4 ms·

Not "mainstream left"? I guess the right, what was once the far right but today is just the right is indeed not "mainstream left". Make no mistake where he stan

• systemvoltage 4y ago
  There were hundreds of doners to Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, let alone 2016 campaign. If not directly, then through other superPACS including FAANG companies [1]. https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/donald-trump/contributors?cycle=2020&id=N00023864&src=c&type=f https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/donald-tr... If your viewpoint is so myopically constrained by a single data point, I don't know what to say. I find intellectuals from all corners of political spectrum to be interesting. Usually, when people dismiss intellectuals not for their arguments, but by some ostensible thinly veiled morality or the media zeitgeist; it is already an indicator that something interesting is out there. Anyways, all I am saying is that Peter is not evil in any stretch of the definition as the media portrays him. He is just not your typical conformist thinker. [1] They only paused after Jan 6th, they were happily donating to both parties: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-corporate-google/google-stops-donations-to-u-s-congress-members-who-voted-against-election-results-idUSKBN29V0EW https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-corporate-go...
  • wahnfrieden 4y ago
    you talk about donating to "both sides" however dems are also a conservative party and hardly a "leftist" organization, your point is not as strong as you make it seem
    • systemvoltage 4y ago
      I am addressing "mainstream left" and honestly, the main point of contention is that we should debate about Peter Thiel, but calling him evil is wrong and extremely misinformed.
      • chx 4y ago
        It is neither wrong nor is it misinformed. Do you remember why Thiel invested in Confinity which became PayPal? Because he thought a digital wallet could lead to “the erosion of the nation-state”. If it's not self evident to you why that's a bad thing perhaps read https://eand.co/how-america-collapsed-and-became-a-fourth-world-country-db9829323a9a https://eand.co/how-america-collapsed-and-became-a-fourth-wo... Max Chafkin argues that Thiel “has been responsible for creating the ideology that has come to define Silicon Valley: that technological progress should be pursued relentlessly—with little, if any, regard for potential costs or dangers to society.” continued with “Palantir, his second company, popularized the concept of data mining after 9/11 and paved the way for what critics of the technology call surveillance capitalism”. And of course there was gawker. No, what gawker did was not right but Thiel's reaction was not right either. That's some straight up vigilante BS.
        • wahnfrieden 4y ago
          It's fine to want the erosion of the nation-state, but Thiel specifically wants to replace it with a monarch, not a free society
          • chx 4y ago
            > It's fine to want the erosion of the nation-state, this is crazy talk. Sorry.
          • blast 4y ago
            He does? Where has he said that?
            • wahnfrieden 4y ago