- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.org
- nottheonion@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.org
- nottheonion@lemmy.world
Peter Thiel’s visit to the Institute of France, a learned society in the heart of Paris, was kept secret until the very last moment. There, behind closed doors, he was due to speak at a meeting of members of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, a working group intended to discuss “the future of democracy.” The group, chaired by former minister Hervé Gaymard, has previously interviewed 25 figures, all French, mainly legal scholars, political scientists and historians.
Even Xavier Darcos, chancellor of the Institute of France, who oversees all five of its academies, was only informed of Thiel’s invitation at the last minute. The invitation has caused a stir within the institution, not only because Thiel, the American billionaire who co-founded the online payment system PayPal and Palantir Technologies, a data analytics giant that works for many governments, is one of the biggest investors in the American tech sector. Rather, it is Thiel’s political ideas, which openly contest democracy, that make his presence at the academy event decidedly provocative.
According to an outline of his speech sent to the academy, of which Le Monde obtained a copy in French, Thiel intended to introduce himself as “a moderate Orthodox Christian and a humble classical liberal, with one seemingly minor deviation from classical liberal orthodoxy: I worry about the Antichrist.”
Through Thiel, however, the academy is about to encounter a far more radical worldview. The Antichrist, a figure he has given sometimes-cryptic talks on, drawing from both the Book of Daniel in the Bible and the writings of 16th-century English philosopher Francis Bacon, does not, according to him, refer to the rise of artificial intelligence or the proliferation of imperialist leaders. Thiel claims that today’s Antichrist is anyone who expresses alarm about climate change, stokes fears of nuclear war or seeks to regulate the use of screens and social media platforms, all in order to promote the emergence of a “world government” – something libertarians, who are hostile to all forms of state regulation, dread above all.
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A bit self centred of him to travel around and talk about himself in the third person
As funny as these jokes are, people really aren’t catching what he’s up to:
Thiel sees Christianity as a threat to his goals and ambitions, so he’s trying to re-code it. His angle is that “Anti-Christianity” is being “anti-AI”; that’s his whole angel and it’s dumb af, but he’s trying to get ahead of the narrative that’s ripe for the picking of calling AI the next TOWER of BABEL or some sort of false god, which is it much closer to in actuality. Anti-AI sentiment (which I’m all for, from a completely secular pov) has the potential to merge with and fuel religious sentiment into the future, so he’s trying to get ahead of it.
Thiel sees Christianity as a threat to his goals and ambitions, so he’s trying to re-code it.
Oh cool. He’s trying to be the next Joseph Smith.
deleted by creator
lol whoops
He knows no other way, as long as his blood boy comes with him.
Convenient that the devil wants to bring about an International system that doesn’t allow him to be a techno-corporate feudal lord
This song lives rent free in my head.
from the BTB episode on this, some of his candidates for the antichrist are just people he fell out with on Twitter lol
Just textbook narcissism, shocking stuff.
He is talking about himself?
You can’t help but wonder at a man with this much wealth and power getting up in the morning, looking in the mirror, and thinking that highly of himself.
But no. Shitheels like Thiel have existed since time immemorial. He’s not the Antichrist. Just another stupid rich asshole.
I take it he’s very pro. I know at the very least he’s extremely anti Christ
I made a half joke last year that the antichrist would probably be an AI model that convinces people to worship it.
And here he is saying that’s totally not going to happen.
Seems legit lol.
I know the world has always been stupid and people have always sucked, but right now really does feel extremely stupid and people seem to suck exceptionally in current times.
I guess Mr. Thiel would know, considering the Anti-Christ is his employer.
If the Antichrist concept is coherent at all, it’s instantiated by Thiel and the other members of his anti-democracy death cult. For him to target anyone who wants to save the environment and the light of civilization is a fascinating uno-reverse. Let’s see how it goes.
It’s interesting to note that he’s Vance’s patron and possibly puppet-master.
Unless the people of the US somehow manage to armour their system against oligarchy, this kind of not-quite-healthy (arguably more than a bit sociopathic) persons will keep pushing their puppets to center stage, where they’ll damage the interests of common people quite badly.
Since the article doesn’t use the past simple tense, I assume that his visit to France was canceled (or in a less cheerful case, postponed). I would happily cancel his visits elsewhere too.
Make Oligarchs Go Away
I worry about the Antichrist.
Well let me fix that for you.
He doesn’t exist, its a fable that most children grow out of. Further more, he doesn’t even exist in the Bible, and most of him was made up after the fictional Bible was written
Problem solved
And then, if you do take into account the Book of Revelations, Nostradamus, various 20th-century evangelical ramblings, and the 1976 historical documentary, The Omen, the people who are most likely candidates for antichrist are Trump, Thiel, Musk, Ellison, etc.
Maybe Thiel is worried about who his father really is.
sanguis bibimus corpus edimus
Meh, still all favors and fantasy as NONE of those characters exist
Why is this human shit stain still allowed in Europe? This guy would love to see the destruction of Europe, so yay, let him come to Europe to talk about his weird ass insanity ideas?
He knows they can’t vote over here, right? No reason to stump for the orange moron over there.
