Claims to be a libertarian yet is heavily involved in the federal government and creating a database of all your personal info - isn’t that the exact opposite of a libertarian?
Such a good point. And not only involved in government but collecting HUGE amounts of money from our taxes. Talk about "handouts" 🙄 If you're curious, read The Technological Republic, written by his Palantir co-founder, about the public-private partnership they believe is necessary to save humanity from itself. Not libertarian at all. His "libertarian" claims are so he can create a land where he and his "chosen few" control the rest of us "for our own good". It's wild. I'm probably preaching to the choir. 💛
I've found this to be absolutely true, as well. The libertarians I've personally known (and I lived in an entire neighborhood of them once) were the biggest hypocrites I've ever seen. They also support Trump. Which is... absolutely no surprise at all given their personal behavior.
Oh my gosh! This! I happened to live in this (what used to be) remote area, where everyone moved to try to live out their libertarian dreams. It was AWFUL. Over two decades, they have still not been able to come together to build a road that works. They are spoiled children who want everyone else to give them everything they want and need, while making sure they don't have to help anyone under any circumstance (not libertarian specific, actually). The road only exists at all because one or two families end up contributing most of the money and maintenance on their own. And then the guns.... oh my lord the guns.
Ever since I moved there, I've been saying that I wish every single one of these people were required to live in the place they always claimed they wanted, with zero government support, like the one you posted. See how it really goes, because what is described in that link is how it really goes. Just like all of the citizens of red states are going to realize very soon how much they depended on all of the "hand outs" they claim to hate.
Governments exist for a reason. And it's our job to work hard to make sure it functions well and ethically, but anyone who thinks things are great without.... good lord.
Thank you, Sharon, for this information. It is high time we learn about those who have been behind the scenes working to destroy democracy. I wish more people were interested and engaged.
This article highlights why unchecked money in politics means the billionaires are now “we the people” who are deciding our futures. 😫 If only we could reverse Citizens United…
So Thiel believes democracy became untenable when *checks notes* women got the right to vote and the government stepped in to keep people from starving to death during the Great Depression.
Fun fact- during his recent NYT interview, Thiel indicated he’s unsure if the human race should continue to exist.
A proud gay misogynist? I feel like this doesn’t even make sense.
Additionally, if you are a nerd and know the premise of LOTR, the one who controls the ring, controls them all, which is why it is so sought after, feels extra scary with his background and penchant to mimic middle earth in his business.
The irony is that the overall theme of the book is anti-war and a critique of the war machine. And that power lies with the common folk who stand together to fight evil.
So interesting to be such an apparent fan, and yet also appear to identify with all the wrong characters. We need more Frodo and Sam -- (the small and the mighty) and way way less Sauron here.
Information like this scares the pants off of me. When I read articles like this, I feel like all of our anger and frustration at Trump is just a distraction from the real evil that has been happening right under our noses. Well done, Sharon. Thank you.
For real, it's why I hate the whole "Trump Derangement Syndrome" talking point. You could kick Trump out and replace him with anyone espousing this core belief system and it would continue to be a threat to humanity. (I also don't feel like Trump is even aware any of this is happening or would understand it if it was explained to him. I think he's just kind of being Weekend at Bernie's-ed at this point and rubber stamping whatever Stephen Miller hands him.)
I have to say though- Trump has some dark magic for magas that most of the oligarchs and their acolytes do not. If trump was out - I don’t think Thiel or Vance or DeSantis would have the cult following them. Trump has that super power of tapping into extreme evil loyalty.
Great point. We sometimes see people try to emulate his special flavor of evil (Mike Lee, Joni Ernst and Nancy Mace come to mind) and it doesn’t seem to land the same way. I think it’s that he says such incoherent things that people can hear whatever they want and ignore the rest. Like a Rorschach test of scapegoats and manufactured grievances 🫠
I believe you are correct about Trump's lack of awareness. If we could get access to his scholastic records I think everyone would realize he's dumb as a bag of hammers.
For people who align with Democrats on their voting patterns, there hasn't been much hope lately. But I have some good news. The MAGA movement can only survive on its vulnerable coalitions, and there are some big fractures emerging. Peter Thiel/Larry Ellison/Elon Musk and Trump's connections to tech/AI/surveillance is one of the biggest vulnerabilities in this moment. The other vulnerability is interventionist foreign policy. So if you've found yourself frustrated with conversations with MAGA folks, understanding which flavor of MAGA they are can help inform which topics you want to focus on.
