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The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy
AN INSTANT
NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLER
A fearless and urgent exposé of technofascism – and a road map to resistance.
When Silicon Valley ‘moves fast and breaks things’, the world interprets the chaos as a necessary cost of innovation. Gil Durán reveals something far more sinister a decades-long campaign to replace elected governments with corporate rule.
Drawing on insider political experience and new investigations, Durán traces this ideology from its philosophical roots in The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. He introduces its modern apostles – Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan and Elon Musk – and shows how the promise of technological liberation has transformed into a global movement for digital feudalism, powered by cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and algorithmically driven propaganda on social media.
The Nerd Reich explains the origins, strategies and ambitions of Silicon Valley’s war on democracy for the first time. From San Francisco’s weaponised elections and secret billionaire projects to the White House, Durán exposes how the world’s richest men are building a new political order.
The Nerd Reich is more than a hidden history; it’s an urgent democracy is being dismantled, not by coups or tanks but by code, capital and the illusion of innovation. Durán insists there is still time to fight back – if we act now.
Gil Durán, New York Times bestseller, August 2026
A fearless and urgent exposé of technofascism – and a road map to resistance.
When Silicon Valley ‘moves fast and breaks things’, the world interprets the chaos as a necessary cost of innovation. Gil Durán reveals something far more sinister a decades-long campaign to replace elected governments with corporate rule.
Drawing on insider political experience and new investigations, Durán traces this ideology from its philosophical roots in The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. He introduces its modern apostles – Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan and Elon Musk – and shows how the promise of technological liberation has transformed into a global movement for digital feudalism, powered by cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and algorithmically driven propaganda on social media.
The Nerd Reich explains the origins, strategies and ambitions of Silicon Valley’s war on democracy for the first time. From San Francisco’s weaponised elections and secret billionaire projects to the White House, Durán exposes how the world’s richest men are building a new political order.
The Nerd Reich is more than a hidden history; it’s an urgent democracy is being dismantled, not by coups or tanks but by code, capital and the illusion of innovation. Durán insists there is still time to fight back – if we act now.
Gil Durán, New York Times bestseller, August 2026
352 pages, Hardcover
Published August 18, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
August 14, 2026
This book gave me a rage migraine.
August 20, 2026
The Nerd Reich was released August 18. I read it by August 19. It's important. Read it. Know your enemies. These are the enemies of the people. We all sense it. That is why across political boundaries, we are against AI data centers, Flock and Axon cameras, and so much of their technocracy devilry from the core of our beings and on an instinctual level. This is a great reel supporting the book. Thank you for it. I may show it to my dual enrollment Critical Thinking classes on Monday along with the assignment I made on Duran's excellent interview on Democracy Now! We need to keep this education going.
I will return for a more thorough review later, Inshaa'Allah.
I will return for a more thorough review later, Inshaa'Allah.
July 4, 2026
Probably 4.5
This book is extremely enlightening for me, someone who knew a decent amount about the figures it discusses, but not a ton about what they believe.
American Democracy has had a tough go for the past 15 ish years at least, and this book sheds some light on why that is.
High powered tech monopolies, money (as always), influence, and of course - Peter Thiel. Don’t get me started on this guy.
Overall, i recommend this book.
My one complaint - the author needs to work on trimming chapters to stay focused, the material can be a bit scattered.
This book is extremely enlightening for me, someone who knew a decent amount about the figures it discusses, but not a ton about what they believe.
American Democracy has had a tough go for the past 15 ish years at least, and this book sheds some light on why that is.
High powered tech monopolies, money (as always), influence, and of course - Peter Thiel. Don’t get me started on this guy.
Overall, i recommend this book.
My one complaint - the author needs to work on trimming chapters to stay focused, the material can be a bit scattered.
August 23, 2026
If you have questions about how in the world the US has gotten into the disastrous situation it is in, this is the book to read. Honestly, if you read one book this year, make it this one. Gil Duran is a seasoned and exceptional reporter who’s worked across N California for years. He has followed the TechBros since before they were TechBros and he is the only person, as far as I’ve found, who has put all the pieces together and explains the reasons why Silicon Valley has taken a massive swing to the far right.
The first chapters delve into the biographies of Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, Balaji Srinivasen - men everyone needs to understand - as much as one can understand these bat-shit crazy souls. Their endgame is to destroy the US, so they can establish the absolute power centers they fantasize about. The quasi-religious (well not quasi to them) zeal that they are applying to their mission needs attention.
Seriously - buy this book, read this book, share this book (I’ve bought three copies to share amongst my friends), and talk about this book. These bros are in a seriously sick echo chamber, yet they are nothing more than adult versions of sci-fi, fantasy, DND nerds who have too much money an dwant more. They have talked and talked about their goals - in public - but most of us aren’t paying attention. They literally believe they must suck all the energy and life out of this planet so they can attain immortality and god-like power. It is sick, and we are being distracted/numbed by the very apps they made to addict us.
Gil Duran has been under intense pressure to shut up, but he got this book published. Please read it.
The first chapters delve into the biographies of Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, Balaji Srinivasen - men everyone needs to understand - as much as one can understand these bat-shit crazy souls. Their endgame is to destroy the US, so they can establish the absolute power centers they fantasize about. The quasi-religious (well not quasi to them) zeal that they are applying to their mission needs attention.
Seriously - buy this book, read this book, share this book (I’ve bought three copies to share amongst my friends), and talk about this book. These bros are in a seriously sick echo chamber, yet they are nothing more than adult versions of sci-fi, fantasy, DND nerds who have too much money an dwant more. They have talked and talked about their goals - in public - but most of us aren’t paying attention. They literally believe they must suck all the energy and life out of this planet so they can attain immortality and god-like power. It is sick, and we are being distracted/numbed by the very apps they made to addict us.
Gil Duran has been under intense pressure to shut up, but he got this book published. Please read it.
August 25, 2026
Well, this was infuriating.
I think a lot of us have been guilty of thinking about Silicon Valley billionaires as basically Libertarian Lite™: they want the government out of their businesses, they don’t want regulations getting in the way of innovation, and they definitely don’t want to pay taxes.
Gil Durán would like us to understand that what some of the most powerful people in tech are proposing goes much further than that.
The Nerd Reich examines the ideologies circulating among some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest and most influential figures and, more importantly, what happens when enormous concentrations of private wealth translate into enormous concentrations of political power. Durán traces ideas about replacing democratic institutions with corporate rule, privatized “network states,” and other systems in which the ultrawealthy aren’t merely influencing government—they’re imagining alternatives to democracy itself.
At one point I was telling my partner about the book, and he said, “So, really, this isn’t that different from Rockefeller back in the day.”
And I said, “I have a feeling this is worse. I don’t remember Rockefeller trying to cancel elections.”
That pretty much sums up my mood while reading.
Durán is a journalist, and the book reads like the work of one: heavily researched, detailed, and focused on documenting how we arrived here. He’s not a policy maker, so while there is some hope and discussion of resistance toward the end, this isn’t primarily a book of solutions. It’s an alarm bell.
One of Durán’s most provocative arguments is also the one I haven’t stopped thinking about: “We can have billionaires, or we can have democracy.”
There are only a few thousand billionaires on the entire planet, yet this extraordinarily small group of people controls an almost incomprehensible amount of wealth—and wealth buys access, influence, technology, media, and ultimately political power. Reading about just how openly some tech elites have discussed using that power to reshape democratic government gave me a nearly permanent David Rose face of disgust.
😬 Ew.
