An Open Letter to Peter Thiel.

Why you failed, and it’s not your fault.

You’ve stated your express goal was to reduce Girardian mimetic violence. You used the funds from PayPal to start Palantir and objectively you’ve saved lives. But the World will never know. People know you more-so for Gawker, an effort to make the World a more fair place.

The Nation-State is indeed the reason for the majority of atrocities in the 20th century. It's ability to mobilize resources & power unparalleled.

You sided with Westphalia to prevent violence, you backed the hall monitor, the biggest bully in the schoolyard to maintain order.

But as Westphalia crumbles, more violence will occur. Ukraine, Hong Kong, the Middle East are just the beginning.

Your efforts don't fully translate into a Post-Westphalian World. The World is shifting back to zero-sum terms at least in the short run.

Even for all that work, you failed. Anyone watching the news can see America burns. The King Bleeds.

Further, technological & social forces that are eroding your gains, crypto, drones, totalitarianism to name just a few. The logic of violence is shifting back to the individual.

So what can be done?

You’ve hedged with seasteading. Even if a failure, seeding the idea of charter cities to be bastions of calm and innovation during chaos is enough.

Backing Elon was also correct, as becoming a multiplanetary species reduces fat tail risk.

Perhaps this was also the point @foundersfund & the Thiel Scholarships, creating more avenues for innovation to prevent catastrophe.

But I don’t know, I don’t read minds, I can only observe. After all I’m just an avatar on the internet.

You can take solace in the fact, yes, on a large global scale you reduced violence. You combatted terrorism and narrative lies.

But as a trendline, violence is shifting to a smaller scale; something that Westphalia cannot handle.

The World is about to enter a period of great turmoil and violence.

You did everything you could, but you can’t fight against the inevitable, against human nature.

For that I’m sorry; because no one is going to like what comes next.