I don't recommend spending too much time listening to right wing influencers (both for your mental health and for not damaging your personal data to the point you'll start getting advertisements for scammy supplements), but understanding the opposing perspective is always a good thing. I've found it not only helps me have better conversations, but it also has decreased my stress, ironically. A world in which nothing makes any sense is inherently stressful. But if you start understanding the logic of MAGA, there are actual principles that individuals believe in (as bonkers as some of those principles are). And so even though it sounds insane when the coalition comes together to say "the government should have a database of all citizens to track their every move but don't trust the government with recommending a vaccine" or "no new wars but let's preemptively strike a country on the other side of the world under false pretenses" -- but at least you'll be able to comprehend that these are the opposed opinions of very, very different people who arrived at the same conclusion on election day.
I recently listened to a Candace Owens episode on YouTube and it was all a "deep dive" into JD Vance's connections to Peter Thiel and how some of these influencers are actually taking sides on a Trump vs Vance debate, convinced that Vance was planted by Thiel so that Trump could be removed and a more tech-friendly (and loyal to Thiel) president would be installed. Wild. Pop the popcorn.
So if you get the sense that your MAGA uncle doesn't trust the government with any power whatsoever, bring up Palantir! And you probably won't even need to lead him on a rant. Just ask him open-ended questions, and let him convince himself that their support for Trump is a mistake. They might also be on your side on the "let's get rid of Citizens United" cause after all of these elections the tech bros are purchasing. Or if they are a huge Musk fan, bring up the "Big Beautiful Bill" aka "Disgusting Ambomination Bill" of the "Porky Pig Party" (Musk's words).
It's a shame that with all of these great works of science fiction and fantasy literature we're still walking right into the situations they warned us about even before these technologies could have been imagined. It's time to get over our manufactured cultural divisions and unite the people against the real enemies of democracy. We don't have to keep voting for this, it's just a matter of educating others. Or, perhaps more effectively: it's a matter of nudging them in the right direction to educate themselves.
Great analysis. I’d add that the power of the media cannot be overstated. Rupert Murdoch is responsible for the dissemination of talking points to prop up the MAGA agenda. The far right media machine convinced the working class that their troubles were caused by DEI and immigration. Trump was an outsider who could fix it all. When will they learn he is just a useful idiot?
I don’t blame ya! Honestly, I took a week off recently. I noticed I was starting to wonder/obsess over whether the little notifications on my browser tab were going to be agreement or disagreement, which was fine at first, but then it started feeling like dread. After a few instances of personal attacks it’s impossible not have it feel bad. So I took a break, closed the tab, and the world continued spinning.
That lasted until the dread of this bill moving forward outweighed the dread of those conversations. So I am back at it, for the time being, ready to take a break as soon as my mental health math changes. I don’t blame anyone else for having different mental health math though… I am in a situation where I can afford to put myself out there. I am very much aware that it’s a privilege.
It's good that you're taking care of yourself. The viciousness is hard to take. It's so much worse than it used to be. I used to have so many good faith arguments. Even when they started off heated, they'd end up in a mutually respectful place. But it doesn't happen anymore.
And if you are privileged, then I am grateful you're using it well.
I try to have a positive outlook & I know the power is in the people, but I cannot help but get more and more afraid of some of these people and their lust for power.
Maybe I’m being naive, but my takeaway from this article is not a sense of fear but of urgency. Peter Thiel believes in an extremely unpopular, borderline crazy ideology. If people understood that JD Vance is pushing his agenda, I feel confident JD Vance would never have been elected to anything. We have to figure out ways to help the populace to become better informed.
Agreed! I have been way more concerned about JDV than Trump. Trump is a rich playboy who likes control and feeling like a dictator. He also clearly doesn’t understand simple things like tariffs and how they work.
JDV is a bigger threat. He seems to really hate women who are intelligent and powerful in any way. He seems to support us being the little ladies at home, barefoot and pregnant where we are distracted by couponing and babies while men run the world. I am more concerned about him in the Oval Office than Trump.
It’s like watching an updated (with current technology) Handmaid’s Tale starting to unfold.
Just to confirm- we are covertly being governed by a bunch of Tech Bros who believe in the necessary destruction of democracy/humanity/mankind yet themselves build prepper bunkers in Hawaii to survive their own created annihilation. Thanks Citizens United!
Well I’m off to tend to my garden - it’s tomato season you know.
He's also particularly hostile towards women. He's written that he believes liberalism is the demise of democracy, and that this rise came about when women earned the right to vote because women tend to be more liberal.
He funds a magazine called Evie that covertly encourages women to give up their agency to their husbands and focus on raising children at the expense of independence. I wrote more about that in the article I shared above.
His intentions overlap a lot with Christian nationalists and project 2025, making his power even more dangerous. And making JD Vance the perfect Trojan horse to enact the agendas of both Thiel and Project 2025 from inside the White House.
This is the first I’ve heard of this magazine. But now I understand what’s behind the trend of some families discouraging daughters from going to college.