And while much of the book focuses on the political movement toward the right among prominent Silicon Valley figures, one of my biggest takeaways was actually broader than party politics: I am now much more suspicious whenever any politician—Democrat or Republican—becomes particularly cozy with tech billionaires. No individual should possess enough wealth to wield this degree of influence over a democratic government.
If you’ve been paying attention to the relationship between Silicon Valley, extreme wealth, AI, cryptocurrency, and American politics and have found yourself thinking, This seems…bad, congratulations! This book will explain in painstaking detail why you should probably be even more concerned.
For readers who liked Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War or The Last Nuclear War, or Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, I think this scratches a similar nonfiction itch: meticulously researched books that leave you fascinated, horrified, angry, and occasionally wondering whether you’d have been happier knowing less.
As the publisher describes it, this is a warning about a movement seeking to replace elected government with corporate rule. And Durán makes a disturbingly persuasive case that we should take these ideas seriously rather than dismissing them as the eccentric philosophies of a handful of very rich tech guys.
I really hope we’re paying attention.
4.5/5 stars
The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy was published August 18, 2026, by Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster.
I think a lot of us have been guilty of thinking about Silicon Valley billionaires as basically Libertarian Lite™: they want the government out of their businesses, they don’t want regulations getting in the way of innovation, and they definitely don’t want to pay taxes.
Gil Durán would like us to understand that what some of the most powerful people in tech are proposing goes much further than that.
The Nerd Reich examines the ideologies circulating among some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest and most influential figures and, more importantly, what happens when enormous concentrations of private wealth translate into enormous concentrations of political power. Durán traces ideas about replacing democratic institutions with corporate rule, privatized “network states,” and other systems in which the ultrawealthy aren’t merely influencing government—they’re imagining alternatives to democracy itself.
At one point I was telling my partner about the book, and he said, “So, really, this isn’t that different from Rockefeller back in the day.”
And I said, “I have a feeling this is worse. I don’t remember Rockefeller trying to cancel elections.”
That pretty much sums up my mood while reading.
Durán is a journalist, and the book reads like the work of one: heavily researched, detailed, and focused on documenting how we arrived here. He’s not a policy maker, so while there is some hope and discussion of resistance toward the end, this isn’t primarily a book of solutions. It’s an alarm bell.
One of Durán’s most provocative arguments is also the one I haven’t stopped thinking about: “We can have billionaires, or we can have democracy.”
There are only a few thousand billionaires on the entire planet, yet this extraordinarily small group of people controls an almost incomprehensible amount of wealth—and wealth buys access, influence, technology, media, and ultimately political power. Reading about just how openly some tech elites have discussed using that power to reshape democratic government gave me a nearly permanent David Rose face of disgust.
😬 Ew.
And while much of the book focuses on the political movement toward the right among prominent Silicon Valley figures, one of my biggest takeaways was actually broader than party politics: I am now much more suspicious whenever any politician—Democrat or Republican—becomes particularly cozy with tech billionaires. No individual should possess enough wealth to wield this degree of influence over a democratic government.
If you’ve been paying attention to the relationship between Silicon Valley, extreme wealth, AI, cryptocurrency, and American politics and have found yourself thinking, This seems…bad, congratulations! This book will explain in painstaking detail why you should probably be even more concerned.
For readers who liked Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War or The Last Nuclear War, or Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, I think this scratches a similar nonfiction itch: meticulously researched books that leave you fascinated, horrified, angry, and occasionally wondering whether you’d have been happier knowing less.
As the publisher describes it, this is a warning about a movement seeking to replace elected government with corporate rule. And Durán makes a disturbingly persuasive case that we should take these ideas seriously rather than dismissing them as the eccentric philosophies of a handful of very rich tech guys.
I really hope we’re paying attention.
4.5/5 stars
The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy was published August 18, 2026, by Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster.
Read
August 30, 2026Thank you to Libro.fm for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review!
This may be the most terrifying book I've ever read but I do think it is very much worth reading to better understand what exactly the tech billionaires have been up to and also how they came into so much power (especially in the US). Duran's journalistic voice is also strong and comes through the writing, and though I did feel it was a bit optimistic, I appreciated the slightly more hopeful call to action at the end, which was very much needed after everything else that was discussed in the book.
This may be the most terrifying book I've ever read but I do think it is very much worth reading to better understand what exactly the tech billionaires have been up to and also how they came into so much power (especially in the US). Duran's journalistic voice is also strong and comes through the writing, and though I did feel it was a bit optimistic, I appreciated the slightly more hopeful call to action at the end, which was very much needed after everything else that was discussed in the book.
September 9, 2026
It seems that while we "normies" have been focused on the daily outrages from DC, we've been missing the bigger picture. Gil Duran's "The Nerd Reich" helps us to understand how we got here and who is really manipulating things behind the scenes. Obviously, the tech billionaire class has been running the show, but their motives and methods haven't always been clear. They don't just want to accumulate more wealth (real or crypto), they want to start new cities outside of current government control and live forever. If that means going to Mars or under the oceans, so be it. Most of these plans would result in the destruction of the world as we know it, so they can rise from the ashes like gods. If you aren't rich or smart enough to be part of the future, good riddance. They'll have AI and robots to replace you.
This is a scary book, but absolutely essential for understanding the motives and goals of the tech billionaire power elite.
This is a scary book, but absolutely essential for understanding the motives and goals of the tech billionaire power elite.
August 25, 2026
Nerdish
One thing I hope the author would agree with me wholeheartedly on: the world need never hear another word about Yarvin or his idiotic worldview ever again. But really, who is served by going so deep into such a shallow pool? With exposes like this quite frankly I am expecting more these days - there are better bios of Thiel, technology, crypto and much better overview on this kind of extreme right thinking (see Laura Field's excellent "Furious Minds" recently published). But really, my frustration with this is that it's a preaching-to-the-choir in a superficial way that deals in absolutes and caricatures - not that there's anything really redeeming about Thiel but there were adjacent topics that this former Feinstein & Kamala advisor lazily throws in as "evil" without any background, depth, or nuance (see notes for examples). Dunking on technology seems fashionable now with AI, yet a recent poll shows more people would rather have a coal plant in their neighborhood than a data center - this is stupidity. And the politics seem very Verso Publishing dogmatic. While the author is not a degrowther or anarcho-primitivist or other such imbecile, as a former tech journalist he seems to know Valley personalities but doesn't seem to have a deep understanding on technology itself and I worry that this over-subscribed book (at least at my library) will further a misunderstanding of those topics among a younger reading public.
One thing I hope the author would agree with me wholeheartedly on: the world need never hear another word about Yarvin or his idiotic worldview ever again. But really, who is served by going so deep into such a shallow pool? With exposes like this quite frankly I am expecting more these days - there are better bios of Thiel, technology, crypto and much better overview on this kind of extreme right thinking (see Laura Field's excellent "Furious Minds" recently published). But really, my frustration with this is that it's a preaching-to-the-choir in a superficial way that deals in absolutes and caricatures - not that there's anything really redeeming about Thiel but there were adjacent topics that this former Feinstein & Kamala advisor lazily throws in as "evil" without any background, depth, or nuance (see notes for examples). Dunking on technology seems fashionable now with AI, yet a recent poll shows more people would rather have a coal plant in their neighborhood than a data center - this is stupidity. And the politics seem very Verso Publishing dogmatic. While the author is not a degrowther or anarcho-primitivist or other such imbecile, as a former tech journalist he seems to know Valley personalities but doesn't seem to have a deep understanding on technology itself and I worry that this over-subscribed book (at least at my library) will further a misunderstanding of those topics among a younger reading public.
