Peter Thiel has won.
Sure, Project 2025 drafted the blueprint for Donald Trump’s war on government.
Yes, Elon Musk is targeting federal workers with the samechopping-block zealhe brought to Twitter.
But Thielism predates all that.
In it, he laid out almost everything that Trump and his followers are putting into practice today.
For Thiel, that doesn’t just mean bad government it meansanygovernment, eventhe democratic kind.
Reject the “unthinking demos” and create a world “not bounded by historical nation-states.”
Think I’m exaggerating Thiel’s position?
Here’s the money quote: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”
Who would build this new, democracy-free world?
Why,tech entrepreneurs, of course.
“It was also saying that we need to keep government out of it.
Because the engineers, investors, and entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley will build the future.
No taxation or regulation, and the future will arrive if we allow it.”
Take away government-backed money, and you take away government’s power of the purse.
It’s easy to see in this sentiment why the Trump administration is touting thederegulation of cryptocurrencies.
Putting an end to democracy, in the Thielist view, also requiresputting a stop to diversity.
They even wrote an anti-diversity book called “The Diversity Myth.”
The anti-woke seeds Thiel planted were soon sownthroughout the Valley.
In his 2009 essay, Thiel opposes “confiscatory taxes” and “totalitarian collectives.”
How dare people prioritize health and welfare above technology?
(Thiel blamed the intransigence on hippies.)
Thiel’s vision of a world freed from the tyranny of democracy proved influential.
You want an intellectual-sounding rationale for why you deserve it.
“He funded the entries into politics of Sens.Josh Hawleyand Ted Cruz, as well asVice President JD Vance.
Indeed, the very notion of “democratic capitalism” seemed to him “an oxymoron.”
Adam Rogersis a senior correspondent at Business Insider.