Jen, thank you for pointing this out. One of his good buddies and chief legal counsel at the start of PayPal is Rod Martin, who was a Christian Reconstrtionist/theonomist, close to RJ Rushdoony. Martin was also on the executive board of the SBC, defending the sexual abusers in their midst, including Paul Pressler. He is now associated with some of Doug Wilson’s projects. He has an endorsement from Thiel on his website. Strange bedfellows.
I think it’s worth noting, as Sharon mentioned, that Thiel’s insistence on naming his companies after Lord of the Rings themes gives us a lot of insight into what his intentions are with those companies, but also shows a real lack of depth in understanding, if you ask me. Mithril is the most valuable and rarest material in Middle Earth (so of course, name your VC firm after it!) but importantly, it is rare because the unrestrained greed that lead to its over mining and scarcity directly caused the destruction of an entire kingdom (Moria) and its people (the Dwarves). Likewise, the Palantiri were explicitly shown to have the power to see far away, hidden things, and to allow their user to mold reality, as Sharon noted. But their misuse directly resulted in the downfall and destruction of the characters in the book that used them with evil intent. Not only that, but the entire LOTR trilogy’s subtext about the dangers of unrestrained technology, especially in warfare, was directly inspired by Tolkien’s experience as a soldier in World War I, where technologies like chemical warfare and automatic weapons were causing destruction on a scale that had never been witnessed in human history. So…I think maybe Thiel and people like him are extremely convinced of their own intellectual prowess, but like many other people with other texts, they are either willfully misinterpreting it, or they just don’t understand it. And that glaring flaw is strangely comforting.
So here’s the very, very, very good news floating in a sea of sh**. If the BBB passes, the economic pain that we need to get rid of this sorry-ass bunch of MAGA dudes will come fast and hard and in brutal enough form that we’re all going to feel it. But there will be no escaping the fact that it will be Trumps economy. He will own it. Red states will suffer disproportionately. And I hope the thru line from MAGA to suffering is so clean and so clear that come 2026 enough swing voters will say never again. No more MAGA. I see no other way out then through wide spread suffering while the top 1% golfs, buys more fake tits and tans, and has more weddings in Venice. But I’d like to believe if and when we get to the other side we will never take this precious democracy for granted again. And that means the Dems need to clean it up on their side too. They are part of the reason that we’re all stuck in this crazy cult. I hope 2026 is the great re-birthing of a new and better America.
I think the good news is that databases grow old fast. They need update feeds. 2026 is a must win for the Dems and they may be able to claw back some of the data and/or stop the feed. It would also be nice to see a few people thrown in jail or deported (look at all the naturalized citizens being hunted down now for “crimes”. Thiel is one giant crime in the making). But Dems need to play fast and loose this next time. They need to take some big risks to undo some of the damage. The will of the people needs to be wide and big and loud if Dems stand a chance. And this is why the pain has to be deep and broad. If we’re all just this side of comfortable, we won’t get ugly enough. We also need to expand who Dems appeal to. But if Dems win back nothing in 2026? I may be packing my go bag. As for election integrity? One would hope the Dems have a group looking at this. Screw “bipartisanship.” They need to hunt down what impact the tech oligarchs have had since 2024 on election integrity and let the world know. Now let’s take a guess - are they doing this? No. Many of them are just learning how to use social media 😂. But every swing state governor and AG should be looking at this closely now.
The problem with that is most of this is going to be in effect in 2027 (I believe? Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong).
So if we turn the midterms, which I think we will even without this atrocious bill, it will be blamed on Dems, of course. I mean, what is in the bill is ALREADY being blamed on Biden. Seriously. It is Biden's fault for any negative thing a MAGA doesn't like in TRUMP's bill being handled by the REPUBLICANS.
I swear. I don't know how to wrap my brain around any of it.
Very much this. The worst stuff in the Bill will not go into effect until after Trump's term. The timeline is being intentionally manipulated so that the most painful stuff will not have as direct a throughline from MAGA to people's pockets.
Exactly. Trump's entire term is nothing but a land grab, government looting job for the billionaires. They slashed the money to take for themselves, and then the NEXT admin will get all of the blame. Classic. Unsurprising.
MAGA and maybe even other Republicans will absolutely fall for it. They've already COMPLETELY forgotten that Trump was President during the first almost year of Covid. They blame Covid and everything that happened that year on Biden. They also conveniently forget that it was a GLOBAL pandemic that the entire world was struggling to figure out. No memory is very convenient for nonsensical self-serving world views.
I hate it, but agree with you. The only way to get rid of it is to really “feel it”. We have to feel the pain of decisions made. We have to feel this like we felt 9/11, the Great Recession, the pandemic. There are those demanding impeachment and it’s too early (aside from not enough votes). If we don’t feel the pain from this, we will never be able to squash authoritarianism/fascism. That’s the truth. No one likes pain, but I would rather have Americans know what this is so that we know what it is in the future. Let’s GO! Keep your efforts and your eye on 2026.
