America Doesn’t Need a Caesar. Founding Principles Will Help Solve Today’s Challenges

For a man who has devoted much of his time in public life to calling for and promoting innovation, Peter Thiel seems content to repeat things. In a recent interview with Mary Harrington at Un H erd, Thiel revisits many of his favorite themes. Society is stagnating. The theoretical problems of new technology are less worthy of concern than the actual problems of social stasis. We need a better, more concrete vision for the future of civilization. And we need better sci-fi. Etc. Last summer, I touched on these and other questions in an essay about Thiel’s worldview. Rather than, like Thiel, repeating myself, I will simply link to it here.

Thiel is repetitive because the world hasn’t changed enough to his liking. But this ignores substantial changes. One of the most striking in the political arena is the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision. This act surprised, among others, presumably Peter Thiel, who in 2017 said, “even if you appointed a whole series of conservative Supreme Court justices, I’m not sure that Roe v. Wade would get overturned, ever.” (National Review was thrilled but less surprised, having long sought that outcome.)

About the Author

Jack Butler

Jack Butler is a former submissions editor at National Review.

Featured Tags

Declaration of Independence

For a man who has devoted much of his time in public life to calling for and promoting innovation, Peter Thiel seems content to repeat things. In a recent interview with Mary Harrington at Un H erd, Thiel revisits many of his favorite themes. Society is stagnating. The theoretical problems of new technology are less worthy of concern than the actual problems of social stasis. We need a better, more concrete vision for the future of civilization. And we need better sci-fi. Etc. Last summer, I touched on these and other questions in an essay about Thiel’s worldview. Rather than, like Thiel, repeating myself, I will simply link to it here.

Thiel is repetitive because the world hasn’t changed enough to his liking. But this ignores substantial changes. One of the most striking in the political arena is the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision. This act surprised, among others, presumably Peter Thiel, who in 2017 said, “even if you appointed a whole series of conservative Supreme Court justices, I’m not sure that Roe v. Wade would get overturned, ever.” (National Review was thrilled but less surprised, having long sought that outcome.)