Journalist Gil Duran has been following this new movement of tech billionaires who are heavily influencing right wing politics in America. They are way more out there than I realized. I just went down the rabbit hole to read these articles and frankly I’m a bit unnerved. You might want to pour yourself a strong drink before you do it:
I’ve spent this year writing for the @newrepublic about how a group of Silicon Valley billionaires has gone WEIRD. Now their weirdness is mating up with Trump’s MAGA weirdness in the 2024 election.
Here’s a few things to understand about these guys.#1: They despise democracy. These Trump-loving billionaires believe democracy is bad. They want to create their own corporate dictatorships called Network States. They are actively trying to build these weird little dictator cities all over the world.
The People of Solano County Versus the Next Tech-Billionaire Dystopia
If these Silicon Valley plutocrats have their way, a swath of Solano County will be transformed into their own nation-state.#2. They want control over existing governments. In addition to building weirdo colonies, they’re also trying to capture existing governments. In San Francisco, a group of these tech zillionaires is trying to win control of City Hall …(and now the USA!)
The Tech Plutocrats Dreaming of a Right-Wing San Francisco
A rogue’s gallery of big tech edgelords and their reactionary hangers-on have a plan to remake the city by the bay in their own weirdo image.3. They want to punish Democrats in weird ways. One of their main influencers has suggested that tech bros should form a “gray tribe,” purge Democrats from San Francisco and build statues to remind people of how bad Democrats supposedly are…
The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of “Blues”
If Balaji Srinivasan is any guide, then the Silicon Valley plutocrats are definitely not OK.4. JD Vance is ONE OF THEM. Vance was literally put on Trump’s ticket by the same group of people – Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen – who are behind all of the weirdness I’ve been writing about.
Where J.D. Vance Gets His Weird, Terrifying Techno-Authoritarian Ideas
Yes, Peter Thiel was the senator’s benefactor. But they’re both inspired by an obscure software developer who has some truly frightening thoughts about reordering society.5. Most newspaper analyses suggest that these tech authoritarians guys just want lower taxes and friendly regulations, but that’s only part of the story. They have developed their own weird sci-fi influenced tech authoritarian IDEOLOGY.
It overlaps with MAGA in multiple ways.6. MAGA/Tech overlaps:
– Collapse. They believe in an impending societal collapse.
– Messiah complex. They believe they alone can save humanity. They “alone can fix it.”
– Supremacy. They share a believe in the supremacy of rich white (mostly straight) males over everyone else.7. MAGA/Tech overlaps cont’d:
– Anti-Empathy. They abhor empathy/care.
– Anti-Public. They detest the idea of the public and seek to privatize most functions of government.
– Anti-Worker. They believe employers are superior to employees.8. This is not an exhaustive list. But you can see here how many of the tech authoritarian goals align with MAGA. Antipathy toward taxes and regulations may be the root of their alliance, but there are many branches. But there are key ways in which tech diverges from MAGA…
9. For example, tech authoritarians see technology as being above God (if they even believe God exists). As tech founders and investors, they see themselves as the top of the hierarchy — the masters of the universe. These beliefs have resulted in some strange sub-cults…
10. The Network State is one sub-cult — the idea of replacing existing countries with tech-run countries. Transhumanism is another — a belief in merging with machines to obtain eternal life. That’s gonna sound pretty weird to fundamentalist Christians. . .
Lots of tech cults!The tech billionaires behind Trump already have money. Now they want power — to create their own countries, to change what it means to human, to control the fate of the world. Their interest is mainly *ideological,* not economic. Anyone saying otherwise has not done the reading.
This story by @davetroy goes deep into the weird collection of ideas called TESCREAL. Many of these tech guys backing Trump have been working on this project for a long, long time.
The Wide Angle: Understanding TESCREAL — the Weird Ideologies Behind Silicon Valley’s Rightward Turn
Not all tech is bad! But a lot of people in Silicon Valley have been aware of this weirdness for a long time and have stayed quiet … or agree with parts of it. With Thiel/Musk/Vance putting it on the Trump ticket, it’s time to tune in. Because folks — it’s gonna get weirder.