> claims to be libertarian
> starts a billion dollar company that helps the government spy on people, become FBI informant
Ironic.
> starts a billion dollar company that helps the government spy on people, become FBI informant
Ironic.
Or maybe, simply, just more impulsive.
Not all libertarians are anarchists, that is a faction but not the majority IMO.
I would overhaul the law enforcement apparatus in my ideal society. But their current existence would not prevent me from providing information to them and asking for assistance if the reason was justified.
People calling Peter Thiel a hypocrite are wrong.
Because history has proven our people in power seldom demonstrate benevolence nor competence to solve the average citizens problems.
So there's no hypocrisy here. However, the Insider article is clearly designed as an attack piece on Thiel, and is probably written by people who don't understand what libertarianism is - a very common issue with those who attack it.
Don’t libertarians usually want less gun control?
I think if you want to argue hypocrisy that's still a better place to start than with being an FBI informant, but the article isn't about gun control.
I agree, but have a clarification I'd like to make: many forms of anarchism are in a superset of libertarianism.
That's not necessarily antithetic. Although you could make the rationale that doing such a company reinforces the power of the government, and therefore creates a bigger government which would be against libertarian ideals
> ruins press outlet that used too much free speech by burning them with lawsuits
Is it your honest opinion that all libertarians are supposed to be ethically okay with outing someone's sexuality or posting revenge porn tapes? If so, why?
It is my honest opinion that Thiel is a hypocrite and is a libertarian only if and when it's convenient to him.
In this quote, he's letting himself off the hook for undermining the First Amendment protection of the press, which he also did covertly, btw, by claiming that his targets were not journalists when they were.
I'm not saying they weren't scumbags for publishing what they did, but he doesn't get to have it both ways. That's the point.
"Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences"?
A lot of us are simply interested in promoting and continuing to evolve and understand that well-reasoned ideology. We feel its application can improve the human condition.
The term "libertarian" changed a lot over time, from socialist libertarianism to far-right libertarianism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_libertarian_thinke... Here we are talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism and check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism#Analysis_an...
The "bad apples" phrase is often (usually?) misused. The whole saying is: "One bad apple spoils the barrel". In general, it refers to corruption, and especially bent coppers. Here in the UK, we recently had the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police saying that the rash of rapists in the Met is just "a few bad apples".
It's not just a question of taint; if you leave the "bad apples" in there, you'll end up with no good apples at all.
Hypocrisy is not limited to certain groups, pretty much all people are hypocritical at times.
But you have reminded me to do a self-assessment, find all of the hypocrisy I can, and correct it.
All groups have hypocrisy where people push for others to aim for lofty goals, but fight tooth and nail to not have their local community pay the costs. Left, right, authoritarians, anarchists, etc.
Most folks already know that, but I just want to point it out since I personally identify as left libertarian.
When stuff looked a bit iffy, he bought citizenship in New Zealand as a bolt hole. The free market dictates that such things are possible.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/indepth/national/how-peter-thiel-...
FBI does counter intelligence as its primary mission anyway (as opposed to just law enforcement) and Thiel seems to be concerned with China, not using the gov as a weapon against citizens domestically.
Does that make taxation a core part of being a libertarian as well? To pay for vital government services?
Colloquially, anarcho-capitalism is sometimes also referred to as libertarianism. Those who subscribe to anarcho-capitalism believe in stateless societies, of which taxation would be incompatible. However, Thiel purports to be a libertarian in the stricter sense. This usage is not applicable here.