this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2026
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I've been reading Neoreaction a Basilisk and, through the books criticisms, getting more acquainted with the current theories right wing "intellectuals" are propagating. That's led me to consider reading through at least some of Nick Land's work, maybe to better grasp what theory Silicon Valley elites are huffing at the moment.

I've done this once; before I ever became more ideologically aware, I read through Atlas Shrugged not knowing what it was and after finishing, even then, walked away pissed off I spent any time on it. However, it was useful for catching right wing references and understanding the basis for libertarianism later. It's also been interesting, though not quite useful, to trace how right wing thought has evolved and what the resulting "praxis" has looked like; the Koch brothers using the tea party as an entryist/infiltration strategy for promoting libertarianism in government, the resulting frustration of those efforts leading to Steve Banon and the promotion of Trump and the beginnings of more "authoritarian" or dictatorial strategies, and now to Moldbug and Land promoting straight up accelerationism and fascism amongst the ascendant tech CEOs after they all abandoned their former siding with liberals.

But is it useful to know any of that? I feel like all that's happening as I come to understand how they think and how they implement their vision for the world, the more I understand how fucked we are (let's assume we're fucked, right?).

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[โ€“] Andrzej3K@hexbear.net 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I think it is worth understanding the gist of Hayek for example, as there was something to his critique of central planning. But that's all you really need from the neoliberal canon. For libertarianism, Nozick is pretty much the only one with any substance. If you read (or read around) him you will come out of it with a very good sense of exactly how bankrupt that tradition is (basically, they all flail around, desperately trying and failing to prove that it's alright to break all of their own ethical rules in defense of private property).

You need to seek out the best stuff, basically. At least personally, I find it much easier to tune out the noise if I know I've already engaged in good faith with the strongest version of an argument. Also, when you know the lay of the land, you can get a sense of who is arguing in good faith, who is bullshitting, who is just pig ignorant in your day-to-day conversations

[โ€“] Philosoraptor@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Agreed that Hayek is really the only one of these guys worth reading. He's one of the grandfathers of modern complex systems theory, and actually had some interesting stuff to say.

Reading critical reviews like you're doing (I enjoyed Neoreaction: A Basilisk) is probably more worth your time than reading the originals. Remember that virtually none of the important movers and shakers have actually read the theorists they claim to revere either.