Thank you Chris! I do think it’s a coordinated effort by tech elites to undermine democracy. While they haven't explicitly declared themselves part of the Dark Enlightenment movement, many of their beliefs and actions align with its principles. I do believe the real clash in our government will be between the tech elites and Christian nationalists. Although there’s some overlap in their ideologies, I think their differences, coupled with competing egos, will eventually lead to significant conflict.
Great article. I believe the slide away from democracy has been under way for decades, triggered by people like Ayn Rand and then James Buchanan with public choice theory. The tech bros, and the neocons, justify their philosophy based on the deeply anti-social morality promulgated by Rand and her acolytes. You see the start of this in the 1980s with the arrival of Thatcher in the UK and then Reagan in the US. Both led economic revolutions that labelled government involvement in markets as anathema, the right of the individual as paramount to that of society with Thatcher claiming in one interview there was no such thing as ‘society, only individuals’. Theil et al don’t believe in the social contract between state and individual implicit in a democracy. The big question now is ‘what happens to America? No one knows, but it will never be the same.
Thank you Andrew! I completely agree that the U.S. has been on a downward trajectory since Reagan. His shift toward anti-social, market-first policies prioritized privatization, deregulation, and corporate interests over public welfare. We’re still living with the consequences today all in the name of "free markets." Sadly, time will only tell, and relatively soon, what happens to America. But it’s not going to be good. We’re already seeing the impacts of these choices, not just here but in how the rest of the world is responding to us.
Fantastic insights - this is really concerning. Do you think is it co-ordinated takedown of democracy or emergent from their individual beliefs?
Thank you Chris! I do think it’s a coordinated effort by tech elites to undermine democracy. While they haven't explicitly declared themselves part of the Dark Enlightenment movement, many of their beliefs and actions align with its principles. I do believe the real clash in our government will be between the tech elites and Christian nationalists. Although there’s some overlap in their ideologies, I think their differences, coupled with competing egos, will eventually lead to significant conflict.
Great article. I believe the slide away from democracy has been under way for decades, triggered by people like Ayn Rand and then James Buchanan with public choice theory. The tech bros, and the neocons, justify their philosophy based on the deeply anti-social morality promulgated by Rand and her acolytes. You see the start of this in the 1980s with the arrival of Thatcher in the UK and then Reagan in the US. Both led economic revolutions that labelled government involvement in markets as anathema, the right of the individual as paramount to that of society with Thatcher claiming in one interview there was no such thing as ‘society, only individuals’. Theil et al don’t believe in the social contract between state and individual implicit in a democracy. The big question now is ‘what happens to America? No one knows, but it will never be the same.
Thank you Andrew! I completely agree that the U.S. has been on a downward trajectory since Reagan. His shift toward anti-social, market-first policies prioritized privatization, deregulation, and corporate interests over public welfare. We’re still living with the consequences today all in the name of "free markets." Sadly, time will only tell, and relatively soon, what happens to America. But it’s not going to be good. We’re already seeing the impacts of these choices, not just here but in how the rest of the world is responding to us.