Excerpts and comments: "Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist"

 

Here are some excerpts from The Guardian article "Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist." My comments are in square brackets. I read this and started out laughing at (and copying) the merely comical. By the end, not so much.

 

"'I'm a libertarian, or a classical liberal, who deviates in one minor detail, where I'm worried about the antichrist,' Thiel said during his third lecture...." [In other words, most "classical liberals" aren't so worried about the Antichrist, but he is. This was in a THIRD lecture, mind you]

"Tickets for the series went for $200, selling out within hours...." [Most of the audience was young men -- who not only had nothing better to do, not only had $200 to blow on something like this, but WANTED to go and listen to what Peter Thiel had to say on this topic -- ???]

"The Silicon Valley heavyweight drew on a wide swath of religious thinkers, including the French-American theorist René Girard, whom Thiel knew at Stanford University, and the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt, whose work he said helped create the core of his own beliefs. He credited the English Catholic theologian John Henry Newman as the inspiration for his four-part series, saying: 'Newman did four, so I'm doing four. I'm happy about it.'" [He gave the same number of lectures that John Henry Newman did, so now they’re even and he’s happy about it. It’s not often -- or, at least it didn’t USED to be -- that "religious thinkers" can include a "Nazi jurist." That the "work" of the "jurist" in question "helped create the core of {Thiel's} own beliefs" needs no further comment]

"In recent months, he has spoken to theologians and podcasters about the antichrist both publicly and in private...." [Because, why WOULDN'T you talk to a podcaster along with theologians on this subject?]

"Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: 'It's become quite difficult to hide one's money....'" [Personally, I can't get a goddam prescription filled without the Antichrist screwing things up]

 

[Peter Thiel says]  "When I met [Benjamin] Netanyahu early in 2024, about a year and a half ago, we talked about what he's doing in Gaza, and the one-liner he had was: 'I can't just Dresdenize Gaza -- you can't just firebomb them.' So it's like, come on, 'I'm less of a war criminal than Winston Churchill. Why am I in so much trouble?' " [Hmmmm, where to even start, but obviously there WAS "only" firebombing "them" -- and that it has all been reduced to the terms of a "one-liner" says all there is to say about the horrific unrighteousness of all that we’ve seen]

[Peter Thiel says]  "The US world police is the one truly sovereign country. They always say the president is the mayor of the US and the dictator of the world."  [This man is, technically, insane. Or high on glue]

[Peter Thiel says]  "I'm sort of always in favor of maximal free speech, but my one concrete test is whether I can talk about the antichrist. If I can't, that’s too restrictive."

Only A Conspiracy Theory?

 

1.

Suppose you were the owner of a team in the National Football League that had not had much success for a long time. And, after recently going to considerable lengths to find such success, you recognized that your franchise once again had to start over to somehow try to be competitive. So, you hit upon the idea of "tanking" to rebuild; that is, deliberately losing games to get higher picks in the draft. But other owners and "the League office" itself can't see you doing that overtly, as they frown upon that. (The National Basketball Association instituted its draft lottery system due to that very issue -- NBA teams can deliberately tank but have no guarantee of getting the highest possible draft picks.)

Given that, what might you do?

You could start by hiring some new staff -- general manager, head coach, and position coaches -- without much or any experience in those positions. Your general manager might be in on it with you; that is, he could collude with you in helping to tank a season (or seasons?). Even your head coach could be in on it, although it seems best (more plausible) if he is sincerely able to tell everyone week after week that "they" are doing their best to try to win games. ("They" as in “the whole organization,” without him knowing it’s only him, his coaching staff, and the players trying to win games.)

Another important thing would be to get rid of players (by various means) who might help you win games. That could look like "dumping salaries" and "acquiring draft capital." (Which is, of course, part of the rationale, but the point is that it will help in losing games if you lack the talent to compete.)

 

2.

I believe I have just described the New York Jets of 2025.

Woody Johnson hired a new General Manager (Darren Mougey) and a new Head Coach, Aaron Glenn. The Glenn hiring looked mighty appealing. He’d recently had success as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions and was a tough-minded coach cut from the Bill Parcells-Sean Payton "coaching tree." More importantly, he was a former Jet -- an outstanding defensive back -- who played when Parcells returned the franchise to respectability in the 1990s.

In the player roster area, things started well enough. Of course, getting rid of Aaron Rodgers didn't sit well with everyone, but what a distraction full of drama that had all been. The Jets ran the ball well in 2024, when they ran it. (Compare the Cincinnati Bengals and Zac Taylor's distaste for the running game, no matter how effective it can be.) Jeff Ulbrich spent the remainder of his interim head coaching opportunity giving Aaron Rodgers every chance to win games using mostly his wits, his arm, and Davante Adams.

