Eve is here. This article contains mention of Peter Thiel’s coven, which is not so secret now, because in the coming rebellion it will be the ingenious who will win. Well, if Thiel and his self-proclaimed brilliant friends aren’t thinking seriously about how to protect what they can from modern medicine (imagination! robot-assisted surgery! chemotherapy! stents! joint replacements! drugs galore! saline drips! vaccines!), then they’re not taking the apocalyptic future seriously enough.
By Joscha Abels, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen, and Juliana Tappe Ortiz, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen. Originally published on The Conversation
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
It was recently revealed that tech billionaire Peter Thiel runs a secret society that brings together fellow CEOs, billionaires and political leaders. Its members reportedly include top NATO commander Alexus Grynkewicz and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Mr. Thiel is a German-American entrepreneur and activist who co-founded PayPal and the software company Palantir. Revelations about society, known as “dialogues,” have captured people’s attention. And Thiel himself gave a secret lecture series in San Francisco this year in which he framed issues of politics and technology in biblical terms.
Thiel said he believes humanity faces an existential threat from runaway artificial intelligence (AI) that could lead to nuclear war or “Armageddon.” It is believed that in such apocalyptic times, only the most inventive, such as secret societies, will survive.
Mr. Thiel is an extreme case, but by no means an isolated one. Other powerful figures in politics and technology view today’s world through the lens of civilizational crisis and impending catastrophe.
politics of the end
For centuries, political leaders have often raised fears of decline and collapse. In ancient times, the first Roman emperor, Augustus, championed the narrative that Rome faced moral collapse to justify concentrating power in its own hands. However, current “apocalyptic politics” are different in several aspects. Threats, real and imagined, spread faster than ever before, spread through social media algorithms that support hysteria and conspiracies.
In Silicon Valley, influential figures regularly discuss AI as the event of humanity’s salvation or extinction. Palantir CEO Alex Karp described the AI race as “our Oppenheimer moment,” when the world’s rich countries must decide whether to stop developing dangerous technologies or tip the balance of power in their favor.
But this phenomenon extends beyond the exotic tech world. Doomsday narratives are infiltrating the halls of power as politicians seize opportunities to promote radical politics.
U.S. military officials have filed a number of complaints accusing commanders of using Biblical end-times rhetoric to justify the U.S. attack on Iran. Their leaders reportedly referred to Armageddon and saw the war in Iran as a necessary step to bring about the second coming of Christ.
Use Jesus as a weapon.
This is occurring in a context in which the Trump administration has catered to the Christian right, particularly evangelicals, as a key constituency in its “spiritual warfare.” In particular, U.S. Army Secretary Pete Hegseth portrays himself as God’s instrument in civilization’s existential battle over Christianity.
Hegseth and other key figures reportedly support evangelicals and Christian Zionists in their departments. These cases can be seen as elements of a larger shift in which politicians and business leaders conflate interpretations of Christianity with beliefs about American hegemony.
radical spirit, radical politics
President Trump’s threats against Iran, including his April executive order that “an entire civilization will perish tonight and never rise again,” demonstrate the results of this myth-making. It paves the way for radical politics not only in the United States but also outside the United States.
The Trump administration claimed that Europe was facing continental decline and the “annihilation of civilization” due to immigration and European integration. Similarly, Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has warned that Britain is facing “social collapse”.
Research shows that when people believe they are facing an existential threat, they are more willing to support special measures. It has also been shown that the psychological qualities of political leaders become more important in times of uncertainty. The unanticipated effects of technological and environmental changes create risk and uncertainty. And the danger is when leaders treat opponents, social movements, and minority groups as mythical enemies.
Apocalyptic politics then becomes a struggle over the definition of the ultimate threat to humanity. We are in a time when humanity faces multiple risks. These worldviews ultimately determine how national politics and geopolitics develop.
There’s another reason to pay attention. For most of modern times, the most influential people were elected leaders and state officials. Today, a new type of leader has emerged: a technology company executive with wealth and media influence. Their influence can reach deep into the states, as exemplified by Elon Musk’s role in the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency and SpaceX’s critical role in U.S. global strategy.
For a long time, scholars have explained world politics in terms of institutions and structural relationships, and globalization through business interests. The future of both countries now increasingly depends on the psychology of a small number of politicians and business elites.
End-time leaders will exaggerate certain threats and downplay others. Technology company executives often establish a link between a prosperous future and the need for disruptive innovation. American venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is a proponent of “technological accelerationism,” or the idea that unregulated technological development is the only way to overcome the world’s existential problems.
The challenge is to distinguish between genuine threats and narratives that amplify fear by obscuring more pressing issues. At a time when the debate is saturated with predictions of collapse, it may be more important than ever to focus on risks supported by evidence, such as the climate crisis and the erosion of democratic institutions.
When it comes to whether technology can overcome climate change and bring about world peace, it may be wise not to take the word of tech billionaires at face value. After all, Thiel has been hedging his bets lately between the New Zealand banker and Javier Millay’s Argentine haven.
