Curtis Yarvin, AKA Mencius Moldbug? Seriously? Here’s a whole excessively long article about Yarvin, which name-drops a whole army of deplorables like JD Vance and Blake Masters and Peter Thiel.
Besides Vance and Masters (whose campaigns declined to comment for this story), Yarvin has had a decade-long association with billionaire Peter Thiel, who is similarly disillusioned with democracy and American government. “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible,” Thiel wrote in 2009, and earlier this year, he declared that Republican members of Congress who voted for Trump’s impeachment after the January 6 attacks were “traitorous.” Fox host Tucker Carlson is another fan, interviewing Yarvin with some fascination for his streaming program last year. He’s even influenced online discourse — Yarvin was the first to popularize the analogy from The Matrix of being “redpilled” or “-pilled,” suddenly losing your illusions and seeing the supposed reality of the world more clearly, as applied to politics.
I’ll be shorter than the article: Yarvin’s schtick is to advocate for the dissolution of the American republic so that it can be replaced by a theocratic capitalist monarchy by writing long-winded pretentious articles that are both incoherent and much beloved by Silicon Valley tech-dudes, because their bottom line is always rationalized by Yarvin, who wants to make them the rulers of everything.
Hey, this is the morning I got slammed with a couple of painfully wordy media about fascist dorks. Here’s an hour-long video about Peter Thiel, which also mentions Yarvin. Sorry.
These are all good and thorough dissections which need to be done, but I’m feeling a bit squeamish. If I were to walk into a public toilet and see someone has left a multi-colored turd with strange filamentous spines and twitching blisters containing squirming invertebrates, I would hope that there’s a doctor somewhere who would do a careful inspection and a biomedical analysis of that person’s fecal output, but for me, I’m just going to flush it without asking a lot of questions.
It shouldn’t take that much inspection to figure out that JD Vance, Blake Masters, Trump, and all those creepy Thiel-supported nerds ought to be flushed.
Your description of the fecal output reminds me of the book version of “Dreamcatcher”.
A parasite even more disgusting than the xenomorph.
You go ahead and call doctor and flush.
I’m just going to take off and nuke the site from orbit.
It’s the only way to be sure.
So what is compatible with freedom?
Monarchy? Dictatorships? Theocracies? Military Juntas?
I no longer believe freedom and democracy are compatible with Peter Thiel.
Then again, I never believed that freedom and democracy are compatible with Thiel.
Rather than destroy a nation of 333 million people, why doesn’t Thiel just leave for a libertarian paradise somewhere in the world?
Oh right, they aren’t any. Because loonytarianism doesn’t work.
The closest we have is Somalia and it is BYOG, Bring Your Own Gun. The two leading careers in Somalia are pirate and war lord.
Isn’t Peter Thiel gay? Why does he want an autocratic dictatorship that would eagerly send him to the gallows?
If you search on: thiel libertarian island you can find some interesting stuff.
“Freedom” always means to those dudes “I can do what I want – without you being allowed to criticize me for anything – and my rights, privileges and world view are protected”. Their definition of freedom is never the freedom of others.
@3 raven
I couldn’t read past that quote. I don’t know how you define freedom without some sort of democratic implementation. If you don’t have a voice, and an autocratic body or person is telling you what to do, how is that freedom?
This stuff seems so hard to fall for, I don’t know how people keep doing it the world over. A rich powerful person says we don’t need to have any opinions, they will tell us what to do. And that will somehow be better even though it’s an obvious power grab which give me nothing. Sure, so appealing.
And by ‘freedom,” he means white men getting to do whatever they want.
How did the old song go? “Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by one and all.”
Oh he doesn’t think he’ll be affected. As a billionaire, he can buy as much freedom as he can afford. It’s those filthy poor LGBTQ+ folks who will get the rope.
I thought the old song was “Me and Bobby McGee”, and the phrase was “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
Very good turd analogy.
On the plus side, Peter Thiel has the kind of head that would look good on a pike.
#7 @donfelipe
Oooh,ooh, pick me, I know that one! The same way The Holy Bible TM defines “peace”, as in Jesus’ saying “I didn’t come to bring peace, but war”. Peace very explicitly is not a good thing in the Bible TM.
It is the word used when you get beaten so hard, when some other nation kicks your ass so hard that you sue for peace at any cost, even selling your people into slavery so you are not destroyed. That’s the context of that word. Similarly, the word freedom has double meaning. A good meaning, to do as you are told and obey command(ment)s of your betters (the highest of which is God) and a bad one, to abuse your freedom and go against command(ment)s to your eternal detriment. So when he is talking about freedom, it is his freedom to command you what to do (because he is obviously your better, duh!) and your freedom to obey those commands to your eternal bettermant.
If you’re basically a worthless dipshit, you can collect around you submissives who will worship you, and therefore feel you have stepped up the dipshit pyramid.
Where these people make a mistake is that they think they’re smart and articulate and clever because they are – to their buttsuckers. But when they come charging out into the world and encounter non-chud humans, they get all pissed off and resentful when their little bubble is threatened.
I briefly wondered “I wonder whatever happened to Justin Vacula?” but realized that scratching my right buttock was more demanding of my attention, and more rewarding, besides.
As a billionaire, he can buy as much freedom as he can afford.
He wants to live forever, which is not going to happen. The great equalizer comes for us all; all we are is dust in the wind. It is the happier man who realizes and accepts this and tries not to be a piece of shit because life is short and beautiful and why leave behind a stain. Thiel wants to break free of the Tao, which is just the stupidest, most futile thing a billionaire can want. Except for owning twitter. That’s pretty bad too.
