An Editorial Display by a Billionaire
‘Beyond nuts’: MAGA billionaire’s ‘doozy’ Financial Times editorial draws instant mockery
There are ~ 800 billionaires in the US, twice than what exists in China. The latter of which I think is odd. Apparently, billionaires are given great latitude, going as far as saying ridiculous things. Peter Thiel shows his oddity.
Is the media that afraid of Trump???
The Financial Times on Friday published an editorial written by Donald Trump-supporting billionaire Peter Thiel that drew instant mockery on social media. In case you are thinking Trump wrote this. Nope it was Peter Thiel. Oddly worded and confusing.
In his article, Thiel demanded that the president-elect use his authority to get to the bottom of the COVID-19 pandemic — and compared the opportunity to past governments’ failures to reveal the truth behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the death of billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Many critics were quick to lampoon Thiel for pushing conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination that have been the subject of multiple investigations and have come up with no concrete proof of a widespread plot to murder America’s 35th president.
Do billionaires have that much time to think of conspiracies? Apparently, Peter Thiel does. Is this what a billionaire does once he has made it
Edward Luce, a columnist at the Financial Times, marveled at the column that his own paper decided to publish and Peter Thiel wrote..
“Inside the mind of a Silicon Valley fanatic,” he commented on BlueSky. “Peter Thiel makes Orwellian analogy between today’s liberal democracy and South African apartheid – and calls for a truth and reconciliation commission to uncover the crimes of America’s ‘Ancien regime.’ Beyond nuts.”
“Peter Thiel, if he ever had it, has certainly lost it now,” commented Brookings Institute fellow Quinta Jurecic.
Thiel is just another illustration of the thesis that in humans, the traits of high intelligence and good judgement are unlinked.
Joel:
And one can have excess wealth and be ignorant.
@ Bill,
Yes, history is replete with examples of that (see, e.g., King Louis XVI and Czar Nicholas II).
What I’m getting at is something different. You hear people say “why did they do something so stupid?” My point is, it’s not stupidity, it’s bad judgement. They’re different. You can find very smart people who do very foolish things, and you can find people who aren’t particularly smart but who have very good judgement.
A couple thoughts here. First, something like what Thiel seems to propose is highly likely to happen, so in some months everyone will have another opportunity to discuss this with more information available. I have idea what that information will be. Second, the topic of the origins of COVID can very easily be seen as potentially having much, much greater importance to humanity than apartheid in South Africa did. So, no, I don’t think a “truth and reconciliation” approach is much of a stretch. Again, no idea what will be revealed, if anything new at all, but it’s going to happen and the consequences to the world of the COVID pandemic are sufficient to justify it. Also, just a WAG on the matter; doubt Thiel or tens of millions of others in America or around the world really value Edward Luce’s or Quinta Jurecic’s views on this very much.
@Eric,
The “origin” of COVID is well-known. Bats. Whether it jumped to humans directly from an infected animal in the Wuhan wet market or jumped to humans via an isolate from an infected animal that was being studied at the Wuhan Institute for Virology is impossible to determine. No amount of conspiracy theories, finger-pointing or magical thinking, especially by Pete Theil, can or will change that reality. Furthermore, even if it were knowable, it would have no effect on the pandemic or the world’s response. What will have an effect is the appointment of an anti-vaxxer to head HHS.
Joel:
That is something (on the origin) I had read in the very beginning along with the Wuhan, lab, wet market, etc. thoughts, beliefs, fantasies, etc. If there is a possibility of an anti-vaxxer being in charge, we will face a harsh result. The ignorance beliefs is astounding and the politicians promote this with little care for their constituents.
Thiel can blather all he wants to only because he can afford to be so. The rest of us live in reality.