The tech billionaire "Dark Enlightenment" movement is so unhinged it makes anyone who talks about it sound like a conspiracy theorist. And yet they talk about it all in the open, which I think in some weird twisted way creates even more plausible deniability for them -- "If it was so bad, why would they admit to it?" etc. (Note that this administration also plays this game: they openly declare they're going to do illegal and unconstitutional things and then they do them.)
Billionaires are all building bunkers/compounds for themselves because they expect the planet to become uninhabitable due to climate change in the near future, or they are anticipating incredible violent global unrest (due largely in part to the political and social climate THEY are ushering in). They are planning on enslaving the rest of us and using things like shock collars to keep their "help" in line. It sounds SO, SO BANANAS, I know. But they literally write books about this and our lovely Vice President writes glowing endorsements of it. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
The good news in my mind, is these people seriously seriously underestimate humanity and once again, how much we love and care about each other. These guys are still human but they definitely don't consider themselves to be, and they have little to no understanding of how kindness/empathy/humanity aren't just being doormats, it's what ensures our long term survival! We take care of each other and we care about community and safety and dignity, even of people much different from ourselves.
This is what gets me -- these people are NOT actually that smart. Anyone with an engineering background can tell you Elon has no idea what he's talking about half the time, he just role-plays as an intellectual by tweeting, "Interesting" and "Looking into this" with zero follow-up or substance. (To be clear, I don't think I'm that smart either but at least I know I'm a doofus.)
They've managed to convince a lot of us that they got to where they are by being supernaturally intelligent, but in reality they are supernaturally devoid of integrity, morals, and humanity. They see humans who don't make as much money as they do as biofuel.
Thank you. This. I am lucky enough to know enough genuinely smart and educated people to know better (fellow doofus here!). There are 10 people in my everyday life I'd trust with my vehicle before I'd let Musk anywhere near it. Let's just not let him anywhere near anything, shall we? And anyone who believed in Theranos... I have no words.
I find my own lack of intellect incredibly comforting at times 🤣 I love learning, I love being curious, and the more you realize how little we know as humans, the more awe inspiring and wondrous I think existence is. I feel very sad for people who fear the discovery that a sincerely held belief may be wrong - just a very lonely and self defeating way to go through life. Though I guess I can’t be too sad if they make more money in a day of compounding interest than I’ll make in my entire life.
Frustrating and comforting. Like you said, it's comforting to know I don't know everything. I like that I feel no obligation to "be part of a team" at any cost. I grew up in quite a diverse family and we have always been evolving, so that probably helped. Luckily, nobody in my close family is MAGA, so we've never have to deal with that massive divide.
That said, I'm frustrated that my love of learning doesn't reap rewards. I forget easily, understand slowly, and just never get to the deeper understanding others do. I do my best, but it makes me sad.
I also won't feel bad for the rich ones. I'm not concerned for them these days in any capacity!
Thank you. We have to remember Theil is playing the long game. He’s been thinking about this since the late 90s, he started supporting Trump 10 years ago, he placed JD Vance in Ohio that paved the path for VP. He is a Zealot. If we want to stop him, it goes beyond Dem/Rep. it’s making our systems safer. Work locally to have open primaries, rank choice voting, make gerrymandering illegal, and overturn Citizens United.
‘Since then, “the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ into an oxymoron.”’ I’m sorry what?! 🤬
Ross Douthat of the NYT just did an interview with Thiel, which I found disturbing and insightful. His views on the AntiChrist (a globally controlled authoritarian state--OR Greta Thurnberg) paint a picture that the road to salvation is one where unencumbered, unregulated tech progress creates it. Never mind that the tools he is building potentially put HIM in the position of being the AntiChrist!
Claims to be a libertarian yet is heavily involved in the federal government and creating a database of all your personal info - isn’t that the exact opposite of a libertarian?
Such a good point. And not only involved in government but collecting HUGE amounts of money from our taxes. Talk about "handouts" 🙄 If you're curious, read The Technological Republic, written by his Palantir co-founder, about the public-private partnership they believe is necessary to save humanity from itself. Not libertarian at all. His "libertarian" claims are so he can create a land where he and his "chosen few" control the rest of us "for our own good". It's wild. I'm probably preaching to the choir. 💛
The key to libertarians is they all claim to hate a system they take full advantage of.
I've found this to be absolutely true, as well. The libertarians I've personally known (and I lived in an entire neighborhood of them once) were the biggest hypocrites I've ever seen. They also support Trump. Which is... absolutely no surprise at all given their personal behavior.
