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A lot of liberal tech people who got very rich very fast in the 2000s and 2010s did a healthy and reasonable thing: tried to stay grounded and not let money change them And the thing conservatives understand deeply is the power of using money to create a force-multiplying ecosystem around you

It’s not just whatever Dialog is. It’s that a guy like Thiel indirectly (and sometimes directly) funds the livelihoods and lifestyles of those around him, they build a web of trusted relationships, and he becomes the center of a network of dozens of powerful people. bsky.app/profile/dmnd...

“Well he was a billionaire, of course he can do that” I can personally assure you this level arrives much earlier in your career than you think. Basically as soon as you are trusted to hire outside vendors and spend other people’s money, you begin to have the ability to fund your friends.

Don’t act like that’s unethical. If they can do the job you pay them for, you can change your friends’ lives. Your enemies are doing the same thing.

It is probably unethical. You should hire the best candidate, who is unlikely, by coincidence, to be your friend.

I don't think that is true.

I mean this with real respect: of course an economist would say that

Also, special care is always warranted when spending other people's money. You should avoid even the appearance of self-dealing or favouring friends.