And by "freedom" he doesn't mean your freedom.
this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2026
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Yes. Kant’s positive vs negative liberty applies; small gov advocates like Thiel tend to mean the latter.
He's not entirely wrong. In a democracy we vote for people who (in an ideal world) would regulate assholes like him. In his fascist technocracy he'll be able to do whatever the fuck he wants to the rest of us. So in that sense, sure, democracy can put limits on ultimate freedom™©®
....but we kinda want that because fuckbags like thiel exist.
I like that you had the TM C and R.
What democracies do is create freedoms for everyone, true freedoms.
The freedom to choose one’s path of life? Sure! Democracies create that freedom through good, cheap, universal education!
The freedom to be as healthy as possible? Sure! Democracies create that freedom through good, cheap, universal healthcare!
The freedom to have technology help us solve problems? Sure! Democracies create that freedom through effective investments in research and development!
These are just a tase of what democracies do to create true freedom.
They don't do this inherently. What is happening in America shows that often people vote to restrict their own freedoms.
But that's being caused by anti democratic forces.
Democratic countries need to keep progressing.
Concentrated power isn't democratic, there needs to be an always on equalizer.
If we define democracy as voting, then you’re right. However, to understand what I’m saying it’s important to understand what I mean by democracy. I’m using democracy to mean inclusive institutions that invest in their citizens to increase their capabilities and therefore their freedoms.
And you’re right: America is exceptionally un-democratic. You’re actually doubly right: there are democratic backsliding pressures around the world.
It’s a matter of time to see what the more powerful pressures will be: democracy or authoritarian populism.
The evidence powerfully suggests one answer. If you want to know more about this, check out Christian Welzel’s articles on democracy!
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He is absolutely fucking wrong. This tech bro libertarian shit is like the textbook definition of bad philosophy where overconfident smooth brains think in broad strokes instead of reducing ideas to first principles.
His definition of freedom simply doesn't exist, and this is an incredibly common trope in right wingers. He believes he is entitled to benefit from society without understanding the process by which those benefits arise. He misunderstands the distinction between "is" and "ought." And even this is an incredibly gentle critique of a person who gives unhinges PowerPoint presentations about the antichrist which he seems to actually believe. The man is loony tunes. Idk what they had in the water at PayPal back in the day, but him and Musk seem to have unlocked an entirely new level of unhinged.
Imagine the pure liquid wealth your company accumulates when it takes 2-3% of a large swath of financial transactions on the Internet. It’s like Visa/MasterCard obscene.
Then imagine someone tells you “no”.
I don't think Thiel is compatible with freedom, nor democracy. If he died we'd all be better off.
We no longer believe that Democracy and Sociopathic Oligarchs can co-exist. We choose Democracy.
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We need to stop using PayPal!
No need, just wait until they lock you out of your own account!
After Trump sanctions you for disagreeing with his policies.
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Yeah, I’m ending my account today
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Take a good look, folks. This is the face of Anarcho-capitalism. Peter Thiel wants to be your new overlord. Unregulated and unrestrained.
I hate having to use that term. It’s just feudalism without even the illusion of a binding social order.
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He doesn't mean freedom for the proles. He means his personal total and absolute freedom to exploit other people relentlessly and without consequences.
If your freedom depends on others not being free, you really just want the freedom to oppress.
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These pieces of shit are especially egregious because they promised so much change and hope and opportunity for everyone but all their garbage companies just toed the old line instead of actually "disrupting" anything at all. The only thing they've disrupted is everyone's savings and futures
Anyone should feel free to utilize the second amendment when this guy appears
Well clearly Peter Thiel has never read Murray Bookchin!
Man, I remember a debate he had with David Graeber (Someone who knew and did read Murray Bookchin). Thiel got absolutely schooled by our late great anthropologist-anarchist. Like utterly trashed by him, in that Graeber wasn't even trying to trash him he was just responding to Thiel's horrid conceits with his casual and playful depth of understanding.
You've gotta look it up on youtube. Thiel had fucking daggers in his eyes. Graeber was just having a good time with it. You cannot completely convince me that Thiel did not have some sort of hand in Graeber's early death.
Billionaire oligarchs are incompatible with democracy, he's just got it backwards like most anti-humanity fascists tend to do
It's really kind of sad that these people are surrounded by Yes men for so long that they think every thought they have and everything they say is correct and brilliant.
It's like they've built their own little personal echo chambers.
We humans really are a dumb fragile bag of meat and bones.
I no longer believe that MY freedom and YOUR democracy are compatible. So you can't have democracy anymore so I can have my freedom to not be regulated.
“I no longer want the restrictions on me that are punitive and serve to protect the masses at my expense.” -Thiel
The sooner we eat this guy the better.
Don't eat this guy. He has used blood boys to try to keep himself young.
That's probably the kind of unregulated shit the gets you exposed to unknown pathogens and such. You don't want to eat that kind of meat.
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He is right. HIS freedom is not compatible with Democracy.
This Peter Thiel piece of shit doesn’t understand human development. He says freedom and democracy are not compatible, and yet we have decades (and in some cases centuries) of data showing that democracies make people freer.
If I could kindly suggest to that asshole to read one book, I’d suggest he reads Christian Welzel’s Freedom Rising. The book is packed with data that shows how democracies create freedom.
For example, democracies invest in their own people.
- Democracies invest in education, so that people can choose what kind of life to live.
- Democracies invest in healthcare, so that people can live without freedom-limiting disease.
- Democracies invest in research, so that people can solve technical problems with ease and spend more time doing things they can choose to do.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. In many, many ways, democracy leads to freedom, true actual freedom.
That all sounds like freedoms for other people. Those don't sound like freedoms Thiel needs.
You know that whole quote about "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." He's concerned about the first part.
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Not even trying to understand. He's just another bored billionaire trying to stir the pot.
I no longer believe that Peter Thiel and oxygen are compatible.
Eh hope it is otherwise he can't burn.
It's funny how he calls it a lack of freedoms and we call it laws and human rights.
That's what he has an issue with: human rights and laws.
He's right. In his own twisted kind of way. Democracy is in the way of the overly rich to take complete control and become dictators. Being a dictator is their ultimate power fantasy of 'true freedom'.
I agree that Democracy is not compatible with his definition of giving the richest people on earth the freedom to have planar authority. So we must get rid of them to save democracy and our own freedom.
Remember kids, look around you. Too much money will fuck you up big time.
He thinks he should be free to rule over everyone poorer than hin
Ah it seems like the didn't say the entirety of what he believes, he really means:
I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible with my need to have more control over everyone else
Well isn't it obvious? Freedom is only compatible with wealthy elites pressing their boots (or the boots of their paid hirelings) against the necks of the people.
Democracy only works when the people is at the wheel, not the oligarchs.
Why is the headline and article about a quote that's almost 2 decades old?
Just so everybody knows, he said this almost 20 years ago
well neither is fascism, you damn fascist
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