Read
August 20, 2026First chapter is about another book called " The Sovereign Individual".
What is that book about?
The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg is a 1997 book predicting how the internet would weaken governments and give highly skilled, wealthy individuals more independence.
It's pretty much the foundation for what Peter Thiel has been saying now in 2026. And not just him.
Peter Thiel: escape from democratic constraints, competition between jurisdictions, seasteading, private governance and insulation from taxation.
Balaji Srinivasan: network states, digital communities that become territorial polities, and technological “exit” from existing institutions.
Marc Andreessen: technological acceleration, hostility toward regulation and support for builders creating alternative institutions.
Brian Armstrong and parts of the crypto movement: money and economic activity beyond traditional state control.
Elon Musk: private infrastructure functioning at state-like scale, although his worldview isn’t derived solely from this book.
Curtis Yarvin: supplies a more openly anti-democratic theory of governance—states run more like corporations under powerful executives.
What is that book about?
The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg is a 1997 book predicting how the internet would weaken governments and give highly skilled, wealthy individuals more independence.
It's pretty much the foundation for what Peter Thiel has been saying now in 2026. And not just him.
Peter Thiel: escape from democratic constraints, competition between jurisdictions, seasteading, private governance and insulation from taxation.
Balaji Srinivasan: network states, digital communities that become territorial polities, and technological “exit” from existing institutions.
Marc Andreessen: technological acceleration, hostility toward regulation and support for builders creating alternative institutions.
Brian Armstrong and parts of the crypto movement: money and economic activity beyond traditional state control.
Elon Musk: private infrastructure functioning at state-like scale, although his worldview isn’t derived solely from this book.
Curtis Yarvin: supplies a more openly anti-democratic theory of governance—states run more like corporations under powerful executives.
September 4, 2026
When the author said he was harassed online (having account platforms removed etc.) you know that people in this book are quite upset which means I must drop what I am doing to read this right away. There is a waiting list generally, but was able to get a special 7-day library loan to get it NOW!
It is hard to even know where to begin but a lot of the disparate pieces of this puzzle which I have observed now make sense. For instance, the race to destroy public lands, the race to acquire Greenland, the race to build more data centers NOW! (It seems the overlords believe in some sort of "infinite Monkees" theory where if you cover every square inch of the planet with AI data centers all that computing power will come up with the secret of eternal life).
And if that sounds batshit crazy, you ain't seen nothing yet. Like exhibit B: Curtis Yarvin -- a huge influence on J.D. Vance -- who stole all his wackadoodle ideas from Italian fascists like Evola. (Just remember Ebola with a 'V' kind of like Liza with a 'Z'"). Far from my initial belief that these tech overlords were using Christianity as bait for their much crazier and dumber allies in the Christian right, make no mistake, they believe in this magical nonsense just as much as the Christians do.
"Like, I got an idea. Instead of rebuilding New York City underneath a giant biodome on Mars, why don't we just build a biodome right here?" That kind of thinking gets you imediately dismissed as some sort of Luddite, although my most fervent wish is that Elon Musk sends himself over there as soon as possible.
Of course, much of this magical thinking goes back sixty years (yes, even one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters was the architect of this). Hence, the entire worldview revolves around the idea of "getting away" and forming a separate country or zone free from the fetters of us ordinary folk and our pesky regulation. It is the impetus behind Crypto. And it was the impetus behind Theil's original idea was for a settlement at the bottom of the ocean like Captain Nemo.
And of course, they are all worshippers of Ayn Rand. What I did not know was that there is a crazy conspiratorial book called The Sovereign Individual by a guy named William Rees-Mogg, which is considered by the PayPal Mafia to be sacred scripture, when it is nothing more than a screed filled with doomsday predictions which, like a stopped clock got a few things right like Crypto currency. It was also filled with Y2K hysteria which did not materialize. Of course, the name Rees-Mogg is familiar to anyone who has more than cursory knowledge of the Rolling Stones story. "THEE William Rees-Mogg who wrote 'Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?'" (If you don't know what that is just Google It).
Considering that was in 1967, it did not seem possible but he is in fact one and the same! Tellingly, he was also pro Brexit which could very well be the lunacy that started this dystopian nightmare we all live in.
But that was then, this is now. Thiel has moved on to a new obsession with the Antichrist and Armageddon and he is holding his version of the "Be-Inc" seminars to promote it. In fairness, many are only buying in just to get face time with the grand wizard, but no matter. Theil seems to be anti- Armageddon while doing everything humanly possible to bring it about. While he and his followers are obsessed with breaking society down into micro-autonomous units (aka "Network States") Thiel wants to become so deeply embedded in the defense department that they disrupt the major players like Lockheed Martin (and they are doing it). Of course the most micro-state of all is the family, which they are convinced is being destroyed by the "deep state." I am not sure who these deep state people are, but after hearing so much about them, I am convinced they must be my friends if Silicon Valley hates them so much.
If you are confused, so was I. To recap, Silicon Valley, which got rich by its long association with the defense department, feels angry and put upon by the fascist "deep state" (America), and is seeking to destroy it using weapons of mass destruction and crypto currency to crash the economy. They are like toddlers who were scolded to keep the playroom neat and want to form their own country because they are simply too highly evolved to be ruled by us morons. It's why, in 1997, The Sovereign State recommended buying land in Argentina and New Zealand. Check!
Oh, and if you are a super fan of Lord of the Rings, you may hate it by the time you are done with this. I never thought much about it other than it was the preserve of dippy Dungeons and Dragons types. I enjoyed The Hobbit when I was about twelve, but reading this stuff as an adult (when the movie came out) had me wondering how people can still be so obsessed with it into adulthood? [This from somone who is still obsessed with the Beatles and Monkees, but at least they were taking the piss out of dufuses like these "earnest true believers."] Not that the message of LOTR is anywhere near as odious as that of Ayn Rand (and Tolkien is a better writer), but I blame those early hippy dippy nerds too. And according to this book I was not wrong in my assessment.
Come to think of it, I should form a cult based on the "The Frodis Room," and charge people a million dollars a year to join. Cuz being the guru is really where it's at. And interestingly, I interrupted reading The Barbary Coast to read this in seven days. That book details what a terrible person Leland Stanford was, so maybe his university was destined to be the root of all evil dating back to the Gold Rush. The entire region always was home to a spirit of rapacious greed, so perhaps this is just the latest incarnation.
It is hard to even know where to begin but a lot of the disparate pieces of this puzzle which I have observed now make sense. For instance, the race to destroy public lands, the race to acquire Greenland, the race to build more data centers NOW! (It seems the overlords believe in some sort of "infinite Monkees" theory where if you cover every square inch of the planet with AI data centers all that computing power will come up with the secret of eternal life).
And if that sounds batshit crazy, you ain't seen nothing yet. Like exhibit B: Curtis Yarvin -- a huge influence on J.D. Vance -- who stole all his wackadoodle ideas from Italian fascists like Evola. (Just remember Ebola with a 'V' kind of like Liza with a 'Z'"). Far from my initial belief that these tech overlords were using Christianity as bait for their much crazier and dumber allies in the Christian right, make no mistake, they believe in this magical nonsense just as much as the Christians do.
"Like, I got an idea. Instead of rebuilding New York City underneath a giant biodome on Mars, why don't we just build a biodome right here?" That kind of thinking gets you imediately dismissed as some sort of Luddite, although my most fervent wish is that Elon Musk sends himself over there as soon as possible.
