Antichrist is real? Part of the freedom of religion is accepting that other Americans really do have religious beliefs that differ from your own sometimes, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you need to support the policies that he supports. But we d…

Well the Anti-Christ as a character and literal demon, mirror image of Jesus, etc is a misinterpretation of the anti-Christ attitudes/behaviour the bible is discussing. Which alludes that the end times are when people are no longer pro-Christ. So yes it is so crazy.

Why is a misinterpretation of the Bible any crazier than a non-misinterpretation?

Re: undefined

#14

Post by notahacker »

lacker wrote: post #6

Personally, I'm not religious. But 20% of Americans believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. Is it really so crazy for one venture capitalist to believe that the Antichrist is real? Part of the freedom of religion is accepting that other Americans really do have religious beliefs that differ from your own sometimes, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you need to support the policies that he supports. But we d…

Broadly speaking I agree with you.

That said, when it comes to peacefully sharing the country with people with different beliefs I'd probably be more worried about the President-bankrolling military-industrial complex billionaire looking for a literal antichrist to be the Girardian scapegoat to renew the social order than the tech journalist wondering if that's a bit weird...

Re: undefined

#15

Post by beeflet »

davidw wrote: post #8

The current iteration of Silicon Valley is just sad to see. I remember the sort of techno-libertarianism from the 90ies, and... while I didn't always agree, it seemed at least kind of idealistic. Also unrealistic, but it didn't seem to come from a place of cruelty or a thirst for power. Quite the contrary, they didn't seem very good at getting the government on their side back then. Now they have money and power and…

[flagged]

Re: undefined

#16

Post by bad_haircut72 »

lacker wrote: post #6

Personally, I'm not religious. But 20% of Americans believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. Is it really so crazy for one venture capitalist to believe that the Antichrist is real? Part of the freedom of religion is accepting that other Americans really do have religious beliefs that differ from your own sometimes, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you need to support the policies that he supports. But we d…

Those same religious nutjobs want to erase the identity of other equally nutty groups like trans people etc - basically everyone in America is crazy in some form or another, we should judge people not on their particular flavor of it but on how tolerant they are of the other crazies, which doesnt seem to be the case for Thiel.

Re: undefined

#17

Post by luckydonkey »

davidw wrote: post #8

The current iteration of Silicon Valley is just sad to see. I remember the sort of techno-libertarianism from the 90ies, and... while I didn't always agree, it seemed at least kind of idealistic. Also unrealistic, but it didn't seem to come from a place of cruelty or a thirst for power. Quite the contrary, they didn't seem very good at getting the government on their side back then. Now they have money and power and…

> Now they have money and power and use both in pretty obscene ways, like starving children in Africa to death by yanking the aid that was keeping them alive away.

It’s because there’s lot of corruption in places receiving aid, look it up. Fixing problems is not as simple as giving someone money, there needs to be lots of accountability, which is often missing. There are fake NGOs and non-profits which essentially treat these foreign aid monies as slush funds. It makes sense to tighten the purse strings for now while the national debt crisis is looming large. It would also be great if other high GDP nations would contribute to this kind of development.

Re: undefined

#18

Post by spankalee »

lacker wrote: post #6

Personally, I'm not religious. But 20% of Americans believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. Is it really so crazy for one venture capitalist to believe that the Antichrist is real? Part of the freedom of religion is accepting that other Americans really do have religious beliefs that differ from your own sometimes, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you need to support the policies that he supports. But we d…

> Part of the freedom of religion is accepting that other Americans really do have religious beliefs that differ from your own sometimes, and that's okay

That's incorrect. The government can't make laws respecting religion, but people can think that some beliefs are not ok, shun and mock people for believing crazy shit, and oppose their attempts to impose their nutty beliefs on others.

Re: undefined

#19

Post by egypturnash »

lacker wrote: post #6

Personally, I'm not religious. But 20% of Americans believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. Is it really so crazy for one venture capitalist to believe that the Antichrist is real? Part of the freedom of religion is accepting that other Americans really do have religious beliefs that differ from your own sometimes, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you need to support the policies that he supports. But we d…

It's kind of hilarious when he gets asked about the whole "mark of the beast" thing and the fact that his entire fortune is based on implementing massive surveillance, and has absolutely no rebuttal. A man with this much power is incapable of anticipating a simple question like that.

Re: undefined

#20

Post by noir_lord »

One day we’ll get past as a civilisation assuming rich people are smart or worth listening to solely because they are rich.

You can’t ignore the Thiel’s of the world (because they won’t let us) but you don’t have to put any credence into every utterance that falls from their mouths either.

In a different age he’d be peeing in bottles and pulling a Hughes, the ultra wealthy divorced from reality schtick isn’t even new.

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