> Today, we struggle to rationalize Peter Thiel’s power and influence as he moves further and further out there. We were confused by his seasteading funding, angered by his negative views on women’s voting rights, amused by his reported fixation with living to 120, and annoyed by his keynoting the Republican National Convention.
He explains both his seasteading interest and his position on the apparent statistical inevitabilities of voting patterns in the very essay Pao linked (the link is on the words "negative views").
He explicitly states (whether he's lying or not is another matter, but let's remember the principle of charity) that he's not in favor of disenfranchising anyone within current political systems.
We can argue all day the egalitarian position, but if Thiel is right that the future is dim under current politics, and bright under libertarian politics, then there's a problem: do you sacrifice the future (potentially the future of humanity) for equality now, or do you sacrifice equality, or set up alternative political spaces with the characteristic that people who participate in those political spaces are disproportionately libertarian? Which may or may not, but probably would, mean relatively fewer women and minorities self-select to participate in those political spaces.
He explains both his seasteading interest and his position on the apparent statistical inevitabilities of voting patterns in the very essay Pao linked (the link is on the words "negative views").
He explicitly states (whether he's lying or not is another matter, but let's remember the principle of charity) that he's not in favor of disenfranchising anyone within current political systems.
We can argue all day the egalitarian position, but if Thiel is right that the future is dim under current politics, and bright under libertarian politics, then there's a problem: do you sacrifice the future (potentially the future of humanity) for equality now, or do you sacrifice equality, or set up alternative political spaces with the characteristic that people who participate in those political spaces are disproportionately libertarian? Which may or may not, but probably would, mean relatively fewer women and minorities self-select to participate in those political spaces.