
Peter Thiel - The Education of a Libertarian - tpinto
http://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/the-education-of-a-libertarian/
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redwood
Hmm while I can totally understand what he's saying to some extent, it does
reek of "I'm a billionaire and here are the kinds of fantasies I focus on"

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okaramian
Yeah, the part where he wants to form some kind of Randian society in space
and this part:

"Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of
the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for
libertarians"

seem to be pretty good indicators that the article is completely terrible.

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mithaler
I'm no libertarian, but I don't see why those statements make the article
terrible. After all, are they not true, and do they not underscore his point--
that both of those constituencies benefit from government intervention in
society as it is and was in the 20's, and therefore would not theoretically be
amenable to principles of less government?

If there's anything that makes the article terrible--which I don't think it
is, it's well-argued for the point it's making--it's the blind assumption
underlying it that _less government is always better_. I think that's a silly
principle to argue for, but then I haven't read anything else he's written;
for all I know he's made efforts to defend it in the past, so I can't assume
he considers it a matter of faith.

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jberryman
_In the late 1990s, the founding vision of PayPal centered on the creation of
a new world currency, free from all government control and dilution — the end
of monetary sovereignty, as it were._

...what resulted was ugly, oppressive and pretty much universally despised as
far as I can tell. Much how I imagine a "libertarian state" would turn out.

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guelo
What an asshole, no wonder paypal is such a piece of shit.

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axiom
That's a really repulsive, and disrespectful comment. It adds nothing to the
discussion and just serves to make the environment on HN really unpleasant.

