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Peter Thiel's fourth Antichrist lecture, "The New Rome," opens up with some reflections on the city.
He argues that their persistence, as compared to companies and people, means "they are immortal beings"—he likens them to angels, demons, principalities, and powers (an Ephesians 6:12 reference).
The mistake someone like him makes, he says, is imagining that a city like San Francisco will eventually kill itself.
Discussing his time on the board of Facebook/Meta, Thiel recalls a stubborn Mark Zuckerberg absorbing the idea that his company, though powerful, is mortal. By comparison, Thiel says, getting SF to clean up the human waste in its streets is like negotiating with a demon.
The investor argues that world cities are synecdoches for world empire.
He quotes from the introduction of conservative revolutionary Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West." Here's some of the relevant language and additional context from Spengler; Spengler argues that, across different times and places, the point at which culture hardens into civilization is marked by the rise of "the parasitical city dweller, traditionless, utterly matter-of-fact, religionless, clever, unfruitful."
A quick hit: Peter Thiel ended his fourth Antichrist lecture here in Nashville by encouraging Nashvilleans to get over what he calls their “mild inferiority complex,” urging them not to leave finance and politics to others.
His “apocalyptic conclusion,” he says, is there are very, very few places willing to host such a talk, and he was heartened to see people turn up.
He argues that Nashville is something like a global center for Protestantism—what he calls the center of a religion with no center—and exhorts the people of Nashville to fight. If you give up on the battle of ideas, he says, you’ll lose.
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Nathan Worcester retweeted
Could Jared Golden (who opted not to run for reelection) pull a Haley Stevens and endorse Susan Collins over Troy Jackson (as @realMGHein wonders)?
Golden's 2018/2022 opponent, former rep Bruce Poliquin, tells me he doesn't see it.
"He has enough problems with the crazies."
It was hard to top the Cornyn staffer jumping ship to Talarico's campaign, but this has been an interesting midterm cycle.
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Nathan Worcester retweeted
Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.
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It was hard to top the Cornyn staffer jumping ship to Talarico's campaign, but this has been an interesting midterm cycle.
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Nathan Worcester retweeted
Maybe Jared Golden endorses Susan Collins tomorrow (Monday)?
I mean, Golden was a staffer for Collins back in the day. It's not out of the realm of possibility.
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Nathan Worcester retweeted
OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT: Worcester County, Maryland.
Atlantic Ocean beaches, farmland, delicious seafood.
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Nathan Worcester retweeted
“Excuse me, I'm from Maine. I'm going to swear a lot”
Trina Metcalf hates a “harassing and new” barrage of campaign ads, text messages, and door knockers
She has a low opinion of both Troy Jackson and Sen. Susan Collins, though she prefers one
“No matter what, we’ll lose”
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Will Sen. Susan Collins fend off Troy Jackson in Maine?
I told @mattgaetz that 2020 could offer some clues.
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Nathan Worcester retweeted
NEW: Noah Casey Sullivan, the son of Dan J. Sullivan, who filed to run as a Republican against GOP incumbent Sen. Dan Scott Sullivan, is a registered Democrat who works as a field representative for Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s (D-WA)
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Nathan Worcester retweeted
🚨NEW: @RepMaryMiller leads 44 lawmakers — including many HFC members — in demanding the 2030 Census count ONLY U.S. citizens for apportionment.
The Constitution is clear: the Census exists to count citizens for representation. Nothing more.
Restore it.
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