Peter Thiel's Apocalyptic Worldview Is a Dangerous Fantasy

Reactions to Thiel’s Apocalyptic / Antichrist Rhetoric

• Many commenters see his Antichrist talk (Greta Thunberg, the Pope, “AI Satanism”) as unhinged, “timecube-level” rambling used to court religious reactionaries.
• Others argue he’s speaking metaphorically in a Girard/Schmitt-inflected language about authoritarian homogenization and centralized technocracy, but that this metaphor is being flattened into “he’s crazy” by hostile media.
• Several note the irony that his description of the Antichrist resembles his own class of tech oligarchs and global surveillance infrastructure.

Thiel’s Ideology and Political Influence

• Multiple comments connect him to “dark enlightenment” / neo-monarchist ideas: democracy has “run its course,” power should centralize in elite technocrats or “network states.”
• His funding of figures like JD Vance is seen as proof that his worldview is not just talk but being operationalized in U.S. politics.
• Some say he is primarily ideological; others insist it’s about profit with ideology as cover.

Jacobin, Communism, and ‘Both Sides’ Debates

• A big subthread debates whether Jacobin is “literal communism” vs democratic socialism roughly aligned with left-populist U.S. politics.
• People clash over labeling: socialism vs communism, fascism vs “Christian nationalism,” and whether contemporary “tankies” are morally equivalent to far-right authoritarians.
• Historical atrocity scorekeeping (communism vs capitalism) quickly appears; several argue this framing is shallow and mostly pejorative.

Wealth, Power, and the Microphone

• Strong consensus that enormous wealth buys disproportionate attention and political power (campaigns, media, platforms), making it impossible to simply “ignore” Thiel.
• Some defend free-speech absolutism and warn that trying to “take away the microphone” from billionaires easily slides into censorship; others counter that speech isn’t free when amplification is purchaseable and asymmetric.
• Citizens United, oligarchic media ownership, and social networks (including billionaire-owned ones) are cited as core structural problems.

Palantir, AI, and War

• Commenters highlight Palantir’s role in military/AI targeting in Ukraine and Gaza, debating whether this is driven by profit, ideology, or both.
• Several wanted a tighter, more explicit link between Thiel’s eschatology and Palantir’s portfolio than the article provided.

Psychology and Culture of the Ultra-Rich

• Many see Thiel as a traumatized, insulated sociopath enabled by yes-men and LLM-like flattery, emblematic of a class that is hypocritical on culture issues and effectively above the law.
• Others push back on pure ad hominem, arguing that however disturbing his views, they deserve to be engaged and accurately represented rather than caricatured.