I am terrified of Peter Thiel. Who? You ask.
Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal and was one of the first investors in Facebook. He converted his profits into Founder’s Fund, where he invested in startups such as Airbnb, LinkedIn, and Space X, among others.
A committed libertarian, he has funded conservative politicians such as Ron Paul and Donald Trump. Since 2009 he no longer considers “freedom and democracy compatible” and he regards women as a major obstacle to implementing libertarian principles.
Due to his net worth of several billions, Thiel funded lawsuits against Gawker Media that resulted in its closing. Later he admitted that his reason for supporting these lawsuits was in retribution for Gawker outing him as gay in 2007.
Like other billionaires, Thiel enjoys all the creature comforts of several mansions and private planes. And yet, he envisioned a future where the poor are plunked down in Pacific islands to self-govern and farm algae and fish for food. According to him, his libertarian principles need to be imposed on others, and he sees rules and laws as interference with his vision.
Claiming to have read the Lord of the Rings over ten times, he seems to have missed the principal theme about the corrupting influence of absolute power. I fear people like Thiel because they have the money to impose their dystopian vision on the rest of us.
I’m Frances Jaeger, and that is my perspective.
