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Worth reading

Back in June of 2025, a retrocomputing-enthusiast YouTuber I hadn't heard of started a series of videos talking about a new project he had embarked on to save the classic computer brand, Commodore. It was a pretty audacious (and expensive) idea, but…

Shared by @topstories and 24 others.

Doug (@doug) · Dec 21

🔁 @bigzaphod:

My Commodore 64 Ultimate review: https://bigzaphod.com/blog/commodore-64-ultimate/

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How AIM taught the internet to chat

theverge.com · Dec 21

On Version History: LOLing, BRBing, and JKing through the early internet.

Shared by @topstories and 7 others.

David Pierce (@imdavidpierce) · Dec 21

This week’s Version History pod is one of the first topics I ever wrote down for the show: AIM, aka the best messaging app ever https://www.theverge.com/podcast/848744/aim-aol-instant-messenger-version-history

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Worth reading

Goodbye to 2025

the-reframe.com · Dec 21

State of the newsletter, an invitation to upgrade, and an end-of-the-year round up of essays.

Shared by @topstories and 7 others.

isotope239 🥸💻🇺🇦😣 (@isotope239) · Dec 21

🔁 @JuliusGoat:

Today I wrote about what it means to write a free newsletter with voluntary subscriptions, and the delicate gift that it is to have a readership, and re-shared 12 essays from the year that was.

https://www.the-reframe.com/goodbye-to-2025/

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Donate to ProPublica

give.propublica.org · Dec 21

Donate today to support ProPublica's singular mission: to produce deep-dive, well-researched, nonpartisan journalism that spurs real-world change.

Shared by @dannotdaniel and 18 others.

Peter Brown (@peterbrown) · Dec 21

🔁 @GrimmReality:

Man, I am old. It is my birthday and people should buy me beers in consolation, except OH NO you are probably not sufficiently proximate to me to buy me a beer so here is an idea, should it appeal to you, take the 3 bucks a beer would cost and please consider giving it to one of these fine organizations that need your patronage far more than I need beer.

ProPublica, because every old-line news institution in America has betrayed us and we need to support actual journalism and NOT that complicit in destroying the republic
https://give.propublica.org/campaign/748664/donate?

The Immigrant Defense Project, because fascism
https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/

Planned Parenthood, because our unaccountable overlords are steadily outlawing reproductive healthcare in order to make women a subject population, because fascism
https://www.weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/KDlEsm4r6EizP0SdpEj8Fg2?fb=true

I know times are shit and money is tight for a lot of us so JUST if you can afford a few bucks - it will be the best damn beer I ever drank, thankyouuuuuuu. Solidarity always.

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Coarse is Better

borretti.me · Dec 21

Make AI weird again.

Shared by @zverik and 12 others.

Stephanie Booth (@stephtara) · Dec 21

https://borretti.me/article/coarse-is-better
Eerie. For people into ai visual generation.

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Worth reading

Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship

theverge.com · Dec 22

Guest host Jon Fortt and The Nerd Reich author Gil Duran on the rise of tech authoritarianism.

Shared by @trendsbot and 10 others.

Ivey Janette McClelland (@IveyJanette) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Trending Bot (@trending) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Martin Holland (@fingolas) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Eye (@grb090423) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Nicole Parsons (@Npars01) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Steve's Place (@steter) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

AI6YR Ben (@ai6yr) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good, but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.
Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords, but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.
Basically, as Duran tells it, we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.
At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.
When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.
“I say it’s inherently anti-American,” Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.
“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.
They’re pretty explicit about this point.”
Marc Andreesen, for example, in his 2023 "Techno-Optimist Manifesto", argues that an unregulated tech industry, not democracy, is the key to unlocking the “ultimate open society.”
Andreessen’s enemies, he says in no uncertain terms, are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”
As a sneak preview of things to come, Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.
The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes, US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s to curb the excesses of robber barons,
winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.
Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.
Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)
“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.
“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.
Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.
The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many, not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Chuck Darwin (@cdarwin) · Dec 22

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Null Hypothesis (@null_hypothesis) · Dec 22

🔁 @cdarwin:

Tech journalist Gil Duran outlines a disturbing theory
that a growing number of Silicon Valley elites are pursuing a vision of power
not rooted in the common good,
but in profit, feudal hierarchy, and total control of the platforms that define daily life for hundreds of millions of people.