Of course, much of this magical thinking goes back sixty years (yes, even one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters was the architect of this). Hence, the entire worldview revolves around the idea of "getting away" and forming a separate country or zone free from the fetters of us ordinary folk and our pesky regulation. It is the impetus behind Crypto. And it was the impetus behind Theil's original idea was for a settlement at the bottom of the ocean like Captain Nemo.
And of course, they are all worshippers of Ayn Rand. What I did not know was that there is a crazy conspiratorial book called The Sovereign Individual by a guy named William Rees-Mogg, which is considered by the PayPal Mafia to be sacred scripture, when it is nothing more than a screed filled with doomsday predictions which, like a stopped clock got a few things right like Crypto currency. It was also filled with Y2K hysteria which did not materialize. Of course, the name Rees-Mogg is familiar to anyone who has more than cursory knowledge of the Rolling Stones story. "THEE William Rees-Mogg who wrote 'Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?'" (If you don't know what that is just Google It).
Considering that was in 1967, it did not seem possible but he is in fact one and the same! Tellingly, he was also pro Brexit which could very well be the lunacy that started this dystopian nightmare we all live in.
But that was then, this is now. Thiel has moved on to a new obsession with the Antichrist and Armageddon and he is holding his version of the "Be-Inc" seminars to promote it. In fairness, many are only buying in just to get face time with the grand wizard, but no matter. Theil seems to be anti- Armageddon while doing everything humanly possible to bring it about. While he and his followers are obsessed with breaking society down into micro-autonomous units (aka "Network States") Thiel wants to become so deeply embedded in the defense department that they disrupt the major players like Lockheed Martin (and they are doing it). Of course the most micro-state of all is the family, which they are convinced is being destroyed by the "deep state." I am not sure who these deep state people are, but after hearing so much about them, I am convinced they must be my friends if Silicon Valley hates them so much.
If you are confused, so was I. To recap, Silicon Valley, which got rich by its long association with the defense department, feels angry and put upon by the fascist "deep state" (America), and is seeking to destroy it using weapons of mass destruction and crypto currency to crash the economy. They are like toddlers who were scolded to keep the playroom neat and want to form their own country because they are simply too highly evolved to be ruled by us morons. It's why, in 1997, The Sovereign State recommended buying land in Argentina and New Zealand. Check!
Oh, and if you are a super fan of Lord of the Rings, you may hate it by the time you are done with this. I never thought much about it other than it was the preserve of dippy Dungeons and Dragons types. I enjoyed The Hobbit when I was about twelve, but reading this stuff as an adult (when the movie came out) had me wondering how people can still be so obsessed with it into adulthood? [This from somone who is still obsessed with the Beatles and Monkees, but at least they were taking the piss out of dufuses like these "earnest true believers."] Not that the message of LOTR is anywhere near as odious as that of Ayn Rand (and Tolkien is a better writer), but I blame those early hippy dippy nerds too. And according to this book I was not wrong in my assessment.
Come to think of it, I should form a cult based on the "The Frodis Room," and charge people a million dollars a year to join. Cuz being the guru is really where it's at. And interestingly, I interrupted reading The Barbary Coast to read this in seven days. That book details what a terrible person Leland Stanford was, so maybe his university was destined to be the root of all evil dating back to the Gold Rush. The entire region always was home to a spirit of rapacious greed, so perhaps this is just the latest incarnation.
September 4, 2026
I now know so much more about Peter Thiel than I ever wanted to… even though it’s all necessary. Sigh.
This was great. It felt like THE book the people need to read right now to understand just how darkly entangled US politics and Big Tech are… and Durán writes in a punchy, clear-headed way that I am on board with.
So. What about Peter Thiel and technofascism? Durán talks about libertarianism and its desire to decentralize/defund the government and leave things up to the “free market.” Except they want to control the “free” market itself… by setting up their own form of governance that is favorable to them.
Basically, a bunch of self-centered loser babies got money and power, and, as Durán puts it, “[made] a philosophy out of a personality defect”.
Did I mention Durán has a way with words?
These “technolibertarians” say that they want democracy… but they only want democracy if it works in their favor. They are willing to break apart existing forms of democratic governance if they believe it’s not working for them. Thus do you get the technofascists. Really, Durán is excellent at explaining the mindsets of these technofascists, and showing how Silicon Valley can swing from Obama-supporting centrists to rightwing fascism within a decade.
Oh, and there’s this sociopathic loser named Curtis Yarvin who has been writing about how to dismantle the US government for decades. Duran talks about Yarvin’s “PAGE” motto—”Purge All Government Employees”—which is eerie to read about now that, you know, DOGE actually went and did exactly that. It really shows how Project 2025 isn’t something that has come out of nowhere, but encapsulates philosophies and directives that libertarians and right-wingers have been calling for ever since more socialist programs were implemented in the US after World War II.
Rightwingers have long wanted to set up their own society if the existing one isn’t favoring them economically or politically—the Confederate States of America is one shining example—so it isn’t much of a stretch that the Tech Bros will join them because they are fearful of losing their power, money, and privilege. Durán connects that with the Trump regime’s obsession with colonizing Greenland (“empty” land on which to build their own empire, right?), the rise of cryptocurrency (a financial system that is not beholden to government restrictions), and more.
There’s so much more that I think I’ll reread this in order to get everything. Durán spends a chapter talking about the rightwing (or specifically Thiel’s) obsession with the Antichrist. He writes, “Silicon Valley sees religion as an industry ripe for disruption” (ziiiiiing!), and so Tech Bros like Thiel harness the Antichrist label and slap it on anyone and everyone who is remotely opposed to them, thus bringing Big Tech, Christian evangelicism, and fascism closer together.
THE NERD REICH ends with a call to arms that has Durán laying out some truths we need to hear:
Highly recommended.
This was great. It felt like THE book the people need to read right now to understand just how darkly entangled US politics and Big Tech are… and Durán writes in a punchy, clear-headed way that I am on board with.
So. What about Peter Thiel and technofascism? Durán talks about libertarianism and its desire to decentralize/defund the government and leave things up to the “free market.” Except they want to control the “free” market itself… by setting up their own form of governance that is favorable to them.
Basically, a bunch of self-centered loser babies got money and power, and, as Durán puts it, “[made] a philosophy out of a personality defect”.
Did I mention Durán has a way with words?
These “technolibertarians” say that they want democracy… but they only want democracy if it works in their favor. They are willing to break apart existing forms of democratic governance if they believe it’s not working for them. Thus do you get the technofascists. Really, Durán is excellent at explaining the mindsets of these technofascists, and showing how Silicon Valley can swing from Obama-supporting centrists to rightwing fascism within a decade.
Oh, and there’s this sociopathic loser named Curtis Yarvin who has been writing about how to dismantle the US government for decades. Duran talks about Yarvin’s “PAGE” motto—”Purge All Government Employees”—which is eerie to read about now that, you know, DOGE actually went and did exactly that. It really shows how Project 2025 isn’t something that has come out of nowhere, but encapsulates philosophies and directives that libertarians and right-wingers have been calling for ever since more socialist programs were implemented in the US after World War II.
Rightwingers have long wanted to set up their own society if the existing one isn’t favoring them economically or politically—the Confederate States of America is one shining example—so it isn’t much of a stretch that the Tech Bros will join them because they are fearful of losing their power, money, and privilege. Durán connects that with the Trump regime’s obsession with colonizing Greenland (“empty” land on which to build their own empire, right?), the rise of cryptocurrency (a financial system that is not beholden to government restrictions), and more.
