You think Trump was bad?

Ahn Byong-jin

The author is a professor of the Global Academy for Future Civilizations, Kyung Hee University.

An American endlessly expresses his hatred toward the United Stares. He is Peter Thiel, a German-born American billionaire-investor and technology entrepreneur. Thiel is a Silicon Valley disrupter who found PayPal with Elon Musk and co-authored “Zero to One,” a holy book for start-ups with helpful tips to succeed in the digital age. Thiel and Musk come from the same PayPal mafia, or executives of the digital pay pioneer in the 1990s, who have become incredibly successful with their separate enterprises.

So why does someone who has enjoyed the best of America want to see the country burn? Thiel is not raging against America, but against the so-called deep state, an alleged secret and unauthorized network that controls the United States. He is overtly anti-Google, Biden and the Democratic Party, and Ivy League universities. Thiel thinks the liberal mainstream colluded with China and betrayed U.S. national interests. He compared Biden to Philippe Petain, head of Vichy France, collaborators with Nazi Germany. At universities, the deep state fear is part of the ultra-right perspective on non-mainstream liberal thoughts of Carl Schmitt, Leo Strauss and Rene Girard to breed an avid abhorrence of liberalism and feminism.

The Trump phenomenon should not simply be regarded as a revolt by White workers in the Rust Belt, with Silicon Valley at the opposite side and a support base for the Democratic Party. The Valley used to be a hotbed for new ideas. According to “The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power,” a 2021 book by Max Chafkin, a writer and editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, the Valley has turned more like Palantir Technologies, the secretive data mining and software company Thiel founded and makes a fortune from by selling surveillance technology to the FBI, U.S. Defense Department, and agencies around the world. The generous Republican donor mingles with extreme rightist politicians like Steve Bannon and now sends his pupils and allies to elections. Thiel is said to have spent millions to help his longtime friend J.D. Vance win a Senate seat for Ohio in upcoming midterm elections.

Trump rebidding for presidency could be less worrisome. American democracy still has the leeway to handle mavericks like Trump. But dealing with people like Thiel, who can use Trump for the benefit of his company Palantir and experiment with his ultra-right perspective, can be harder. Thiel has extraordinary insight to foresee the confusions and technologies needed for the future, astronomical riches, and an unchanging Fascist view. He had sensed a looming global crisis in 2007 when the U.S. economy was intoxicated with a boom. He bet on Trumpism from 2010.

Thiel has said, “I’d rather be seen as evil than incompetent.” He deplores outsized government and yet boasts of cozy relations with the state. He can be a conniving schemer to destroy an opponent. He privately shared his idea about supporting the Democrats to win elections to make them pursue reckless policies to the extent of inviting a military coup.

Giorgia Meloni became Italy’s first far-right leader since World War II. Like Meloni, Thiel is an avid fan of the “Lord of the Rings.” Palantir was named after the mystical, all-seeing stone in the “Lord of the Rings.” Thiel may not be successful with his new bet, but if political forces or individuals under his patronage become the U.S. leadership, we could face a scary future. We probably may see Thiel’s Big Brother capitalism versus digital Stalinism under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Worrying about Biden’s protectionism and Trump’s return should be less of a worry. Biden at least is a respectable character and Trump is mostly all talk. What’s more threatening is people like Thiel who does not fear being evil and is smart enough to combine protectionism with technology dystopia. Korea may be walking towards a more dangerous slump under the greedy and ruthless scheme. Can the U.S. and South Korea survive the rise of a hybrid monster of nationalism and surveillance capitalism?

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.