Duran dubs this emerging ideology the “Nerd Reich”
— a slurry of right-wing ideas championed by ruthless tech overlords like
Palantir founder Peter Thiel,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk,
venture capitalist Marc Andreessen,
and cryptocurrency titan Brian Armstrong,
with some OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sprinkled in for good measure.

Drawing on the reactionary writings of
Curtis “Mencius Moldbug” Yarvin and the
cryptolibertarianism of tech investor Balaji Srinivasan,
this philosophy isn’t explicitly outlined by our billionaire overlords,
but is nonetheless a useful framework that explains their increasingly undemocratic actions.

Basically, as Duran tells it,
we’re quickly marching into the dictatorship erected by a handful of the richest tycoons in the history of humankind.

At the core of the Nerd Reich is the insistence that liberal democracy,
the governmental system characterized by rule of law,
is set to collapse any minute now.

When that happens, the billionaire cabal hopes to be ready.

“I say it’s inherently anti-American,”
Duran told the Verge’s Jon Fortt.

“It sees a post-United States world where, instead of democracy, we will have basically tech feudalism
— fiefdoms run by tech corporations.

They’re pretty explicit about this point.”

Marc Andreesen,
for example,
in his 2023
"Techno-Optimist Manifesto",
argues that an unregulated tech industry,
not democracy,
is the key to unlocking the
“ultimate open society.”

Andreessen’s enemies,
he says in no uncertain terms,
are pesky ideas like
“sustainability,”
“trust and safety,”
“tech ethics,”
and “social responsibility.”

As a sneak preview of things to come,
Duran points out that these men are already investing billions into network-state schemes,
lobbying for “freedom cities,”
and using their platforms to erode trust in public institutions.

Political theorists of all stripes have long argued that when economic power is concentrated,
political power follows.

The immediate lesson of Duran’s Nerd Reich is that
these billionaire ideologues are actively investing in a future
where their immense wealth buys not just influence over elected politicians
— as is arguably the case today
— but the rule of law itself.

Yet, Duran notes,
US workers once organized throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s
to curb the excesses of robber barons,

winning the labor rights many of us enjoy today.

Unfortunately, those hard-fought victories have been purposefully eroded over decades of
union busting,
outsourcing,
and legal campaigns
— an effort which continues to this day.

Zooming out a bit, Duran’s analysis of the present day finds us in a remarkably similar situation
— if corporate rule is allowed to sink its teeth any further into our institutions,
democracy as we view it could become a historical footnote
(if it hasn’t already, as some political scientists have argued.)

“We have a bunch of CEOs telling us that AI is going to get rid of millions and millions of jobs,” Duran argues.

“Well, what’s going to happen to those people who can no longer work?
What is their future?
What is the future of their children?
What does democracy look like when you don’t get to eat unless someone like Elon Musk is approving of your existence?”

Unless you’re a billionaire tech CEO, the stakes Duran lays out are clear.

Behind the hyped-up rhetoric of “innovation” lies an age-old project:
the wealthy elite reshaping society in their own image.

The antidote is also old:
democratic resistance and politics built around in the material needs of the many,
not the dystopian fantasies of a wealthy few.
https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/707010/gil-duran-the-nerd-reich-tech-billionaires-authoritarianism-dictator

Hide

Betty Reid Soskin, nation's oldest park ranger, has died. She was 104

richmondside.org · Dec 22

Betty Reid Soskin, one of the nation's most iconic park rangers, died peacefully at her home in Richmond on Sun., Dec. 21, 2025. She was 104.

Shared by @null_hypothesis and 14 others.

Annother (@Avonan) · Dec 22

🔁 @mazz:

Betty Reid Soskin, 104. “Rosie the Riveter” for the East Bay. Rest in power. May her memory be for a blessing.
https://richmondside.org/2025/12/21/betty-reid-soskin-oldest-park-ranger-has-died-at-104/

Hide

Worth reading

Our favorite stuff of 2025

theverge.com · Dec 21

In this week’s Installer: a lot of good stuff from a truly bonkers year.

Shared by @jcrabapple and 3 others.

The Verge (@theverge) · Dec 21

Our favorite stuff of 2025 https://thever.ge/Ew6g #Installer #Gadgets #Apps #Tech

Hide

Bad Evidence Got Him Indicted for Murder. He Waited 7 Years to Walk Free.

propublica.org · Dec 21

Justine Paul was accused of killing his girlfriend, Eunice Whitman. In Alaska’s slow-motion criminal justice system, he was kept behind bars even as the evidence against him fell apart.