Peter Thiel and The Anti-Christ

With Trump's health visibly in decline, attention is shifting to Peter Thiel's invention, JD Vance, who may soon be president. Which means Thiel, a billionaire doomsday prepper who thinks the Anti-Christ is Greta Thunberg, could effectively rule the world. What does Thiel's obsession with the Anti-Christ reveal about how we can resist him? Thiel's worldview isn't just weird Silicon Valley paranoia; it's vintage fascist fan fiction. His ideas trace back to Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt, who justified Hitler's violent purges as necessary for "saving civilization." Schmitt's argument was simple and horrifying: democracy is too weak, so we need a strongman to suspend the rules. Thiel recycles Schmitt's logic in a twenty-first-century sermon on why democracy itself is the real threat. In Thiel's version, collective action to solve global crises like man-made climate change is the definition of evil. So you know what to do, folks: double down on building collective action. In Part One of our conversation with journalist Gil Duran, of the Nerd Reich newsletter, that tracks Silicon Valley's billionaire Bond villains, we dig into Thiel's apocalyptic delusions, how they shape his politics, and why it's a very big deal that a man this afraid of democracy has his hands in everything from expanding government surveillance to election data. Part Two will be out this Thursday, with a special look at Thiel and Trump's Big Brother–their latest efforts to establish a Chinese-style surveillance state.  Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes:   Action alert! Send postcards to California to ensure Prop 50 passes and help support other must-win races: https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards   Action alert! Sister District x Gaslit Nation Halloween Phonebank for VA! https://www.mobilize.us/sisterdistrict/event/847185/   The One Trait That Predicts Trump Support (w. Matthew MacWilliams) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp19ZKI2m2w   Gil Duran's The Nerd Reich: Is Peter Thiel the Antichrist? NYT Didn't Think to Ask https://www.thenerdreich.com/is-peter-thiel-the-antichrist-nyt-didnt-think-to-ask/   The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel's Antichrist Obsession: Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They've been a road map for the billionaire ever since. https://www.wired.com/story/the-real-stakes-real-story-peter-thiels-antichrist-obsession/   I Worked At Palantir: The Tech Company Reshaping Reality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ95Gmvg_D4   Why Everyone Around Trump is Paranoid Now: Michael Wolff | Inside Trump's Head https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HplPf8F5NaI&t=13s   Peter Thiel calls the anti-Christ as a humanitarian: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CQ5ATBoF8og   Peter Thiel compares Greta Thunberg to the Anti-Christ: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4xVOOgmH3-w   Thiel compares being woke to Saudi Arabia https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-873PUOq1s8   Trump's Texts to CNN Host Renew Health Speculation https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-texts-to-cnn-host-renew-health-speculation/   Has Big Brother arrived? Inside the secretive Trump effort to centralize government data on millions of Americans https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-doge-palantir-data-immigration-b2761096.html   EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: October 27 4pm ET – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other, available on Patreon.  Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other, available on Patreon.  Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, available on Patreon.  Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, available on Patreon.  Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, available on Patreon.  Have you taken Gaslit Nation's HyperNormalization Survey Yet? Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community