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Comment by scw | Hacker News Reader

For someone who espouses libertarian ideas it does seem strange to be investing in companies which erode privacy.

  Libertarianism = max$(Wealth, Freedom)

         dollar  x  your-freedom  = dollar
  max$ {
         dollar  x  my-freedom    = my-freedom

Thiel was just quoted as longing for the good old days when America took on tasks like the interstate highway system and the Manhattan project, so his libertarianism appears to be somewhat selective.

Privacy and liberty are closely related in many situations, but aren't prerequisites for each other (e.g. I'd argue that something like David Brin's Transparent Society provides plenty of liberty with 0 privacy).

I suspect Thiel subscribes to a similar approach (e.g. from his Wikipedia page, a quote: "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.").

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