Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy • Hacker News Board

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#51

Post by shadowtree » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

js8 wrote: post #21

fidotron wrote: post #8

> This justifies the most extreme violence against his opponents while protecting his own views from contestation. Thiel’s world is a battlefield of moral absolutes rather than a terrain of political complexity where different interests and values are contested and negotiated. The irony of this being on a site called jacobin is palpable.

I downvoted you. It's well-known that The Jacobin is named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Jacobins .

Which in turn were named after the original Jacobins.

...and man, did Haiti turn out to be a perfect example of Third-Worldism. Ethnocide, ecological disaster, full on regression into a post-civilizational nightmare.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#52

Post by yoyohello13 » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

I would have never believed it 10 years ago. I actually think there is a high probability the world will be ended, not by war or natural disaster, but by an honest to god trillionaire super villain.

The ultra wealthy are an actual existential threat to humanity. No one can be trusted with that much money and power.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#53

Post by numbers_guy » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

poszlem wrote: post #14

danudey wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice "both sides" argument, very subtle.

It’s intentionally blunt. That’s exactly the issue right now: fascists and communists are going at each other and tearing apart what remains of our liberal world.

> and communists

Communists left the chat in 1989, grandpa. There are multiple factions competing for power but communists aren't really in the ring right now. It's mostly different flavours of establishment factions and alt-right factions.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#54

Post by browningstreet » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

shevy-java wrote: post #41

His ramblings aren't that relevant. The problem is that the money is used to get influence; we could see this with Musk too. Something has to change. The superrich act as parasites and broken all inter-generational promises. The USA really messed up here - they should have put down control systems to prevent this parasitic situation.

Your first sentence is belied by everything else you wrote.

Saying weird/extreme shit and then building a movement is a way of qualifying initiates and those willing to rally to the cause. It's part of the cult programming playbook. You build an in-crowd and you aim their energies at the out-crowd. It often leads to more unhinged positions too.. these things don't self-correct.

Thiel's a loon, Elon's a loon, Trump's a loon, Vought's a loon.

Pointed dismissiveness completely misses the point.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#55

Post by bryanlarsen » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 5:00 PM UTC

akomtu wrote: post #29

> Thiel transforms US imperial power and unrestrained technological expansion ... into the final rampart against what he imagines as a catastrophic global homogenization. Thiel warns about Antichrist, while doing the very thing that's enabling his coming. Unrestrained technological expansion is exactly what's erasing the human spirit and replacing it with a machine culture.

Supposedly Thiel's earlier writings warn about an Antichrist that sounds very similar to the Thiel and Musk of 2025. OTOH Thiel's current writing claims the antichrist is Greta Thunberg.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#56

Post by philipallstar » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 5:00 PM UTC

shevy-java wrote: post #42

jmathai wrote: post #13

Maybe slightly off topic to the article, but I don't really care what Peter Thiel has to say. I do think we need to collectively think about how to not give these people a microphone. It's one thing to have concentrated wealth. It's a very different thing to have concentrated wealth and people's attention. I think that's a much more interesting discussion :).

I agree on the first part - I could not care any less about those insane superrich. But they use their money to influence people - this part is dangerous and must be stopped.

You mostly hear about their views from contrarian articles warning of the dangers of their views.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#57

Post by epgui » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 5:00 PM UTC

throw310822 wrote: post #22

jmathai wrote: post #13

Maybe slightly off topic to the article, but I don't really care what Peter Thiel has to say. I do think we need to collectively think about how to not give these people a microphone. It's one thing to have concentrated wealth. It's a very different thing to have concentrated wealth and people's attention. I think that's a much more interesting discussion :).

This is the article's second sentence: "Thiel’s lurid, apocalyptic view of world politics may be ludicrous or even deranged, but his wealth and power mean that we can’t afford to ignore it."

Presumably the commenter read the article and is expressing his disagreement with the article’s second sentence.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#58

Post by cowpig » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 5:00 PM UTC

akomtu wrote: post #29

> Thiel transforms US imperial power and unrestrained technological expansion ... into the final rampart against what he imagines as a catastrophic global homogenization. Thiel warns about Antichrist, while doing the very thing that's enabling his coming. Unrestrained technological expansion is exactly what's erasing the human spirit and replacing it with a machine culture.

You are right.

It is a classic tactic of fascism, called [accusation in a mirror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusation_in_a_mirror)

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#59

Post by philipallstar » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #34

yannyu wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the current setup, having enough money protects you from the laws of the country and the judgment of others. Thiel is rich enough and therefore powerful enough that these culture wars will never personally affect him or anyone he cares about.

"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition...There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."

There's no point misrepresenting a political stance. Well, there is a point, but it's malicious.

Re: Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

#60

Post by nanfinitum » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

throw310822 wrote: post #22

jmathai wrote: post #13

Maybe slightly off topic to the article, but I don't really care what Peter Thiel has to say. I do think we need to collectively think about how to not give these people a microphone. It's one thing to have concentrated wealth. It's a very different thing to have concentrated wealth and people's attention. I think that's a much more interesting discussion :).

This is the article's second sentence: "Thiel’s lurid, apocalyptic view of world politics may be ludicrous or even deranged, but his wealth and power mean that we can’t afford to ignore it."

Yes we can actually.

I think it has something to do with Silicon Valley's obsession with money. To SV-people, billionaires are like gods. They are worshipped and invited to all the events worth going to (meetups, hackathons, etc.). Everyone wants to be like them.

And it seems to me to be a geographical problem too. In NYC, billionaires are like supervillains. Nobody particularly likes them (outside of select finance bros), and people openly express disdain for them and their greed.