There’s so much more that I think I’ll reread this in order to get everything. Durán spends a chapter talking about the rightwing (or specifically Thiel’s) obsession with the Antichrist. He writes, “Silicon Valley sees religion as an industry ripe for disruption” (ziiiiiing!), and so Tech Bros like Thiel harness the Antichrist label and slap it on anyone and everyone who is remotely opposed to them, thus bringing Big Tech, Christian evangelicism, and fascism closer together.
THE NERD REICH ends with a call to arms that has Durán laying out some truths we need to hear:
“We already have abundance, but it is being hoarded by a wicked few.”
“We can have billionaires, or we can have democracy.”
Highly recommended.
August 28, 2026
Okay so far, but the author's uncritical citations of things like USAID are concerning. If you're going to discuss fascism in the US, you have to be honest about it. I understand this book is about a specific topic but it's always a letdown to hear progressive authors discuss so-called liberal institutions w/o any criticism at all. Idk, I should have been tipped off by the title. I assume this author believes we had a functioning democracy before this, and this view greatly depends on who you are in America or in the world.
That being said, it provides some solid intro material about the network state if you've never heard of it, which most people have not. For a more thorough overview of everything related to the network state and tech fascism, check out https://www.vcinfodocs.com/
Also if you liked this and are willing to have your view stretched a bit more, consider reading The Racket by Matt Kennard or almost anything by William Blum. Imo this book is not critical enough of US foreign policy and tech fascism is a global problem.
That being said, it provides some solid intro material about the network state if you've never heard of it, which most people have not. For a more thorough overview of everything related to the network state and tech fascism, check out https://www.vcinfodocs.com/
Also if you liked this and are willing to have your view stretched a bit more, consider reading The Racket by Matt Kennard or almost anything by William Blum. Imo this book is not critical enough of US foreign policy and tech fascism is a global problem.
August 19, 2026
The kicker to this powerful and disturbing treatise on the fascist creeps trashing the planet comes when the author’s bio reveals he was an advisor to the sclerotic centrist hacks Diane Feinstein, Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris.
What a fucking rug pull.
What a fucking rug pull.
Want to Read
May 4, 2026Being a daily reader of "Daring Fireball" RSS feed, I instantly pre-ordered the ebook from Thalia.
Thinking out of the box, I still have to read the blueprint/playbook Ayn Rand Box Set: ATLAS SHRUGGED and THE FOUNTAINHEAD
Thinking out of the box, I still have to read the blueprint/playbook Ayn Rand Box Set: ATLAS SHRUGGED and THE FOUNTAINHEAD
September 11, 2026
Fantastic compilation of the worst details, facts, and quotes of our tech overlords such as Thiel, Musk, Andreesen, and Altman. Only giving this book five stars because of how prescient it is, but in truth, if you've been paying attention at all to these evil dweebs much of the details revealed in this book won't be all that shocking to you.
The fact is, all of the above mentioned tech oligarchs are strict adherents of a strict father worldview, a tale as old as time. A view of the world as having strayed from the 'natural' path of traditional racial, gender, and class hierarchies. The tech dorks fuse classism (thinking they are cognitive elites who are both morally and physically superior to the rest of us), armageddon-drenched thinking (they are openly either calling for the end of the world, trying to cause it, or are at the very least indifferent to it), and good old fashioned racism (in the words of Yarvin, "I'm not a white supremacist but I'm not exactly allergic to the stuff") in order to insist on a new world order that strips us of the few rights we currently have in favor of building a hyper-capitalist dystopia absent of any democracy.
Phew.
The good news is these guys have about as much charisma, empathy, and emotional intelligence as the vampire Stephen Miller and regular people whose towns are now covered in flock cameras are starting to notice.
The fact is, all of the above mentioned tech oligarchs are strict adherents of a strict father worldview, a tale as old as time. A view of the world as having strayed from the 'natural' path of traditional racial, gender, and class hierarchies. The tech dorks fuse classism (thinking they are cognitive elites who are both morally and physically superior to the rest of us), armageddon-drenched thinking (they are openly either calling for the end of the world, trying to cause it, or are at the very least indifferent to it), and good old fashioned racism (in the words of Yarvin, "I'm not a white supremacist but I'm not exactly allergic to the stuff") in order to insist on a new world order that strips us of the few rights we currently have in favor of building a hyper-capitalist dystopia absent of any democracy.
Phew.
The good news is these guys have about as much charisma, empathy, and emotional intelligence as the vampire Stephen Miller and regular people whose towns are now covered in flock cameras are starting to notice.
September 8, 2026
An infuriating and terrifying read (and like most people, expecting all of my views to be suppressed by the big bad algorithm for having read and talked about this book on platforms owned and operated by the various billionaires talked about in this book!). It's long been easy to ridicule the more visible tech bros and their bizarre ideas, but the events of the past couple of years in the US have been sobering, and this book really lays out the pathway to power and influence of the various major players. It's very strong on the "what the hell happened" and "how we got here" parts, but pretty thin on "what can we possibly do now?". Not that I expect one journalist to provide the solutions to our current existential crisis. Still, I highly recommend this book for any thinking person in 2026, so any time you hear one of these tech bro assholes open their mouth, you can put the crap they spout in context, and so that the next time you contact one of your elected representatives, you can some intelligent reasons when you ask them to do something, ANYTHING, to try and maybe stop our slide towards dystopia!
September 2, 2026
I feel like this is a hit piece more than a work of journalism. While I do believe there are a lot of facts, I do see some extreme stretches in connecting ideas. Wealthy tyrants is not a new concept. It has existed since the beginning of time. The content on crypto currency and AI was very enlightening however. I did enjoy that part of it. Hypocrisy and power is not new, only the people who wield it changes.
September 15, 2026
The scariest book I’ve ever read isn’t a piece of horror fiction, but a deep dive into these absolute losers who are determined to kill us all so they can live forever.
The next person who tries to tell me that AI is going to make “everyone’s lives better” and “lead to abundance for everyone” is gonna get my absolute DISRESPECT.
This book is enough to make you sleep with the lights on.
Gil Duran wrote a marvelous piece of journalism. I hope we listen.
The next person who tries to tell me that AI is going to make “everyone’s lives better” and “lead to abundance for everyone” is gonna get my absolute DISRESPECT.
This book is enough to make you sleep with the lights on.
Gil Duran wrote a marvelous piece of journalism. I hope we listen.
September 8, 2026
One of the most important books you'll read all year.
September 1, 2026
Excellent and thorough reporting. I’ve been on the edges of, and sometimes within, tech circles over my 14 years in the Bay Area, so not all of this is surprising to me. That said, I had no idea the degrees to which this fascist takeover has been planned for three decades. It’s dark, dark shit and I’m not sure people are paying attention. Hopefully people at least start here, and the fury will follow.
September 3, 2026
Very informative and factual. I appreciated having all the ‘loose ends’ over time being woven into the cloth of a cohesive explanation of the current apocalyptic level of capitalism currently being experienced in the US. My only twinge is at the gimmicky title- it does not match the temper of this non-fiction book and gives a derogatory impression of the ‘nerd’ label. The men featured in this book are not nerds. If anything, as a group, they would be better described as the ‘ultra-rich,’ as that in itself implies a multitude of possible clinical labels such as ‘narcissists,’ ‘hoarders,’ or ‘sociopaths,’ because the collection of that much money means they are unable/unwilling to see (and thus SPEND to solve) any number of problems that are killing non-ultra-rich people all around them.