And when some Libertarians actually lived out their true ideals...it did not go well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafton,_New_Hampshire#Free_Town_Project
Oh my gosh! This! I happened to live in this (what used to be) remote area, where everyone moved to try to live out their libertarian dreams. It was AWFUL. Over two decades, they have still not been able to come together to build a road that works. They are spoiled children who want everyone else to give them everything they want and need, while making sure they don't have to help anyone under any circumstance (not libertarian specific, actually). The road only exists at all because one or two families end up contributing most of the money and maintenance on their own. And then the guns.... oh my lord the guns.
Ever since I moved there, I've been saying that I wish every single one of these people were required to live in the place they always claimed they wanted, with zero government support, like the one you posted. See how it really goes, because what is described in that link is how it really goes. Just like all of the citizens of red states are going to realize very soon how much they depended on all of the "hand outs" they claim to hate.
Governments exist for a reason. And it's our job to work hard to make sure it functions well and ethically, but anyone who thinks things are great without.... good lord.
Thank you, Sharon, for this information. It is high time we learn about those who have been behind the scenes working to destroy democracy. I wish more people were interested and engaged.
This article highlights why unchecked money in politics means the billionaires are now “we the people” who are deciding our futures. 😫 If only we could reverse Citizens United…
And there’s another case coming before the Supreme Court to reduce constraints on large donations even further.
So Thiel believes democracy became untenable when *checks notes* women got the right to vote and the government stepped in to keep people from starving to death during the Great Depression.
Fun fact- during his recent NYT interview, Thiel indicated he’s unsure if the human race should continue to exist.
Yes, and also Greta Thunberg is the antichrist. He said that unironically.
A proud gay misogynist? I feel like this doesn’t even make sense.
Additionally, if you are a nerd and know the premise of LOTR, the one who controls the ring, controls them all, which is why it is so sought after, feels extra scary with his background and penchant to mimic middle earth in his business.
The irony is that the overall theme of the book is anti-war and a critique of the war machine. And that power lies with the common folk who stand together to fight evil.
Yes!! I doubt Tolkien would have any respect for this guy.
So interesting to be such an apparent fan, and yet also appear to identify with all the wrong characters. We need more Frodo and Sam -- (the small and the mighty) and way way less Sauron here.
J.R.R. Tolkien is rolling in his grave at the misuse of his works.
Soooo many gay misogynists. So many.
This. Gay white men especially, it’s a real problem.
Information like this scares the pants off of me. When I read articles like this, I feel like all of our anger and frustration at Trump is just a distraction from the real evil that has been happening right under our noses. Well done, Sharon. Thank you.
For real, it's why I hate the whole "Trump Derangement Syndrome" talking point. You could kick Trump out and replace him with anyone espousing this core belief system and it would continue to be a threat to humanity. (I also don't feel like Trump is even aware any of this is happening or would understand it if it was explained to him. I think he's just kind of being Weekend at Bernie's-ed at this point and rubber stamping whatever Stephen Miller hands him.)
I have to say though- Trump has some dark magic for magas that most of the oligarchs and their acolytes do not. If trump was out - I don’t think Thiel or Vance or DeSantis would have the cult following them. Trump has that super power of tapping into extreme evil loyalty.
Great point. We sometimes see people try to emulate his special flavor of evil (Mike Lee, Joni Ernst and Nancy Mace come to mind) and it doesn’t seem to land the same way. I think it’s that he says such incoherent things that people can hear whatever they want and ignore the rest. Like a Rorschach test of scapegoats and manufactured grievances 🫠
Oh wow. I've never heard it put that way before, but I can absolutely see this.
I believe you are correct about Trump's lack of awareness. If we could get access to his scholastic records I think everyone would realize he's dumb as a bag of hammers.
I completely agree. Everyone just derides nonsense Truth Social posts while the real power grabs are hidden beneath the noise.
Your feelings are completely valid imho.
For people who align with Democrats on their voting patterns, there hasn't been much hope lately. But I have some good news. The MAGA movement can only survive on its vulnerable coalitions, and there are some big fractures emerging. Peter Thiel/Larry Ellison/Elon Musk and Trump's connections to tech/AI/surveillance is one of the biggest vulnerabilities in this moment. The other vulnerability is interventionist foreign policy. So if you've found yourself frustrated with conversations with MAGA folks, understanding which flavor of MAGA they are can help inform which topics you want to focus on.
I don't recommend spending too much time listening to right wing influencers (both for your mental health and for not damaging your personal data to the point you'll start getting advertisements for scammy supplements), but understanding the opposing perspective is always a good thing. I've found it not only helps me have better conversations, but it also has decreased my stress, ironically. A world in which nothing makes any sense is inherently stressful. But if you start understanding the logic of MAGA, there are actual principles that individuals believe in (as bonkers as some of those principles are). And so even though it sounds insane when the coalition comes together to say "the government should have a database of all citizens to track their every move but don't trust the government with recommending a vaccine" or "no new wars but let's preemptively strike a country on the other side of the world under false pretenses" -- but at least you'll be able to comprehend that these are the opposed opinions of very, very different people who arrived at the same conclusion on election day.