Basically, whether you are a fan of hers or not, you must admit AOC nailed it years ago: ‘it’s all about the benjamin’s ‘. Money is the most powerful driver in our failed society. And, those whose aggression drives them to acquire obscene amounts of money are almost never the most rational, honest, or intellectually capable. They are almost without exception Sociopaths. DON’T VOTE FOR THEM. Of course, those that read PZ’s blog and comment are almost too intelligent and caring to support these walking malignancies.
Freedom, as used by the rightwing Nat-C’s, is a selfish farce. As our book points out, for every freedom you declare, there must be a commensurate responsibility or you are just dishonest.
OOPS: meant to say: MOSTLY too intelligent and caring to support these walking malignancies.
Oh, I saw Justin Vacula on the internet a while ago! He’s writing for “Atheists for Liberty”, that useless libertarian/rightwing atheist group that has been trying to make themselves relevant. Him & David Silverman & Lindsay & Boghossian & Shermer & Gad Saad.
I’ve said before that Mencius Moldbug sounds like the name of a 3rd tier member of the Flash’s Rogue Gallery. But this morning the thought came to mind that it could be the name of a Steve Ditko character. Good guy or bad guy I’m not sure, because Ditko got heavily into Ayn Rand.
I think we can all get frustrated with democracy from time to time, but what works better? Thiel’s improvement on democracy is…Trumpism and Capitol rioters. Truly one of history’s great political philosophers.
Peter Thiel delenda est.
I haven’t had a chance to watch the video, so I don’t know if Cody covers this guy, but there is a right-wing economist named Hans-Herman Hoppe who came up with the idea of mixing “libertarianism” with monarchism (oddly enough, he call’s himself an “anrcho-capitalist). Needless to say, his philosophy doesn’t sound very libertarian at all to me:
I guess Orwell was right: “Freedom is slavery.” At least for those who displease the freedom-lovers.
@chrislawson
pm
I think we can all get frustrated with democracy from time to time, but what works better?
Re-designed actual democracy. I did a series of posts at stderr called “the republic” in which I outlined a few possibilities.
One possibility I like is a direct democracy that has no “representatives” but which replaces that tedious superstructure with a debating house, a policy proposing house, and an executive branch (responsible for executing solutions, not making new problems). The whole idea, as Jefferson admitted to Madison, is to interpose a layer of pseudo-democracy that embodies your gerrymanders, racism, and militarism. My suggestion was a direct democracy in which citizens are required to understand issues before they vote on them, but issues are separated out, i.e:
“Do we need a dog catcher, and if so what should a dog catching department be and what are its criteria and budget? Note, none of this “my budget is gimme gimme gimme” you gotta specify what a department will do with its money and verifiable criteria to make sure they don’t just buy lamborghinis and blow.
Anyhow, people often quote Churchill, an imperialist aristocrat who was born with a double helping of political power, “democracy is the worst form of government except for all of the others” but watch Churchill’s hands where he implicitly slides by a critical analysis of how democracy is done today Sneaky bastard.
The fact is that defenders like Churchill, Jefferson and Madison promoted a nearly completely fake democracy and said “that’s as good as it gets, folks!” Uh. No. Bullshit. Humanity has had plenty of practical political philosophers who could design good democracies. John Rawls tried and made good effort but was sidelined because he was (shudder) a bit socialist. Can’t have that. The establishment, having arrogated power, is not going to share.
[an effective democracy could enact projects that were more or less socialistic or imperialist. But the fact that the citizens generally have no control over the “defense” budget should always tell you how much democracy is being allowed to a people.]
@ 21
Concordo!
(I hope Goggle Translate is right about this.)
Each every time I hear that damn Churchill quote I have to remind him that sentiment was no comfort to the Bengali he starved to death. Obviously, they and all the other nonwhite “clients” of the Empire didn’t have a say in Churchill’s conception of “democracy.”
“I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible,” Thiel wrote in 2009, …
Then he should move to Russia. There’s no democracy there to interfere with his freedom.
freedom and democracy are just words they use to sound smart when they are only interested in personal power as expressed and measured by wealth. Does anyone really believe that any of them would share their power or wealth with anyone else or submit to anyone else’s power?
Uh, dude, why are you lurking around my toilet?
(Kidding.)
On a more serious note, Reich Wingers are so damn “weird” because nobody has taught them how to behave like human beings.
I saw him about eight or so months ago. Luckily, a decade ago, when he invited me to join his atheist group, I declined (me being antisocial, not any actual thought in it on my part). Luckily. And he almost makes me want to stop wearing my fedoras (two felt (one dress, one casual) and two straw (one dress, one casual)). He’s an asshole. I am not surprised that he is on the Libertarian ‘rules? we don’t need no rules!’ trolley.
WMDKitty @28: Actually, I suspect lots of people TRIED to teach that lot how to behave like human beings; but they only re3sponded by calling their parents, teachers and other would-be role-models “nazis.”
Raven @ 3
He bought New Zealand citizenship in 2011 from our previous conservative government. When we finally found out in 2017, it went down like a cup of cold sick. I don’t think he did his homework, as he hasn’t been allowed to build his fiefdom in the South Island, and he hasn’t been back.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/18/peter-thiel-refused-consent-for-sprawling-lodge-in-new-zealand-local-council
They have always believed that capitalism and democracy are incompatible. Freedom = unfettered capitalism.
“I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible,”
Because tyranny and freedom are soooo compatible, right?