September 9, 2026
4.5 This will be the second book I review on this website where I begin my review with the admonition, the challenge… nay, where I implore you the reader to read this book. I get it, you don't want to read heavy stuff. You only read non-fiction. It sounds depressing, etc... Well, I don't give a sh@t, do you care about the future? No... OK, then move along and no complaining.
Who should read this book and why? In no particular order:
* Do you have children? Want to have children? CARE ABOUT CHILDREN?
* Are you an investment banker, financial advisors, portfolio mangers, wall street investors, etc? Do you have a bank account?!
* Are you involved in technology, developing artificial intelligence, social media-related companies?
* Are you in advertising or working in the media?
* You get it?
OK, so why should you read this book? Because this book is a wake up call that you need to answer. It lays out the who, the why and the how of why everything is going to hell in a handbasket. It details the reality of the forces and individuals who control too much of our future and the future of the world. Everyone should read this so that they truly understand the dire circumstances and can back up the knowledge with a narrative, and a big picture understanding of why it's happening. Who is gaining and what their end game is. The author’s thesis is that we're living essentially in end times. Not Armageddon (hopefully) but the acceleration of destruction that will make returning to any sort of stable system impossible.
We all know it, well I think you know it. In your gut... you're uncomfortable with the way things are going. Uncertain about what's coming but not feeling positive. Perhaps you're simply exhausted, afraid or depressed about the future. Perhaps you feel you don't want to read this book because you don't want to confront the ‘knowing’ of what you sense is happening. At the core of your consciousness you sense something's deeply wrong beyond the simple - ugh tariffs, ICE, inflation, AI, etc and look there’s a new series on TV, a fresh scroll of TikTok videos. There’s kids to feed, Your second job to get to. That promotion you want. That fear that you will be downsized…
Woah - I have potentially convinced you that you were right for not wanting to read this book. Look I think most of us have good intentions, right? We want a bit more money and to preserve what we have. We try to contribute to society in a positive way. We would like to have a safe place to put our stuff, a place to sleep, a job, etc. Unfortunately, it's likely that your investments are in the very companies that are destroying your future. The information and entertainment that you watch, read, create is distracting, misinforming or downright depressing the viewer/reader/you/us.
You don’t have time or really a desire to confront what’s happening and have no answer of what to do about it? Well,, this book doesn't, in a sense, provide that answer. BUT. BUT. It does, at least for me, provide comfort and concrete actions you must take to contribute to preventing a very dire outcome. A hard landing. Is a soft landing possible? No. But this book is a reassurance that we're not crazy and the the final chapter is, uh, sort of exhilarating. To have someone summarize all of the darkness of the information from the previous chapters about the individuals and their plans to destroy what little remains of Democracy and world order for their own twisted and misguided benefit, and pivot to challenge you to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. There should be no more procrastinating, rationalizing or living in a state of cognitive dissonance.
PS. This is the last review I will be posting on this platform because - you know, it's owned by Jeff Bezos / Amazon. I have already stopped shopping using Amazon and I can post my reviews on Storygraph. After all I really first and foremost post them as a journal of sorts for me so that I can look back and be reminded of how I felt about a book. I don't want my notes to contribute to feeding the beast and I don't have to. So long...
PPS. I am convinced that there are now bots that automatically give every review I post a like. So creepy. UPDATE - Yup, immediately after I posted this review it was liked... clearly they/it didn't have time to actually read the review. I don't need a website that can't be trusted with my data ow with the data on it.
Who should read this book and why? In no particular order:
* Do you have children? Want to have children? CARE ABOUT CHILDREN?
* Are you an investment banker, financial advisors, portfolio mangers, wall street investors, etc? Do you have a bank account?!
* Are you involved in technology, developing artificial intelligence, social media-related companies?
* Are you in advertising or working in the media?
* You get it?
OK, so why should you read this book? Because this book is a wake up call that you need to answer. It lays out the who, the why and the how of why everything is going to hell in a handbasket. It details the reality of the forces and individuals who control too much of our future and the future of the world. Everyone should read this so that they truly understand the dire circumstances and can back up the knowledge with a narrative, and a big picture understanding of why it's happening. Who is gaining and what their end game is. The author’s thesis is that we're living essentially in end times. Not Armageddon (hopefully) but the acceleration of destruction that will make returning to any sort of stable system impossible.
We all know it, well I think you know it. In your gut... you're uncomfortable with the way things are going. Uncertain about what's coming but not feeling positive. Perhaps you're simply exhausted, afraid or depressed about the future. Perhaps you feel you don't want to read this book because you don't want to confront the ‘knowing’ of what you sense is happening. At the core of your consciousness you sense something's deeply wrong beyond the simple - ugh tariffs, ICE, inflation, AI, etc and look there’s a new series on TV, a fresh scroll of TikTok videos. There’s kids to feed, Your second job to get to. That promotion you want. That fear that you will be downsized…
Woah - I have potentially convinced you that you were right for not wanting to read this book. Look I think most of us have good intentions, right? We want a bit more money and to preserve what we have. We try to contribute to society in a positive way. We would like to have a safe place to put our stuff, a place to sleep, a job, etc. Unfortunately, it's likely that your investments are in the very companies that are destroying your future. The information and entertainment that you watch, read, create is distracting, misinforming or downright depressing the viewer/reader/you/us.
You don’t have time or really a desire to confront what’s happening and have no answer of what to do about it? Well,, this book doesn't, in a sense, provide that answer. BUT. BUT. It does, at least for me, provide comfort and concrete actions you must take to contribute to preventing a very dire outcome. A hard landing. Is a soft landing possible? No. But this book is a reassurance that we're not crazy and the the final chapter is, uh, sort of exhilarating. To have someone summarize all of the darkness of the information from the previous chapters about the individuals and their plans to destroy what little remains of Democracy and world order for their own twisted and misguided benefit, and pivot to challenge you to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. There should be no more procrastinating, rationalizing or living in a state of cognitive dissonance.
PS. This is the last review I will be posting on this platform because - you know, it's owned by Jeff Bezos / Amazon. I have already stopped shopping using Amazon and I can post my reviews on Storygraph. After all I really first and foremost post them as a journal of sorts for me so that I can look back and be reminded of how I felt about a book. I don't want my notes to contribute to feeding the beast and I don't have to. So long...
PPS. I am convinced that there are now bots that automatically give every review I post a like. So creepy. UPDATE - Yup, immediately after I posted this review it was liked... clearly they/it didn't have time to actually read the review. I don't need a website that can't be trusted with my data ow with the data on it.
September 9, 2026
For those of you familiar with Gilded Age accounts of the super-rich in America, "The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy" will come as something of a shock.
After Andrew Carnegie cashed in his steel empire to become the richest human being on the planet, he donated much of his riches to building libraries across the US, Canada, and Scotland. He also established an endowment to advocate world peace.
Today's tech super rich in Silicon Valley -- Mackenzie Scott notwithstanding -- are financing the next "unicorns" to upend the economy, build data centres to advance artificial intelligence and end employment as we know it, and build corporatized "network states" to hand off government from democratic institutions.
It seems counterintuitive that individuals who benefitted from the very institutions which supported the creation of such fabulous piles of cash would now want to end them because they are either too slow at delivering more riches, or too fair for admitting minorities into the party.
But this is what Gil Durán's book says.
