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J.D. VANCE IS SILICON VALLEY’S TROJAN HORSE IN ITS WAR ON WHAT’S
LEFT OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY  
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Todd Fine
July 26, 2024
The Indypendent
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_ For scholars of political ideology who have closely followed tech
billionaire and Palantir founder Peter Thiel over the years, Trump’s
selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate is utterly terrifying. _

J. D. Vance speaking with attendees at the 2021 Southwest Regional
Conference hosted by Turning Point USA in Phoenix, Ariz., Photo: Gage
Skidmore // The Indypendent

 

Anyone paying any attention knows that Vance is a creation of Thiel
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first in business and then in his political career. Aside from
affirming the obscene power of wealth in American politics, with
candidates having NASCAR-style sponsors, Vance’s elevation
represents an urgent threat to the decaying threads of American
democracy.

Thiel, amateur political philosopher, openly states his hatred
of democratic and liberal
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while funding a stable of racist, fascist and authoritarian
intellectuals, activists and artists (a number of them specifically
associated with the Lower East Side/Chinatown haunt “Dimes
Square”). He promotes several lines of fascist political thought —
like Julius Evola’s traditionalism (cast through his latest
interest, “Bronze Age Pervert
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Curtis Yarvin’s monarchism
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the decisionism of Carl Schmitt
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before had significant currency in American politics.

Thiel’s early dreams of establishing libertarian seasteading to
avoid taxes are now morphing into a more vicious plan of action with
his acolyte Balaji Srinivasan’s “Network State
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an ideological vision of a global archipelago of authoritarian
colonies that exploit or invade poor countries, modeled on Zionism and
run on cryptocurrency. 

Vance’s billionaire patron Peter Thiel openly states his hatred
of democratic and liberal politics
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he funds a stable of racist, fascist, and authoritarian intellectuals,
activists, and artists. 

From observing cryptocurrency communities (which have their own forms
of fascist propaganda in NFTs and memecoins), we can discern that
Thiel’s ideologies are now widespread, and no longer obscure. A good
many of the kids are al(t)-right; the “Network State” is becoming
a reality
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Vance, a highly-online millennial, repeatedly echoes many of the
tropes and ideas common in “Silicon Valley Fascism.”
Vance’s Twitter/X 
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reveals a deep interest in the extremist rightwing politics that his
mentor worked for decades to fund and cultivate. He participates
regularly in the series of “National Conservatism
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conferences supported by Thiel, which attempt to foster an American
nationalism that is fully divorced from the liberal ideology of this
country’s founding.

If Trump had any restraint in constructing a more traditional
authoritarian state in his first term (when he rejected most of
Thiel’s suggested cabinet nominations), such hesitations or
incompetencies could evaporate after disciplined maneuvering from
Thiel and Vance. The event of Trump’s impairment, resignation or
death could immediately result in the transition of the American
political system into something very different. 

The alarming question increasingly is why Vance’s selection has not
triggered greater alarm among the institutions and “responsible
people” that anchor the American establishment. Public reporting
indicates that Trump listened to last-minute appeals from tech
billionaires to select Vance. When his selection was announced,
immediate praise
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from right-wing billionaires like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen.

The Democratic Party may be near complete in its adoption of Wall
Street corporatism, but one would hope that this extreme threat
awakens any progressive or New-Deal spirit that remains. Or,
conversely, Vance’s attacks on Wall Street may remind the existing
corporate class that not all business leaders will be protected under
the fascism of a triumphant Silicon-Valley oligarchy.

Vigorous attacks on Silicon-Valley fascism might help mobilize votes
for Harris. Will the campaign offer the American people a serious
crash course into the “Dark Enlightenment” politics, funded by
Thiel and friendly to Putin, that cultivated a Vance?

As a former prosecutor, Harris would be in position to detail
patiently the origins and ideas of the rising fascism, but this tactic
would deviate from the American elite’s general disposition to avoid
broaching the specifics of the increasingly radical and anti-American
politics of the billionaire class. Prior Democratic candidates like
Hillary Clinton acted as though the dangers came only from Russia,
without interrogating the wealthy domestic sympathizers. 

Vance, a highly-online millennial, repeatedly echoes many of the
tropes and ideas common in “Silicon-Valley Fascism.” 

Now, in this emergency, the appropriate reaction is not just to cherry
pick a few sexist or authoritarian comments or soundbites from Vance
with the hope that making fun of him (or his looks) will help Harris
with swing voters. Democrats should move beyond talking vaguely about
“deplorables” or “Project 2025.” 

Opponents of this new fascism must educate the public. A real
anti-fascist front must be built. It is time to be clear and precise,
to return to the New-Deal style of politics that respects the voter
and is brutally honest about the dangers of the Republican opponent.

Democrats have already said plainly that this election is about the
survival of democracy. With the truth of this statement becoming clear
with the section of Vance, it is time to act accordingly.

Through the New Popular Front, the French found a working strategy
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defeat populist fascism. It required calling out the threat accurately
and precisely, building an all-hands-on-deck coalition with leftists
and radicals, and conceding some of the flaws of the status-quo
centrist politics that had enabled massive inequality.

In the United States, a winning strategy requires its own brutal
honesty about where we stand as a nation and what must be done to
mobilize disengaged voters. The current memetic euphoria of “brat
summer
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must shift toward a more disciplined and organized anti-fascist fall.

Facing this imminent danger, leftists and radicals must behave
responsibly and cooperate with liberals and Democrats in the
construction of an anti-fascist front. Leftists and anarchists may be
alienated and discouraged by the fruits of neoliberalism, but they
won’t have any freedom of action at all under right-wing
authoritarianism. They could even be rounded up and imprisoned. 

The dangers of J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel are extreme. As an
intellectual historian of fascism and twentieth-century ideology, I
warn that exaggeration is hardly even possible.

_[TODD FINE is a PhD candidate in history at the Graduate Center of
the City University of New York. He is the President of the Washington
Street Advocacy Group in New York City.]_

_THE INDYPENDENT is a New York City-based newspaper
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