<story><title>Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team</title><url>https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/peter-thiel-join-trump-transition-team-dan-primack</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jbpetersen</author><text>Any specific highlights?</text></item><item><author>kafkaesq</author><text>&lt;i&gt;Thiel has some extremish views, but I generally regard him as intelligent and thoughtful.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;He seems intelligent and thoughtful, but has scarily extremist views&amp;quot; might be a better angle to take.</text></item><item><author>darawk</author><text>This is good news, I think? Thiel has some extremish views, but I generally regard him as intelligent and thoughtful. And he&amp;#x27;s in close contact with other smart, influential people (e.g. Musk, Sam Altman, etc.), which gives them some indirect influence.&lt;p&gt;Not that this makes things substantially better. But maybe a little bit? Hopefully?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kafkaesq</author><text>In addition to what others have said:&lt;p&gt;His head-over-heels support for a decidedly anti-libertarian candidate like Trump is in itself quite extremist.  This has always been one of the standard tools for (crypto-)fascists and closet authoritarians of all ilks to get into positions of influence -- by using people of nominally &amp;quot;opposing&amp;quot; viewpoints as, in effect, wedge instruments to disrupt the system as violently as possible -- and then step into the emergent vacuum.&lt;p&gt;And somewhat secondarily, there are the antics of his pals at the Seasteading Institute in blatantly courting partnership with the government in Honduras (basically the most murderous government left in the hemisphere) in order to set up a libertarian microstate in the heart of certain piece of &amp;quot;jungle&amp;quot; that just so happens to also be claimed by one of the region&amp;#x27;s poorest and most ill-treated ethnic groups.&lt;p&gt;Thiel&amp;#x27;s own role in this venture (if any) is unclear -- but his association with the SSI (and the principle actors in this &amp;quot;venture&amp;quot;) is well-established.</text></comment>
<story><title>Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team</title><url>https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/peter-thiel-join-trump-transition-team-dan-primack</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jbpetersen</author><text>Any specific highlights?</text></item><item><author>kafkaesq</author><text>&lt;i&gt;Thiel has some extremish views, but I generally regard him as intelligent and thoughtful.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;He seems intelligent and thoughtful, but has scarily extremist views&amp;quot; might be a better angle to take.</text></item><item><author>darawk</author><text>This is good news, I think? Thiel has some extremish views, but I generally regard him as intelligent and thoughtful. And he&amp;#x27;s in close contact with other smart, influential people (e.g. Musk, Sam Altman, etc.), which gives them some indirect influence.&lt;p&gt;Not that this makes things substantially better. But maybe a little bit? Hopefully?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>randycupertino</author><text>He doesn&amp;#x27;t believe in global warming, for one.</text></comment>