These people don't come to celebrate America, they come bury it.
The tale I find most intriguing in the book are the efforts to build what are variously called "charter cities" or "network states" where residents get to name their own currency and their own laws in a tax free environment.
One such experiment is on the Caribbean paradise Roatan. I am a little more familiar with this one because we vacation on the Roatan archipelago in the winter. To join the enclave "Prospera" you purchase real estate, invest in some crypto, and sign a waiver saying the that you accept the terms of service. You are not accepting the laws of Honduras -- which owns Roatan. Honduras has waived its right to tax you or govern you while you are a resident in the enclave on the island.
There are many such projects around the United States, a few in Africa, and there is even an attempt at building a tech incubator on Greenland, which seems to be running into opposition from the government of Denmark which owns Greenland.
Residents of Solano California blocked the sale of land to the California Forever project, a "network state" when they discovered a group of highly-leveraged tech billionaires scooping up large swaths of farmland. They objected to the increased traffic the project would bring, and use of water and electricity it would devour.
I find it increasingly hard to believe that Americans would stand for a standalone state being built on American soil that didn't answer either to state or Federal Governments, but that is exactly what is proposed, and what is sanctioned by the trump Administration.
Knock down the old government and let the tech bros build new ones backed by crypto and essentially user agreements.
You will read in this book the ravings of blogger Curtis Yarvin whose idea of a "Cathedral" to innovation and technology would supplant government, colleges, universities, and the lame stream media. You will read about Peter Thiel's lectures on the Antichrist, and tech investor Baliji Srinivasan's musings on how to create new "network states" among the wreckage of America...presumably after Trump has completely dismantled the Federal Government.
Such schemes are behind the economic blockade of Cuba, the rebuild of Gaza, the pursuit of Greenland and, for all we know, the sawoff Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have planned for Ukraine and Russia.
It was also likely behind the recent plans of Kushner and Trump Inc. to build resorts on Albania's environmentally sensitive out islands as well.
After Andrew Carnegie cashed in his steel empire to become the richest human being on the planet, he donated much of his riches to building libraries across the US, Canada, and Scotland. He also established an endowment to advocate world peace.
Today's tech super rich in Silicon Valley -- Mackenzie Scott notwithstanding -- are financing the next "unicorns" to upend the economy, build data centres to advance artificial intelligence and end employment as we know it, and build corporatized "network states" to hand off government from democratic institutions.
It seems counterintuitive that individuals who benefitted from the very institutions which supported the creation of such fabulous piles of cash would now want to end them because they are either too slow at delivering more riches, or too fair for admitting minorities into the party.
But this is what Gil Durán's book says.
These people don't come to celebrate America, they come bury it.
The tale I find most intriguing in the book are the efforts to build what are variously called "charter cities" or "network states" where residents get to name their own currency and their own laws in a tax free environment.
One such experiment is on the Caribbean paradise Roatan. I am a little more familiar with this one because we vacation on the Roatan archipelago in the winter. To join the enclave "Prospera" you purchase real estate, invest in some crypto, and sign a waiver saying the that you accept the terms of service. You are not accepting the laws of Honduras -- which owns Roatan. Honduras has waived its right to tax you or govern you while you are a resident in the enclave on the island.
There are many such projects around the United States, a few in Africa, and there is even an attempt at building a tech incubator on Greenland, which seems to be running into opposition from the government of Denmark which owns Greenland.
Residents of Solano California blocked the sale of land to the California Forever project, a "network state" when they discovered a group of highly-leveraged tech billionaires scooping up large swaths of farmland. They objected to the increased traffic the project would bring, and use of water and electricity it would devour.
I find it increasingly hard to believe that Americans would stand for a standalone state being built on American soil that didn't answer either to state or Federal Governments, but that is exactly what is proposed, and what is sanctioned by the trump Administration.
Knock down the old government and let the tech bros build new ones backed by crypto and essentially user agreements.
You will read in this book the ravings of blogger Curtis Yarvin whose idea of a "Cathedral" to innovation and technology would supplant government, colleges, universities, and the lame stream media. You will read about Peter Thiel's lectures on the Antichrist, and tech investor Baliji Srinivasan's musings on how to create new "network states" among the wreckage of America...presumably after Trump has completely dismantled the Federal Government.
Such schemes are behind the economic blockade of Cuba, the rebuild of Gaza, the pursuit of Greenland and, for all we know, the sawoff Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have planned for Ukraine and Russia.
It was also likely behind the recent plans of Kushner and Trump Inc. to build resorts on Albania's environmentally sensitive out islands as well.
September 16, 2026
This is an important if not a must read. As recent review started “This is a detailed guide book for understanding why Big Tech now seeks not just wealth but political domination.” This is more than a cautionary tale - this is happening now and more people need to be aware of what we are facing.
Tech fascism believes democracy is the enemy of freedom, meaning the Silicon Valley kooks want “unregulated laissez-faire capitalism.” One of the kooks, Curtis Yarvin, envisions “a monarchical CEO (with a tech degree).” Another, Balaj Srinivasan sees leaving democracy for “privatized micro-nations” - there are actual efforts in which kooks are trying to set freedom cities around the world. The book tackles the effects of AI, cryptocurrency, and Peter Thiel, the immigrant American - some Americans abhor the brown immigrants when its people like Thiel they should be scared of as he and his cohorts literally have no care who lives or dies and seek to replace us - who’s Antichrist vision - in bed with right wing religious nuts of all faiths - is an apocalyptic warning. The Trump Administration has given these despicable men - arrogant in their intellectualism - the ability to do what they hope to.
I had heard of Thiel - JD Vance’s inventor and mentor - and Yarvin but it seemed no one has been paying attention. These kooks - yes I have to call them that because I simply could not believe the craziness I was reading - literally believe they know how to run the world! I kept thinking things like who takes care of the infrastructure (roads, police, schools, etc) as none of the ideas being articulated addresses these - just ideas of how to get richer, be more powerful, and tell the peons how to live. I had to stop reading this book at times because it was just so overwhelming - and I agree with one reviewer that while not getting a migraine, I felt like a head ache was coming on at times.
I note most of the cast of characters are men - a few women are mentioned. Not surprised by this because it’s a man’s world and these kooks are fine with putting women back to the dark ages. I think about all those MAGA lovers some of whom aren’t the brightest bulbs on the planet and realize that cult - based on some of these kooks’ beliefs - fit exactly into their master plan - no wonder JD and Yarvin rail against higher education, they don’t want us to be smarter than them. Make American Dumb Again!
This is simply an important book - tedious at times to read - but providing much needed insights into what we are facing. I also gave it five stars for its eyeopening information and how crazy these arrogant men’s visions are. It disturbed me to read about their callousness toward their fellow humans. Again this is more than a cautionary tale. Highly recommend.
Tech fascism believes democracy is the enemy of freedom, meaning the Silicon Valley kooks want “unregulated laissez-faire capitalism.” One of the kooks, Curtis Yarvin, envisions “a monarchical CEO (with a tech degree).” Another, Balaj Srinivasan sees leaving democracy for “privatized micro-nations” - there are actual efforts in which kooks are trying to set freedom cities around the world. The book tackles the effects of AI, cryptocurrency, and Peter Thiel, the immigrant American - some Americans abhor the brown immigrants when its people like Thiel they should be scared of as he and his cohorts literally have no care who lives or dies and seek to replace us - who’s Antichrist vision - in bed with right wing religious nuts of all faiths - is an apocalyptic warning. The Trump Administration has given these despicable men - arrogant in their intellectualism - the ability to do what they hope to.
