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let's hope that Peter Thiel can use his influence to do some good and not just for himself.

jedberg 10y ago
Why would he? He's a hardcore Libertarian. His core philosophy is "do good for myself and the world will be better". The only way he'll help anyone else is if their interests happened to be aligned with his. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the guy (barring recent endorsements) but you have to understand where his philosophical basis is.
- curioussavage 10y ago
  What you are describing is not libertarianism. Sounds like you are implying he follows ayn rands philosophies. Not the same thing
  - jedberg 10y ago
    That's why I use the capital L libertarian. The Ayn Randian type.
    - jnbiche 10y ago
      Ayn Rand explicitly disavowed libertarianism, both big "L" and small "l". Her political/moral philosophy was Objectivism [0]. The primary focus of libertarianism is the promotion of individual liberty and non-aggression, leaving the individual to become as big (or small) of a philanthropist as she/he wishes, and never being viewed as a lesser libertarian because of their altruism, or lack thereof (in fact, many libertarians I know are very generous people). Objectivism, on the other hand, specifically condemns altruism and philanthropy, and deems those who engage in altruism to be "bad" people. This is consistent with how Ayn Rand lived her life. I don't know whether your phrase describing Thiel, "do good for myself and the world will be better", is accurate or not as a description of his personal philosophy (it does make some sense he would follow Rand instead of libertarian philosophy, given his recent activities both political and entreprenerial). But I am quite sure that the phrase is characteristic of Objectivism and not libertarianism (l | L). Please don't confuse Ayn Rand with libertarianism. Many libertarians despise her writings, back then as in now (and she despised libertarians/Libertarians). 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- jules 10y ago
  Is that true? In his speech the other day he was arguing for a very moderate kind of libertarianism.

Why would he? He's a hardcore Libertarian. His core philosophy is "do good for myself and the world will be better". The only way he'll help anyone else is if their interests happened to be aligned with his. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the guy (barring recent endorsements) but you have to understand where his philosophical basis is.

curioussavage 10y ago
What you are describing is not libertarianism. Sounds like you are implying he follows ayn rands philosophies. Not the same thing
- jedberg 10y ago
  That's why I use the capital L libertarian. The Ayn Randian type.
  - jnbiche 10y ago
    Ayn Rand explicitly disavowed libertarianism, both big "L" and small "l". Her political/moral philosophy was Objectivism [0]. The primary focus of libertarianism is the promotion of individual liberty and non-aggression, leaving the individual to become as big (or small) of a philanthropist as she/he wishes, and never being viewed as a lesser libertarian because of their altruism, or lack thereof (in fact, many libertarians I know are very generous people). Objectivism, on the other hand, specifically condemns altruism and philanthropy, and deems those who engage in altruism to be "bad" people. This is consistent with how Ayn Rand lived her life. I don't know whether your phrase describing Thiel, "do good for myself and the world will be better", is accurate or not as a description of his personal philosophy (it does make some sense he would follow Rand instead of libertarian philosophy, given his recent activities both political and entreprenerial). But I am quite sure that the phrase is characteristic of Objectivism and not libertarianism (l | L). Please don't confuse Ayn Rand with libertarianism. Many libertarians despise her writings, back then as in now (and she despised libertarians/Libertarians). 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
jules 10y ago
Is that true? In his speech the other day he was arguing for a very moderate kind of libertarianism.