I recently listened to a Candace Owens episode on YouTube and it was all a "deep dive" into JD Vance's connections to Peter Thiel and how some of these influencers are actually taking sides on a Trump vs Vance debate, convinced that Vance was planted by Thiel so that Trump could be removed and a more tech-friendly (and loyal to Thiel) president would be installed. Wild. Pop the popcorn.
So if you get the sense that your MAGA uncle doesn't trust the government with any power whatsoever, bring up Palantir! And you probably won't even need to lead him on a rant. Just ask him open-ended questions, and let him convince himself that their support for Trump is a mistake. They might also be on your side on the "let's get rid of Citizens United" cause after all of these elections the tech bros are purchasing. Or if they are a huge Musk fan, bring up the "Big Beautiful Bill" aka "Disgusting Ambomination Bill" of the "Porky Pig Party" (Musk's words).
It's a shame that with all of these great works of science fiction and fantasy literature we're still walking right into the situations they warned us about even before these technologies could have been imagined. It's time to get over our manufactured cultural divisions and unite the people against the real enemies of democracy. We don't have to keep voting for this, it's just a matter of educating others. Or, perhaps more effectively: it's a matter of nudging them in the right direction to educate themselves.
Great analysis. I’d add that the power of the media cannot be overstated. Rupert Murdoch is responsible for the dissemination of talking points to prop up the MAGA agenda. The far right media machine convinced the working class that their troubles were caused by DEI and immigration. Trump was an outsider who could fix it all. When will they learn he is just a useful idiot?
Wonderful and thorough as usual. Thank you. I love your brain.
Are you having regular MAGA discussions lately? I don't have the fire or fight in me.
I don’t blame ya! Honestly, I took a week off recently. I noticed I was starting to wonder/obsess over whether the little notifications on my browser tab were going to be agreement or disagreement, which was fine at first, but then it started feeling like dread. After a few instances of personal attacks it’s impossible not have it feel bad. So I took a break, closed the tab, and the world continued spinning.
That lasted until the dread of this bill moving forward outweighed the dread of those conversations. So I am back at it, for the time being, ready to take a break as soon as my mental health math changes. I don’t blame anyone else for having different mental health math though… I am in a situation where I can afford to put myself out there. I am very much aware that it’s a privilege.
It's good that you're taking care of yourself. The viciousness is hard to take. It's so much worse than it used to be. I used to have so many good faith arguments. Even when they started off heated, they'd end up in a mutually respectful place. But it doesn't happen anymore.
And if you are privileged, then I am grateful you're using it well.
I try to have a positive outlook & I know the power is in the people, but I cannot help but get more and more afraid of some of these people and their lust for power.
Maybe I’m being naive, but my takeaway from this article is not a sense of fear but of urgency. Peter Thiel believes in an extremely unpopular, borderline crazy ideology. If people understood that JD Vance is pushing his agenda, I feel confident JD Vance would never have been elected to anything. We have to figure out ways to help the populace to become better informed.
Agreed! I have been way more concerned about JDV than Trump. Trump is a rich playboy who likes control and feeling like a dictator. He also clearly doesn’t understand simple things like tariffs and how they work.
JDV is a bigger threat. He seems to really hate women who are intelligent and powerful in any way. He seems to support us being the little ladies at home, barefoot and pregnant where we are distracted by couponing and babies while men run the world. I am more concerned about him in the Oval Office than Trump.
It’s like watching an updated (with current technology) Handmaid’s Tale starting to unfold.
Cool, cool, cool.
Just to confirm- we are covertly being governed by a bunch of Tech Bros who believe in the necessary destruction of democracy/humanity/mankind yet themselves build prepper bunkers in Hawaii to survive their own created annihilation. Thanks Citizens United!
Well I’m off to tend to my garden - it’s tomato season you know.
I just wrote something similar including references to his writing. But there are a whole crew of his powerful, ultrarich friends who are working with him too. https://open.substack.com/pub/jenpanaro/p/these-billionaires-want-to-destroy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=lf8zm
He's also particularly hostile towards women. He's written that he believes liberalism is the demise of democracy, and that this rise came about when women earned the right to vote because women tend to be more liberal.
He funds a magazine called Evie that covertly encourages women to give up their agency to their husbands and focus on raising children at the expense of independence. I wrote more about that in the article I shared above.
His intentions overlap a lot with Christian nationalists and project 2025, making his power even more dangerous. And making JD Vance the perfect Trojan horse to enact the agendas of both Thiel and Project 2025 from inside the White House.
