cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/54149315

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Peter Thiel’s visit to the Institute of France, a learned society in the heart of Paris, was kept secret until the very last moment. There, behind closed doors, he was due to speak at a meeting of members of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, a working group intended to discuss “the future of democracy.” The group, chaired by former minister Hervé Gaymard, has previously interviewed 25 figures, all French, mainly legal scholars, political scientists and historians.

Even Xavier Darcos, chancellor of the Institute of France, who oversees all five of its academies, was only informed of Thiel’s invitation at the last minute. The invitation has caused a stir within the institution, not only because Thiel, the American billionaire who co-founded the online payment system PayPal and Palantir Technologies, a data analytics giant that works for many governments, is one of the biggest investors in the American tech sector. Rather, it is Thiel’s political ideas, which openly contest democracy, that make his presence at the academy event decidedly provocative.

According to an outline of his speech sent to the academy, of which Le Monde obtained a copy in French, Thiel intended to introduce himself as “a moderate Orthodox Christian and a humble classical liberal, with one seemingly minor deviation from classical liberal orthodoxy: I worry about the Antichrist.”

Through Thiel, however, the academy is about to encounter a far more radical worldview. The Antichrist, a figure he has given sometimes-cryptic talks on, drawing from both the Book of Daniel in the Bible and the writings of 16th-century English philosopher Francis Bacon, does not, according to him, refer to the rise of artificial intelligence or the proliferation of imperialist leaders. Thiel claims that today’s Antichrist is anyone who expresses alarm about climate change, stokes fears of nuclear war or seeks to regulate the use of screens and social media platforms, all in order to promote the emergence of a “world government” – something libertarians, who are hostile to all forms of state regulation, dread above all.

  • Cruxifux@feddit.nl
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    1 day ago

    He’s trying to create a new christianity where the rich are seen as holy. Thats all this is.

    • Psaldorn@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      They realise that being rich when it all collapses won’t save them. They need to be reversed so people don’t eat them.

      It won’t work.

      • Cruxifux@feddit.nl
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        1 day ago

        Of course it wont. It’s the dumbest plan I’ve ever seen to avoid murder from revolution. It makes “let them eat cake” seem smart.

      • Cruxifux@feddit.nl
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        1 day ago

        Yeah, IDK. Our rich are all kids that grew up within the oligarchy. They didn’t have to try as hard. They’re all drooling fucking morons that think they’re geniuses because everything always goes their way because they’ve always had money.

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      Tbf that’s the same as medieval Christianity kinda, except the holiness begot the richness, not the reverse.

    • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      I mean to be fair that’s what all the billionaires are doing:

      Musks wants a white nazi jesus who forces women to carry children at gunpoint, break up striking workers and lower taxes while giving musk subsidies.

      Theil thinks the antichrist should be anyone opposed to his investment portfolio.

      And the Mercers think Jesus was warning us about the dangers of caring for our neighbors.

      Trump of course thinks Epstein is jesus and will return to earth soon to rapture all the pedophiles to pedophile heaven.

  • shameless@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    We all know that people who are poor and homeless are at much greater risk of mental health issues such as schizophrenia, I really wouldn’t be surprised if the same applies when you have too much money and become paranoid about various issues correlated to how you accumulated your wealth.

  • NoWay@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Hey France you still have those guillotines around? Can you do the world a favor?

  • MushuChupacabra@piefed.world
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    1 day ago

    And this is the fucking idiot who thinks he’s smart enough to run the world.

    This is barely above pretending you’re an expert on deep sea submersibles.

  • arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone
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    1 day ago

    “a moderate Orthodox Christian and a humble classical liberal, with one seemingly minor deviation from classical liberal orthodoxy: I worry about the Antichrist.”

    It’s disturbing that he considers himself “moderate”

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    6 hours ago

    Not only does he show a total disconnect with reality, he’s also even more ignorant of Christian theology than most Christians. An impressive feat! The prophecies of the antichrist are quite clear; it’s almost certainly Donald Trump. Yes the evil religion adores him, but it calls out specific Trump-isms as a sign of the antichrist, like his beef with Mexico or his hats.

    • CXORA@aussie.zone
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      43 minutes ago

      So youre just saying whatever you want huh? The whole point of prophecy is you can force it to resemble just about any figure you want if you squint. The Antichrist figure was “almost certainly” a direct reference to a figure of the time, not a prophetic vision of some future tyrant.

      • shani66@ani.social
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        22 minutes ago

        I’m pretty sure we know the Roman emperor the prophecies were originally meant to slander, but they also objectively apply to Trump.

  • rayyy@piefed.social
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    24 hours ago

    Well, well. Peter Thiel should just talk about himself. He knows exactly what the anti-Christ is about from a first hand perspective.

  • Cyrus Draegur@lemmy.zip
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    21 hours ago

    This egotistical motherfucker just can’t seem to shut the fuck up and stop talking about himself.

  • robomuffin79@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Unbelievable that this nutjob and his coked out partner have managed to obtain lucrative government contracts across the West

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        I mean if a presidential candidate pitched drug testing CEOs contracted to the defense industey I’d vote for them because it would mean either A) these fucks would have to do this shit sober, B) they get fired, or C) drugs would be legalized.

        Though its very likely most of them have prescriptions or whatever as well which is just another thing single payer health insurance would solve.

  • 7rokhym@lemmy.ca
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    23 hours ago

    “Art may imitate life, but life imitates TV” -Ani DiFranco, Musician