Topic: When I was a kid, nerds were ridiculed. Now they rule the world.
Anonymous A started this discussion 3 weeks ago#137,145
And humanity benefits. A coterie of secluded, paranoid, narcissistic dweebs who misread Asimov and Tolkien, and who correctly read Ayn Rand, determine our governance, what we see, how we’re observed and monetized, while profit taking and investing in bugout shelters abroad.
Rand is trash. It’s all exposition through dialogue and the world savior heroes Asimov warned about in Foundation.
But they read what they want to. Look at The Wall. Pink Floyd had some anti-fascist message but some chose to view it as a drugged out rocker redeeming himself through fascism and all of the film’s later iconography was adopted by Hammerskin Nation skinheads.
Mr. Bloody Lemonade !0JqexkOGBc double-posted this 3 weeks ago, 7 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,667
I don’t really understand Peter Thiel honestly. On YouTube I came across some of his talks at Stanford. It seems like he has two modes: business and politics. His stances on business aren’t really based on what’s good for society, it’s based on what’s good for a company. So if you’re a business owner, he definitely has some ideas for how to manipulate whatever market you’re in for your own benefit at the expense of other producers and also consumers ("competition is for losers" / openly advocating for monopoly over perfect competition.) His political views are sorta… strange. On the one hand he has this whole thing against diversity and he’s a conservative, but then on the other hand he’s gay and he says some outta pocket stuff about Orthodox Christianity’s only problem with transgenderism being that it doesn’t go far enough and we should strive for immortality on Earth with technology.
I was just listening to him talk thinking about it, if I was as rich as he is, I can’t imagine having the desire to stand around at a university and yap about political rhetoric. I’d probably be doing something more fun.
Mr. Bloody Lemonade !0JqexkOGBc triple-posted this 3 weeks ago, 3 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,668
You also know the only reason why he’s on an NYT podcast is because he’s rich and he wanted to be on it. That’s the vibe I’m getting here. Is anyone really that interested in what Peter Thiel has to say? Is he really some popular intellectual thought leader, or is he just some rich guy.
Mr. Bloody Lemonade !0JqexkOGBc quadruple-posted this 3 weeks ago, 1 minute later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,669
I mean heck if I was on that podcast I could yap about something I don’t know anything about and the response would probably be more positive with zero media training.
Mr. Bloody Lemonade !0JqexkOGBc quintuple-posted this 3 weeks ago, 6 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,670
Apparently he also is friends with Sam Altman. Which makes Elon Musk confusing too, because Elon Musk was friends with two gay guys but disowned his child for being trans? That’s pretty weird.
Mr. Bloody Lemonade !0JqexkOGBc octuple-posted this 3 weeks ago, 4 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,673
Could you imagine being in a Ukrainian or a Polish village when the Nazis roll in on tanks and then you’re worried what they’re going to do to the women and children, and then you see them raise a pride flag.
> Although, gay fascism, I mean, straight fascism is bad enough, imagine gay fascism. Now that’s terrifying.
Fascism sort of goes full circle with its heroic realism aesthetic that idealizes the male form. Look at images of heroic realism and Nazism and it’s basically gay porn posters and statues.
Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 3 weeks ago, 15 minutes later, 6 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,675
@previous (E)
Ngl, I had a German film class (thought it would be interesting) and after we watched Triumph of the Will we watched some documentary about the director Leni Riefenstahl and how after the war she tried improving her image by taking pictures of naked tribal people in Africa and we had to read through her yapping about how "these men don’t even care about women they just want to be good at fighting blah blah blah." It really does go full circle. Hanging out with Adolf Hitler filing Nazi rallies to taking pictures of naked black guys in Africa.
Anonymous F double-posted this 3 weeks ago, 5 minutes later, 6 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,676
The most amazing thing about Triumph of the Will is how they managed to turn a bunch of guys standing around with flags at one rally in Nuremberg into almost a two hour film. It honestly feels like the whole thing could have been summarized in 10 minutes.
Anonymous F triple-posted this 3 weeks ago, 15 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,453,677
It’s interesting how no modern authoritarian governments have quite that same dynamic of genuine popular support by a radicalized population. It’s actually kinda disturbing that it’s possible for that many people to be that taken by a psychopathic megalomaniac.
> It’s interesting how no modern authoritarian governments have quite that same dynamic of genuine popular support by a radicalized population. It’s actually kinda disturbing that it’s possible for that many people to be that taken by a psychopathic megalomaniac.
The modern iterations are boring. They’re oligarchies with mass surveillance and targeted violence. The tone is a little lazy. Totalitarian governments sought to control everything. Modern autocrats just need most people to stand down and shut up. “The Nazi Seizure of Power” is one of the best works on this. It focuses on Thalburg and how the Nazis seized control of every single civic and fraternal and youth organization. Now, the autocrats just get a rich buddy to buy up and re-staff a TV station or newspaper.
You still get some stalwarts like the Jan. 6 rioters or the Bolsinaro trash who tried the same. But it’s not a groundswell of populism like before.