Posts by gilduran@journa.host
(DIR) Post #AdXRHuqwNzlOW7D4E4 by gilduran@journa.host
2024-01-04T17:34:35Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
Some tech billionaires want to build a new colony in rural California. They spent $900 million to SECRETLY buy up nearly 60,000 acres in rural Solano County for a new community called "California Forever."Local residents are up in arms, as they should be. But the project may be a lot weirder and scarier than they think.For The New Republic, I wrote about how the project aligns with a cultish movement to build privately-governed billionaire dystopias.https://newrepublic.com/article/177733/billionaire-solano-california-tech-secession?utm_campaign=SF_TNR&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social
(DIR) Post #AhHnBp7oRo5HplqHXE by gilduran@journa.host
2024-04-26T11:21:30Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
To understand what's happening in San Francisco, you must examine the extremist politics of the "Network State" cult. For the @newrepublic, I wrote about Balaji Srinivasan, an influential tech baron seeking to “ethnically cleanse” SF. Buckle up for an absolute horrorshow! https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat
(DIR) Post #AkCIhPBnMCsgOhmLCK by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-22T15:40:26Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
NEW: J.D. Vance is deeply influenced by a San Francisco man who once suggested turning "unproductive people" into "biodiesel."Meet Curtis Yarvin, the Peter Thiel political guru who loves dictatorship and hates democracy -- and whose ideas may reach the White House, via @newrepublic https://newrepublic.com/article/183971/jd-vance-weird-terrifying-techno-authoritarian-ideas
(DIR) Post #AkVYsjU5WzRbnSzsFE by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:06:42Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
🧵 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:
(DIR) Post #AkVYskHMZmrMGI3E36 by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:07:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
#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.https://newrepublic.com/article/177733/billionaire-solano-california-tech-secession
(DIR) Post #AkVYskxu1ct4ODxCM4 by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:08:12Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
#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, by supporting Trump, they want control of the USA!) https://newrepublic.com/article/178675/garry-tan-tech-san-francisco
(DIR) Post #AkVYslWzv8xa94NE3c by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:08:52Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
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... https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat
(DIR) Post #AkVYsm3bxt31mDdGtM by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:09:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
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. https://newrepublic.com/article/183971/jd-vance-weird-terrifying-techno-authoritarian-ideas
(DIR) Post #AkVYsmchrP7XX43Iau by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:09:44Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
5. Most newspaper analyses suggest that these tech authoritarian 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...
(DIR) Post #AkVYsnIXLsa5cnchnM by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:10:28Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
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.- 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.
(DIR) Post #AkVYsoF1qPMwYCzPxw by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:11:24Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
7. 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...
(DIR) Post #AkVYspaKqg0SiZxwoa by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:12:03Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
8. 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...The Network State is one sub-cult -- the idea of replacing existing countries with tech-run countries.
(DIR) Post #AkVYsqn8MZq2SYxgP2 by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:12:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
9. 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 be human, to control the fate of the world. Their interest is mainly *ideological,* not economic.Anyone saying otherwise has not done the reading.
(DIR) Post #AkVYsruGDZ8JuxIt9M by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:13:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
10. 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. https://washingtonspectator.org/understanding-tescreal-silicon-valleys-rightward-turn/
(DIR) Post #AkVYssyuDmRXFeU71s by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:14:50Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
11. 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.Crypto plays a HUGE role in this weirdness. Just as they created new currencies to challenge existing ones, they want to create new countries to challenge existing countries. It's all about power and control.
(DIR) Post #AkVYsuOowulbeJcK3s by gilduran@journa.host
2024-07-31T21:15:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
12. Some people refer to these tech authoritarians as "The Nerd Reich." That's also the name of my newsletter on this topic. Please subscribe -- it's paywall-free!Here's this entire thread in newsletter format:https://www.thenerdreich.com/with-j-d-vance-on-trump-ticket-the-nerd-reich-goes-national/
(DIR) Post #AkbaJjFPmiMtmgKVma by gilduran@journa.host
2024-08-03T15:40:35Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
The language of dehumanization — and of purging political enemies — has become popular on the extremist right.At one time, praising a book like “Unhumans” might have ended JD Vance’s career. But incendiary beliefs are now a basic GOP qualification. 👉🏼 https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-horrifying-fascist-manifesto-endorsed-by-j.d.-vance
(DIR) Post #AlIWKes3Uw3gTort9U by gilduran@journa.host
2024-08-18T21:40:02Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Peter Thiel is a dreadfully inarticulate speaker. But his writing is clear:“I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”This sums up the anti-democracy extremism in today’s GOP. Power and privilege for the few, servitude and suffering for the many.
(DIR) Post #AluVXYnafUDtStqSvo by gilduran@journa.host
2024-09-11T20:25:34Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
1. Like "Pizzagate," the racist attack on Haitian migrants is a deranged conspiracy theory. 2. The main pusher of Pizzagate just wrote a book depicting Haitians as bloodythirsty killers.3. J.D. Vance wrote the foreword.Coincidence? Or strategy?https://www.theframelab.org/jd-vances-racist-attack-on-haitians-is-strategic/
(DIR) Post #AmTMOhHrdmkQ87ImK8 by gilduran@journa.host
2024-09-28T16:42:55Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Only 7% of Americans held crypto in 2023. Yet crypto corps have become a major player in American politics, pointing a $200 million gun at this election.It's bad enough when companies with popular products (like oil) do this. With crypto, we're being held hostage by a cult.