I had heard of Thiel - JD Vance’s inventor and mentor - and Yarvin but it seemed no one has been paying attention. These kooks - yes I have to call them that because I simply could not believe the craziness I was reading - literally believe they know how to run the world! I kept thinking things like who takes care of the infrastructure (roads, police, schools, etc) as none of the ideas being articulated addresses these - just ideas of how to get richer, be more powerful, and tell the peons how to live. I had to stop reading this book at times because it was just so overwhelming - and I agree with one reviewer that while not getting a migraine, I felt like a head ache was coming on at times.
I note most of the cast of characters are men - a few women are mentioned. Not surprised by this because it’s a man’s world and these kooks are fine with putting women back to the dark ages. I think about all those MAGA lovers some of whom aren’t the brightest bulbs on the planet and realize that cult - based on some of these kooks’ beliefs - fit exactly into their master plan - no wonder JD and Yarvin rail against higher education, they don’t want us to be smarter than them. Make American Dumb Again!
This is simply an important book - tedious at times to read - but providing much needed insights into what we are facing. I also gave it five stars for its eyeopening information and how crazy these arrogant men’s visions are. It disturbed me to read about their callousness toward their fellow humans. Again this is more than a cautionary tale. Highly recommend.
September 4, 2026
Wat kan er gebeuren wanneer mensen met vrijwel onbeperkt kapitaal, technologische macht en directe toegang tot politici steeds minder vertrouwen hebben in democratie en zichzelf steeds meer zien als oplossing voor alle problemen.Dan krijg je 'techno-fascisme' in een wereld waarin enorme macht steeds meer samenkomt bij een kleine elite uit Silicon Valley.
Centraal in dit boek staat de invloed van de zogeheten PayPal Mafia en het netwerk rond Peter Thiel. Durán laat zien hoe geld, technologie, media en politieke invloed elkaar versterken, en hoe ideeën die kritisch of zelfs vijandig staan tegenover democratie steeds dichter bij het centrum van de macht komen. Vooral de hoofdstukken over Thiel, JD Vance, Curtis Yarvin en de opvallende fascinatie met de Antichrist en het einde der tijden vond ik bijzonder interessant.
Duráns toon is activistisch en soms behoorlijk stellig, waardoor niet ieder verband even overtuigend voelt. Toch maakt het boek overtuigend zichtbaar hoe Silicon Valley allang niet meer alleen draait om innovatie en bedrijven bouwen, maar ook om ideologie en politieke macht.
De vraag die blijft hangen: wat gebeurt er met een democratie wanneer een kleine groep extreem rijke techmiljardairs niet alleen steeds meer macht krijgt, maar ook steeds openlijker begint te twijfelen aan democratie zelf?
Centraal in dit boek staat de invloed van de zogeheten PayPal Mafia en het netwerk rond Peter Thiel. Durán laat zien hoe geld, technologie, media en politieke invloed elkaar versterken, en hoe ideeën die kritisch of zelfs vijandig staan tegenover democratie steeds dichter bij het centrum van de macht komen. Vooral de hoofdstukken over Thiel, JD Vance, Curtis Yarvin en de opvallende fascinatie met de Antichrist en het einde der tijden vond ik bijzonder interessant.
Duráns toon is activistisch en soms behoorlijk stellig, waardoor niet ieder verband even overtuigend voelt. Toch maakt het boek overtuigend zichtbaar hoe Silicon Valley allang niet meer alleen draait om innovatie en bedrijven bouwen, maar ook om ideologie en politieke macht.
De vraag die blijft hangen: wat gebeurt er met een democratie wanneer een kleine groep extreem rijke techmiljardairs niet alleen steeds meer macht krijgt, maar ook steeds openlijker begint te twijfelen aan democratie zelf?
September 16, 2026
I read a lot of depressing nonfiction, and can usually compartmentalize enough that it doesn't ruin my day. For some reason, this shit ruined my day.
It's pretty bleak how some of the most powerful people in the world are in technofascist doomsday cults and there is apparently very little we can do to yank the reins of technological development back from them. I am hopeful that mounting pressure to slow down AI development helps, but...not that hopeful.
I'm always astonished at the hubris of those who think AI might kill us all and that it is precisely that danger that means they, fearless and ethical technologists, are the only ones capable of building and stewarding it responsibly. Even more so by those who believe in the peter thiel type of tech monarchy. That arrogance alone is breathtaking. But it is also made even more galling by the fact that many of these people are really not all that smart, have cooked their brains in nazi propaganda, and believe a collection of some of the most genuinely stupid shit I have ever heard in my life.
It's pretty bleak how some of the most powerful people in the world are in technofascist doomsday cults and there is apparently very little we can do to yank the reins of technological development back from them. I am hopeful that mounting pressure to slow down AI development helps, but...not that hopeful.
I'm always astonished at the hubris of those who think AI might kill us all and that it is precisely that danger that means they, fearless and ethical technologists, are the only ones capable of building and stewarding it responsibly. Even more so by those who believe in the peter thiel type of tech monarchy. That arrogance alone is breathtaking. But it is also made even more galling by the fact that many of these people are really not all that smart, have cooked their brains in nazi propaganda, and believe a collection of some of the most genuinely stupid shit I have ever heard in my life.
September 16, 2026
TL;DR: We’re all suffering because a bunch of tech bro nerds got bullied too much when they were younger, and they’re making the world pay for it.
I had to listen to this in small chunks because it was pissing me off so much. I already knew a lot of this information, but I still learned plenty. Hearing it all in a row was rather disheartening, ngl. The number of these rich losers with manifestos who want to start tech cities that sound like actual hell is, frankly, shocking. I’m at least grateful the last chapter had some hope.
Recommended for anyone who defends billionaires.
Thank you to Libro and S&S Audio for the audiobook.
I had to listen to this in small chunks because it was pissing me off so much. I already knew a lot of this information, but I still learned plenty. Hearing it all in a row was rather disheartening, ngl. The number of these rich losers with manifestos who want to start tech cities that sound like actual hell is, frankly, shocking. I’m at least grateful the last chapter had some hope.
Recommended for anyone who defends billionaires.
Thank you to Libro and S&S Audio for the audiobook.
September 7, 2026
Heavy on biographical detail, not as much synthesis on fascism and Silicon Valley as the title would lead you to expect. The final two chapters are better, but the book lets every administration before Trump off the hook, so it hardly feels like a historical account of where we are today.
September 8, 2026
Man the tech bros are craaaaazzzyy! Solid journalism. It’s basically Peter Thiel’s origin story. A mix of The Star Wars Prequels and Walt Disney’s original vision of Epcot, Christianity and venture capitalists. Not a light read, but interesting and downright fascinating.
August 19, 2026
Well… I ate this right up.
God save us from insane men with billions and no accountability.
All the while reading this the back of my mind was itching with deja vu.
This cast of so far successful fascists reminds me of the villainous cabal Spectra (Special Executive for Counter Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion) from the James Bond novels and movies.
And to quote Dr. No, “World domination? The same old dream. Our asylums are full of people who think they're Napoleon. Or God.”
God save us from insane men with billions and no accountability.
All the while reading this the back of my mind was itching with deja vu.
This cast of so far successful fascists reminds me of the villainous cabal Spectra (Special Executive for Counter Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion) from the James Bond novels and movies.
And to quote Dr. No, “World domination? The same old dream. Our asylums are full of people who think they're Napoleon. Or God.”
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