1. Peter Thiel sits on Facebook's board and was one of its first investors.
2. Thiel donated 1.25 million to Trump's campaign right before the election when it looked like he had no chance of winning.
3. Thiel also donated millions of dollars to Mercer's Super PAC which was funding Cambridge Analytica (which Mercer cofounded with Bannon).
4. Thiel is looking to start a conservative news channel with Mercer.
5. Thiel is an author of great pieces like "The Case Against Affirmative Action" and "The Diversity Myth".
6. Mercer has great opinions like: "...Mercer, for his part, has argued that the Civil Rights Act, in 1964, was a major mistake. According to the onetime Renaissance employee, Mercer has asserted repeatedly that African-Americans were better off economically before the civil-rights movement. (Few scholars agree.) He has also said that the problem of racism in America is exaggerated. The source said that, not long ago, he heard Mercer proclaim that there are no white racists in America today, only black racists. "
7. Theil's Founders Fund has great libertarian projects like Palantir, Space X and Anudril, which have picked up billions worth of government contracts over under this administration.
https://www.axios.com/peter-thiel-the-bridge-between-trump-a...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/technology/peter-thiel-do...
https://mashable.com/2018/03/22/facebook-peter-thiel-cambrid...
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/the-case-against-affirmativ...
https://www.amazon.com/Diversity-Myth-Multiculturalism-Polit...
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-25/peter-thi...
https://www.amazon.com/Diversity-Myth-David-Sacks/dp/0945999...
The book is not arguing against multiculturalism or diversity but rather it is arguing that multiculturalism and diversity are being used as an excuse to stifle free speech and silence dissenting opinions in institutions of higher learning. You are misrepresenting what the book is about.
[0] http://www.amazon.com/Diversity-Myth-Multiculturalism-Politi... [1] http://www.amazon.com/Diversity-Myth-David-Sacks/dp/09459997...
Well, Thiel has definitely been anti-left long before the far right were even a thing. I mean, check out his book ripping on the wokes (https://www.amazon.com/Diversity-Myth-Multiculturalism-Polit...) -- written in 1995!
The Left/Right classification is just very restrictive. You will find people like Balaji Srinivasan who fall in Thiel's category. It might just be logical.
I was in a similar mindset to you recently (cynical about people's motivations), but I think the reality is that ideology and incentives just tend to align for people, and if even if some unscrupulus person faked holding an ideology for practical reasons they actually end up becoming that thing.
I can see what you're saying about the very very far right... but are they really idiots? It seems like they are winning in some respect, so they can't be that dumb. And nobody is going to line up with your ideology 100%, Thiel's positions are usually contrarian so people who agree with him are always going to be seen as dumb or crazy or unpleasant.
I WISH Thiel were that machievellian (maybe the useful stuff would happen faster) but I just don't think he is.