Thiel clearly isn't a nationalist nor fascist. Fascism is an extreme form of nationalism where individualism is eradicated.<p>Thiel is an extreme individualist and hasn't done anything to build America's (or any other nations) institutions.<p>Like Nietzsche or Ayn Rand, Thiel takes individualism to its grotesque extremes, and this causes milquetoast liberals to despise him. He's so familiar, yet grotesque.
"So, let’s sum up. Peter Thiel believes he belongs to an elite group, often understood in implicitly or explicitly racial terms, that is entitled to set aside democratic governance in favor of pursuing a program of technological progress and national restoration. He believes the political means to accomplish this is through a charismatic leader with manipulative, populist appeals to past national glory and against parasitic immigrants and culturally decadent liberalism. For him, even the most milquetoast, reformist liberalism is “tantamount to communism.”<p>They were right that we wouldn't recognise it when it comes to us. Peter Thiel is not hiding his views yet escapes censure and is instead lauded by many, including a significant portion of the tech community who embrace his 'America First' ethos, too giddy at the prospect of permanent US hegemony to notice that this too is supremacism, this too is fascism.
I think the author misses the mark and does so in far too many words. He presents Thiel as having a confusing and, as the author admits, contradictory set of beliefs. A much more cohesive description of Thiel without the internal contradictions (a facist who is a nationalist and a libertarian and a white sepremacist and a technocrat and a globalist elite etc etc) is that of a neoliberal elite capitalist.<p>His ideology is not contradictory at all, as the author wants us to believe, unless you were to believe that his actions are somehow a reflection of the true beliefs that he holds. To give an example, his support for populist candidates is not evidence that he himself has a populist ideology. The premise itself is laughable - unless you believe in the kayfabe that is modern US politics. JD Vance is not a populist - though he plays one on TV. Thiel bankrolls what are effectively models, some hired from amateur modeling websites (citation, national (hypen) justice.com), and uses them as mouthpieces to achieve his political and idealogical aims.<p>> So, let’s sum up. Peter Thiel believes he belongs to an elite group, often understood in implicitly or explicitly racial terms,<p>Thiel does belong to an elite group. He doesn't just believe he does.<p>> that is entitled to set aside democratic governance in favor of pursuing a program of technological progress and national restoration.<p>Author provides zero evidence of Thiel performing any national restoration. How is Thiel's technocratic surveillance apparatus (as described by the author) in any way nationalistic?<p>> He believes the political means to accomplish this is through a charismatic leader with manipulative, populist appeals<p>Finally the author is into something here. He is connecting Thiel's use of political puppets to achieve his political aims.<p>> He envisioned a kind of imperialist world-state controlled not through deliberative bodies like the U.N. but directly by the intelligence and secret police bureaus.<p>World-state? That sounds like globalism to me, which is the opposite of nationalism.<p>> He combines the ideology of white collar, petit-bourgeois intermediary class with its emphases direct management techniques and closely-held ownership with the grandiose, world-spanning designs of an industrial titan<p>Got it, so he's a capitalist.<p>etc etc