The Jets' 2025 draft made sense, in that their picks were not bad as such. They got several promising players -- a couple of defensive backs and a tight end whose father and maternal uncle were great NFL players. And they used their first pick on Armand Membou, an exceptional prospect who may bookend with Olu Fashanu as the Jets’ offensive tackles for the next few years. Then again, some thought Membou made more sense at right guard, due to his height, which would have freed Alijah Vera-Tucker to return to left guard, his original position as a rookie. (Moved to make room for Laken Tomlinson’s two scintillating seasons, and used at tackle due to other injuries, he has dealt with injuries himself ever since, and now has three of five seasons wiped out.)

I might say that the Jets could have traded the seventh overall pick to (let's say) the Bengals and gotten more draft picks while drafting (let's say) Jaxson Dart, quarterback from the University of Mississippi. And they could have used their next pick on Darius Alexander, a defensive tackle, to potentially pair with Quinnen Williams. I might say that, because it was my mock draft scenario for the Jets; instead, the New York Giants got Abdul Carter, traded back into the first round to pick Dart, and then took Alexander with the first pick in Round 3. (At least I had the city right – but, incidentally, I am a life-long Washington fan.)

By August, the Jets were scouring the entire planet to find some defensive tackle who might be able to help. (They'd signed Derrick Nnadi as an Unrestricted Free Agent and were so impressed that they traded him back to the Chiefs.) And, of course, at this point, the Jets are gun-shy about drafting any quarterback. Jaxson Dart may have seemed too much of a gamble after Zach Wilson, Sam Darnold, Geno Smith, and ...... Christian Hackenberg? If it seems like you have no idea how to pick a quarterback or develop one, you're probably doing the right thing by no longer trying to.

 

3.

I got the idea to write this once it struck me that something might be very off aside from the Jets’ 0-7 record. Aaron Glenn was unusually firm not only about the status of Justin Fields but especially that of offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand. Whether it was only stubbornness -- or admirable stoicism in a tough situation -- was hard to tell. But the idea hit me: this could be how you go about losing now to (hopefully) gain in the future. Engstrand had never been an offensive coordinator before; I have no idea if he'd ever called plays before. As his special teams coordinator, Glenn hired Chris Banjo, who had never been one before.

The Jets went into the season with Justin Fields as their first-string quarterback (and Tyrod Taylor as an experienced journeyman backup). Fields is a former first-round draft pick reclamation project who looked more promising than Trey Lance at this point. And, to complement Garrett Wilson, the Jets acquired ............. Josh Reynolds -- a nice third receiver (flanker/slot receiver) on a packed team, but not the most credible prospect to take attention off Wilson. And they hung onto Allen Lazard, picked up former Charger Tyler Johnson, and drafted Arian Smith. Not the most inspiring scenario. All of this seemed to indicate that they were willing to settle for less.

They traded Michael Carter, a fine but occasionally injured nickel back, and shortly thereafter, of course, sent off Quinnen Williams and cornerback Sauce Gardner. That doesn’t seem like a good way to improve your defense, or even to build one for the future. But it could be a highly effective way of continuing to lose games (while keeping key players on offense?).

As a Washington fan, I've recently seen what a complete teardown looks like. Once they were winning, I had to say they must know what they're doing. It doesn't look so great now, but my perspective may be influenced by seeing the young franchise quarterback running the ball in the middle of the third quarter (down 30-7) with several large men in Seahawks uniforms bouncing him around. (In other words, I wouldn’t have had Jayden Daniels in running plays at that point.) But the Washington situation was obvious and plausible, part of a changeover in culture and the possibility that "prior management" may not have had the best players. That's not easy to say with the Jets. The players themselves responded recently by winning two games in a row. Brandon Stephens has played his butt off this season; Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood always have. It's not as if talent -- let alone effort -- was lacking.

And that's why I'm inclined to say what's going on seems more surreptitious (which is another way of saying it’s underhanded, I guess). Tanking presents plenty of problems, but at least one can argue for its rationale; even jettisoning your best players to make it harder to compete makes sense. The real question is whether the coaching staff is in on it, especially Aaron Glenn. It would be unfair to them if they were hired in anticipation of their failure. But if your new head coach happens to be black, that might be important for Woody Johnson once the coach fails, as expected. Johnson can say, "See, I hired a black coach -- I gave 'one' a chance. And now it's time to move on with a shiny new .…. coach.”