This is the first I’ve heard of this magazine. But now I understand what’s behind the trend of some families discouraging daughters from going to college.
Jen, thank you for pointing this out. One of his good buddies and chief legal counsel at the start of PayPal is Rod Martin, who was a Christian Reconstrtionist/theonomist, close to RJ Rushdoony. Martin was also on the executive board of the SBC, defending the sexual abusers in their midst, including Paul Pressler. He is now associated with some of Doug Wilson’s projects. He has an endorsement from Thiel on his website. Strange bedfellows.
That magazine seems so weird to me!
Sarah Petersen also did a great overview of Evie last November: https://sarapetersen.substack.com/p/the-alt-right-ladies-magazine-that
I think it’s worth noting, as Sharon mentioned, that Thiel’s insistence on naming his companies after Lord of the Rings themes gives us a lot of insight into what his intentions are with those companies, but also shows a real lack of depth in understanding, if you ask me. Mithril is the most valuable and rarest material in Middle Earth (so of course, name your VC firm after it!) but importantly, it is rare because the unrestrained greed that lead to its over mining and scarcity directly caused the destruction of an entire kingdom (Moria) and its people (the Dwarves). Likewise, the Palantiri were explicitly shown to have the power to see far away, hidden things, and to allow their user to mold reality, as Sharon noted. But their misuse directly resulted in the downfall and destruction of the characters in the book that used them with evil intent. Not only that, but the entire LOTR trilogy’s subtext about the dangers of unrestrained technology, especially in warfare, was directly inspired by Tolkien’s experience as a soldier in World War I, where technologies like chemical warfare and automatic weapons were causing destruction on a scale that had never been witnessed in human history. So…I think maybe Thiel and people like him are extremely convinced of their own intellectual prowess, but like many other people with other texts, they are either willfully misinterpreting it, or they just don’t understand it. And that glaring flaw is strangely comforting.
Their hubris will ultimately be their downfall, god willing.
Always hoping.
Shaping a text to justify one's own greed, hatred and self-righteousness?
I've never heard of such a thing!!!
I know, so weird!!
👏👏👏👏
So here’s the very, very, very good news floating in a sea of sh**. If the BBB passes, the economic pain that we need to get rid of this sorry-ass bunch of MAGA dudes will come fast and hard and in brutal enough form that we’re all going to feel it. But there will be no escaping the fact that it will be Trumps economy. He will own it. Red states will suffer disproportionately. And I hope the thru line from MAGA to suffering is so clean and so clear that come 2026 enough swing voters will say never again. No more MAGA. I see no other way out then through wide spread suffering while the top 1% golfs, buys more fake tits and tans, and has more weddings in Venice. But I’d like to believe if and when we get to the other side we will never take this precious democracy for granted again. And that means the Dems need to clean it up on their side too. They are part of the reason that we’re all stuck in this crazy cult. I hope 2026 is the great re-birthing of a new and better America.
I guess the next question is, how do we have free and fair elections with this technology running the country?
I think the good news is that databases grow old fast. They need update feeds. 2026 is a must win for the Dems and they may be able to claw back some of the data and/or stop the feed. It would also be nice to see a few people thrown in jail or deported (look at all the naturalized citizens being hunted down now for “crimes”. Thiel is one giant crime in the making). But Dems need to play fast and loose this next time. They need to take some big risks to undo some of the damage. The will of the people needs to be wide and big and loud if Dems stand a chance. And this is why the pain has to be deep and broad. If we’re all just this side of comfortable, we won’t get ugly enough. We also need to expand who Dems appeal to. But if Dems win back nothing in 2026? I may be packing my go bag. As for election integrity? One would hope the Dems have a group looking at this. Screw “bipartisanship.” They need to hunt down what impact the tech oligarchs have had since 2024 on election integrity and let the world know. Now let’s take a guess - are they doing this? No. Many of them are just learning how to use social media 😂. But every swing state governor and AG should be looking at this closely now.
The problem with that is most of this is going to be in effect in 2027 (I believe? Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong).
So if we turn the midterms, which I think we will even without this atrocious bill, it will be blamed on Dems, of course. I mean, what is in the bill is ALREADY being blamed on Biden. Seriously. It is Biden's fault for any negative thing a MAGA doesn't like in TRUMP's bill being handled by the REPUBLICANS.
I swear. I don't know how to wrap my brain around any of it.
Very much this. The worst stuff in the Bill will not go into effect until after Trump's term. The timeline is being intentionally manipulated so that the most painful stuff will not have as direct a throughline from MAGA to people's pockets.
Exactly. Trump's entire term is nothing but a land grab, government looting job for the billionaires. They slashed the money to take for themselves, and then the NEXT admin will get all of the blame. Classic. Unsurprising.
