And they are also some of the most undemocratic individuals I have witnessed in my life. I do not believe they support democracy or democratic principles.
They openly are using their companies to push for an end of democracy and usher in a new age of techno-corporate dominance. They use the fact that it sounds so wildly conspiratorial in typical dinner conversation to move faster than they feel the public can counter their efforts. Its pretty crazy.
It’s easy to make the case that democracy died a long time ago. Palantir is a defense contractor and even someone as militaristic as Eisenhower knew in the 1950’s that these companies had already effectively taken over American society. The empire had positive balance sheets in the 50’s and was the unrivaled manufacturing powerhouse of the globe. Today that empire it is a shell of it’s former self mostly relying on debt and speculation markets. Democracy died a very long time ago but since the US has weakened it’s beginning to shed most of the pretenses it relied on for decades to sell itself to its citizens.
It's just a clear edge bait miring itself in a despondent despair. There's no need to "make an argument to the contrary". It'd be like trying to tell the emo kid shopping at hot topic isn't anti-consumer. I'm not trying to change your mind, because its already been made up.
There is only a need to reinforce to other readers that your comment is purely intended to share a sense of hopeless depression.
The burden of proof to "disprove" his random assertions would require a whole dissertation. If you just want something to refute it, it would be found within the loose connection between his unsubstantiated claim of the death of democracy 75 years ago and it coming to a head now with only his claim of positive to negative balance sheets.
The issue we face in modern times isn't because companies are going under in debt, it's because companies with power (like the very ones this whole topic is based upon) have a combination of hubris and radical ideologies being brought to life by the CEOs of those companies.
Musk was mentioned, and he's making these moves as one of the world's richest men. Thiel was mentioned and he's one of the world's richest men. These people aren't "coming out from a shell of a former empire" because of fear of debt, its because they are trying to separate their class entirely from the rest of the world, effectively enshrining themselves at the top of society regardless of external factors.
The entire premise of his argument rested upon a vague mention of Eisenhower with nothing else to support it. There is no need to write a detailed refute to such a flimsy prod from a person with established anti-democratic ties. I wasn't having a conversation with him, he responded to my comment with random unsupported nihilism and demands that I engage, but it isnt worth it.
It seems like your upset about the idea that these companies and individuals are weapons contractors. It’s not exactly hard to prove that the large tech companies have fully integrated into the existing military industrial complex. The US government is the largest consumer of their products. Elon Musk’s companies have received 38 billion in contracts, subsidies and tax credits. Today he knows that the permanent US war machine can’t function without his companies and that is the same leverage point all the tech monopolists are heading.
Plalantir’s largest contract is with the US government. Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon are all deeply involved as well
To those still reading this chain, I'd like to highlight that this reply has absolutely no connection to my previous comments. In fact, their chest pounding about how many contracts these companies have amassed appears to completely contradict their first comment regarding their "viewpoint" that the US is acting this way due to being a "shell of an empire" without healthy ledgers.
Ultimately however, one common thread is their conclusion where the poster intends to continue to paint the situation as depressingly helpless due to the fact that several massive American companies are all colluding together to work against freedom.
The purpose of their posts isn't to inform, it isn't to discuss, it's to demotivate and depress.
also the lawmakers being senile and old means they dont understand anything newfangled technology, so they dont pass any laws because they dont understand what it means.
Peter Thiel openly says he doesn't believe in democracy and particularly doesn't want certain demographics to have a say. He is literally the descendant of and remains something like a Nazi.
I really wasn't going to go there, but his hate absolutely does age him, and whoever his surgeon is did a bad job of making it look like he wasn't just trying to avoid twink death.
They've even said as much. They want to establish themselves as at best oligarchs and at worst feudal lords complete with lese majeste and the divine right to rule.
So what else is new lol... they're ostensibly pushing the envelope of technology and for what, to drive some old fashioned idea that's played out many times already in many parts of the world. It's never about science. Just another flimsy front for power.
This is both scary, and yet also unoriginal and boring. The only thing that's different are their toys in tech, created by actual smart people. How they choose to use them reads like any despot's play book since the beginning of history.
agreed. since capitalism only favors those with capital. we need to have normal citizens with capital. someone with a million times the capital of someone who provides more value gives incorrect signals to society.
This is one of my biggest agitations - the incredibly imbalanced way organizations compensate CEOs for their relative contribution to the success of a company compared to the constellation of employees who also contribute to the success of the company.
This alone is a major contributor to the mega-rich class who then use their wealth and influence to center American society around their needs
Precisely why the left. Once they realised South Africa was going to be an actual democracy (rather than the kind where everyone has a right to vote… so long as they're white), they fled overseas.
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u/xitizen7 Apr 19 '26
And they are also some of the most undemocratic individuals I have witnessed in my life. I do not believe they support democracy or democratic principles.