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Written in short form and taken at face value, I can see why you may have this reaction to his writing. Read the sovereign individual, basically his thoughts in

Written in short form and taken at face value, I can see why you may have this reaction to his writing. Read the sovereign individual, basically his thoughts in long form. Thiel even writes the pre-face to the book. His main arguments are that politics divides, democracy favors the 51% at the expense of the 49%. He is for smaller government, less political divides, and the abandonment of the welfare state that creates a government dependent population with incredible waste. His ideas are not all that radical, considering debt spending by world governments is currently unsustainable. People are largely irrational & bias. The thing about morality is everyone thinks they have the answers leading the government to be this odd form of paternalism where seemingly simple statements like "No drugs" are taken to this extreme that lead to more societal harm than good.

chmsky00 5y ago
He wrote how the masses need babysitters. Even if that’s so, my problem is he thinks he should be one of the babysitters. That’s what elected officials are for. All I owe Peter Thiel is letting him live his life. If he wants to co-opt the agency of others without consent, I don’t even owe him that. Workers build the world. Thiel is not the smartest man in the world. There are engineers and scientists doing useful work while he grifts off government corruption he claims to hate. When he’s participating in the management of the real human mess that enables him, he’ll have earned his place. Right now he’s a lazy nobody who has convinced people he’s worth a number that means something special. The only number that applies to Thiel is he’s 1 of 7 billion+. Nothing more.
- GaryTang 5y ago
  Thinking people need babysitters is quite the opposite of Thiel’s position. Much of his philosophy is based on the book, “The Sovereign Individual” which advocates for limited babysitters and more empowerment of the individual via hands-off governance.
  - chmsky00 5y ago
    He should probably remove the writings online where he literally posted exactly as I claimed. It’s almost as if he’s the sort of person who will take whatever position fits his immediate need. If Thiel was a genius he’d be more than another rich businessman. I am close friends with an engineer that worked on a power transform system for the LHC. He’s a moron. Given humans had to rely on innate intuition of acceptable effort for survival early on; quantity of food, etc, before formal language, I’m leaning into the idea human language are a cognitive boondoggle forced on us by tribal warlords. Most humans have the same cognitive capability as Thiel, but none of the relative network access, or political burden. So many old ways are now seen as illegal and manipulative of people too ignorant to falsify them. Thiel is no god and political corruption is everywhere. I see no reason to believe he’s special. Print out all his dollars as official currency and they all have some words on them claiming they’re property of the US Government. Thiel’s power is reliant on big government.
    - AnimalMuppet 5y ago
      > He should probably remove the writings online where he literally posted exactly as I claimed. Citing beats merely repeating the claim.
      - chmsky00 5y ago
        Cherry picked articles aren’t going to paint a nuanced portrait. Google is right there and I suggest you do the legwork forming your own opinions. I’ve merely stated my own and take the position I’m not trying to influence you. Coming here for insight, well, you get what you pay for on free social media. I don’t do nuanced work for free.
        RustyConsul 5y ago
        > He wrote how the masses need babysitters. This article seems to indicate the opposite of 'Masses need babysitters'. Libertarian is for free-markets and free flow of ideas. Let natural forces have more of a role, than this antiquated concept of nationalism, social welfare state, paternalism, etc. Libertarian ideals & by extension Thiel want less handholding and babysitting by the government. >Right now he’s a lazy nobody who has convinced people he’s worth a number that means something special. Hardly know how you can call him lazy when he's on the board of multiple companies and is the CEO of one. I'm sure he's consistently working 70 hour weeks and his impact with paypal on the world alone has made him an impactful and important figure.

chmsky00 5y ago

He wrote how the masses need babysitters. Even if that’s so, my problem is he thinks he should be one of the babysitters. That’s what elected officials are for. All I owe Peter Thiel is letting him live his life. If he wants to co-opt the agency of others without consent, I don’t even owe him that. Workers build the world. Thiel is not the smartest man in the world. There are engineers and scientists doing useful work while he grifts off government corruption he claims to hate. When he’s participating in the management of the real human mess that enables him, he’ll have earned his place. Right now he’s a lazy nobody who has convinced people he’s worth a number that means something special. The only number that applies to Thiel is he’s 1 of 7 billion+. Nothing more.

GaryTang 5y ago
Thinking people need babysitters is quite the opposite of Thiel’s position. Much of his philosophy is based on the book, “The Sovereign Individual” which advocates for limited babysitters and more empowerment of the individual via hands-off governance.
- chmsky00 5y ago
  He should probably remove the writings online where he literally posted exactly as I claimed. It’s almost as if he’s the sort of person who will take whatever position fits his immediate need. If Thiel was a genius he’d be more than another rich businessman. I am close friends with an engineer that worked on a power transform system for the LHC. He’s a moron. Given humans had to rely on innate intuition of acceptable effort for survival early on; quantity of food, etc, before formal language, I’m leaning into the idea human language are a cognitive boondoggle forced on us by tribal warlords. Most humans have the same cognitive capability as Thiel, but none of the relative network access, or political burden. So many old ways are now seen as illegal and manipulative of people too ignorant to falsify them. Thiel is no god and political corruption is everywhere. I see no reason to believe he’s special. Print out all his dollars as official currency and they all have some words on them claiming they’re property of the US Government. Thiel’s power is reliant on big government.
  - AnimalMuppet 5y ago
    > He should probably remove the writings online where he literally posted exactly as I claimed. Citing beats merely repeating the claim.
    - chmsky00 5y ago
      Cherry picked articles aren’t going to paint a nuanced portrait. Google is right there and I suggest you do the legwork forming your own opinions. I’ve merely stated my own and take the position I’m not trying to influence you. Coming here for insight, well, you get what you pay for on free social media. I don’t do nuanced work for free.
      - RustyConsul 5y ago
        > He wrote how the masses need babysitters. This article seems to indicate the opposite of 'Masses need babysitters'. Libertarian is for free-markets and free flow of ideas. Let natural forces have more of a role, than this antiquated concept of nationalism, social welfare state, paternalism, etc. Libertarian ideals & by extension Thiel want less handholding and babysitting by the government. >Right now he’s a lazy nobody who has convinced people he’s worth a number that means something special. Hardly know how you can call him lazy when he's on the board of multiple companies and is the CEO of one. I'm sure he's consistently working 70 hour weeks and his impact with paypal on the world alone has made him an impactful and important figure.