MAGA and maybe even other Republicans will absolutely fall for it. They've already COMPLETELY forgotten that Trump was President during the first almost year of Covid. They blame Covid and everything that happened that year on Biden. They also conveniently forget that it was a GLOBAL pandemic that the entire world was struggling to figure out. No memory is very convenient for nonsensical self-serving world views.
I hate it, but agree with you. The only way to get rid of it is to really “feel it”. We have to feel the pain of decisions made. We have to feel this like we felt 9/11, the Great Recession, the pandemic. There are those demanding impeachment and it’s too early (aside from not enough votes). If we don’t feel the pain from this, we will never be able to squash authoritarianism/fascism. That’s the truth. No one likes pain, but I would rather have Americans know what this is so that we know what it is in the future. Let’s GO! Keep your efforts and your eye on 2026.
Do the next needed thing!!!
The tech billionaire "Dark Enlightenment" movement is so unhinged it makes anyone who talks about it sound like a conspiracy theorist. And yet they talk about it all in the open, which I think in some weird twisted way creates even more plausible deniability for them -- "If it was so bad, why would they admit to it?" etc. (Note that this administration also plays this game: they openly declare they're going to do illegal and unconstitutional things and then they do them.)
Billionaires are all building bunkers/compounds for themselves because they expect the planet to become uninhabitable due to climate change in the near future, or they are anticipating incredible violent global unrest (due largely in part to the political and social climate THEY are ushering in). They are planning on enslaving the rest of us and using things like shock collars to keep their "help" in line. It sounds SO, SO BANANAS, I know. But they literally write books about this and our lovely Vice President writes glowing endorsements of it. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
The good news in my mind, is these people seriously seriously underestimate humanity and once again, how much we love and care about each other. These guys are still human but they definitely don't consider themselves to be, and they have little to no understanding of how kindness/empathy/humanity aren't just being doormats, it's what ensures our long term survival! We take care of each other and we care about community and safety and dignity, even of people much different from ourselves.
This is the hope I'm clinging to, as well. Beautifully said.
Wasn’t he also an early investor in Theranos? So he’s not infallible. He is, however, terrifying.
This is what gets me -- these people are NOT actually that smart. Anyone with an engineering background can tell you Elon has no idea what he's talking about half the time, he just role-plays as an intellectual by tweeting, "Interesting" and "Looking into this" with zero follow-up or substance. (To be clear, I don't think I'm that smart either but at least I know I'm a doofus.)
They've managed to convince a lot of us that they got to where they are by being supernaturally intelligent, but in reality they are supernaturally devoid of integrity, morals, and humanity. They see humans who don't make as much money as they do as biofuel.
Thank you. This. I am lucky enough to know enough genuinely smart and educated people to know better (fellow doofus here!). There are 10 people in my everyday life I'd trust with my vehicle before I'd let Musk anywhere near it. Let's just not let him anywhere near anything, shall we? And anyone who believed in Theranos... I have no words.
I find my own lack of intellect incredibly comforting at times 🤣 I love learning, I love being curious, and the more you realize how little we know as humans, the more awe inspiring and wondrous I think existence is. I feel very sad for people who fear the discovery that a sincerely held belief may be wrong - just a very lonely and self defeating way to go through life. Though I guess I can’t be too sad if they make more money in a day of compounding interest than I’ll make in my entire life.
Frustrating and comforting. Like you said, it's comforting to know I don't know everything. I like that I feel no obligation to "be part of a team" at any cost. I grew up in quite a diverse family and we have always been evolving, so that probably helped. Luckily, nobody in my close family is MAGA, so we've never have to deal with that massive divide.
That said, I'm frustrated that my love of learning doesn't reap rewards. I forget easily, understand slowly, and just never get to the deeper understanding others do. I do my best, but it makes me sad.
I also won't feel bad for the rich ones. I'm not concerned for them these days in any capacity!
Incredibly terrifying.
Thank you. We have to remember Theil is playing the long game. He’s been thinking about this since the late 90s, he started supporting Trump 10 years ago, he placed JD Vance in Ohio that paved the path for VP. He is a Zealot. If we want to stop him, it goes beyond Dem/Rep. it’s making our systems safer. Work locally to have open primaries, rank choice voting, make gerrymandering illegal, and overturn Citizens United.
‘Since then, “the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ into an oxymoron.”’ I’m sorry what?! 🤬
One thing I know about conservatives - if there's a Lord of The Rings reference, they instantly turn off critical thinking and follow blindly.
Ross Douthat of the NYT just did an interview with Thiel, which I found disturbing and insightful. His views on the AntiChrist (a globally controlled authoritarian state--OR Greta Thurnberg) paint a picture that the road to salvation is one where unencumbered, unregulated tech progress creates it. Never mind that the tools he is building potentially put HIM in the position of being the AntiChrist!