--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In our time, the great task for…" description: "\"In our time, the great task for libertarians is to find an escape from politics in all its forms—from the totalitarian and fundamentalist catastrophes ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/peter-thiel-1311_capitalism_in-our-time-the-great-task-for-libertari_233438.png" --- # In our time, the great task for libertarians is to find an… ![“In our time, the great task for libertarians is to find an escape from politics in all its forms—from the totalitarian and fundamentalist catastrophes to the unthinking demos that guides so-called ‘social democracy.’ . . . We are in a deadly race between politics and technology. . . . The fate of…” quote by Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/peter-thiel-1311_capitalism_in-our-time-the-great-task-for-libertari_233438.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/peter-thiel-1311_capitalism_in-our-time-the-great-task-for-libertari_233438.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/peter-thiel-1311_capitalism_in-our-time-the-great-task-for-libertari_233438.png) > “In our time, the great task for libertarians is to find an escape from politics in all its forms—from the totalitarian and fundamentalist catastrophes to the unthinking demos that guides so-called ‘social democracy.’ . . . We are in a deadly race between politics and technology. . . . The fate of our world may depend on the effort of a single person who builds or propagates the machinery of freedom that makes the world safe for capitalism.” [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Libertarians must develop technology that bypasses political constraints, ensuring freedom and safe capitalism. **In simple terms:** Escape politics via tech. Key Takeaway Build freedom tech. Themes technology freedom politics Mood analytical forward-looking Type philosophical strategic When to use this quote - startup - policy reform - digital infrastructure Key Concepts innovation libertarianism capitalism risk Questions to Reflect On - What tech can protect liberty? - How to balance innovation with societal safety? A Different Perspective Technology alone cannot guarantee freedom without ethical governance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Catastrophe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Fundamentalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentalist/) [Libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarian/) [Libertarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarians/) [Our world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-world/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-democracy/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I pay attention to politics and technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nipsey-hussle/i-pay-attention-to-politics-and-technology/) [Nipsey Hussle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nipsey-hussle/) > [The intersection of law, politics, and technology is going to force a lot of good thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-intersection-of-law-politics-and-technology-is-going-to-force-a/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Any new technology, if it's used by evil people, bad things can happen. But that's more a question of the politics of the technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hinton/any-new-technology-if-it-s-used-by-evil-people-bad-things-can-happen/) [Geoffrey Hinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hinton/) > [All tools have intrinsic politics and technology is the tool of now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/godfrey-reggio/all-tools-have-intrinsic-politics-and-technology-is-the-tool-of-now/) [Godfrey Reggio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/godfrey-reggio/) > [In so many ways, forces unleashed in response to the Movement have come to dominate our politics, and technology is allowing the same injustices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-aydin/in-so-many-ways-forces-unleashed-in-response-to-the-movement-have/) [Andrew Aydin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-aydin/) > [The aim of education is to enable individuals to continue their education ... (and) the object and reward of learning is continued capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-aim-of-education-is-to-enable-individuals-to-continue-their-2/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [... when the struggle seems to be drifting definitely towards a world social democracy, there may still be very great delays and disappointments before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/when-the-struggle-seems-to-be-drifting-definitely-towards-a-world/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Rosa Luxemburg was - still is for me - a great personal and intellectual heroine. 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Many European countries have long practiced something resembling social democracy: but they have forgotten how to preach it. Social democrats today are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/somewhat-different-many-european-countries-have-long-practiced/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [I can't agree that what we're seeing is a matter of the American bourgeoisie confronting workers everywhere. It's more like the international plutocracy eliminating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrik-hertzberg/i-can-t-agree-that-what-we-re-seeing-is-a-matter-of-the-american/) [Hendrik Hertzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrik-hertzberg/) > [Social democracy seeks and finds the ways, and particular slogans, of the workers' struggle only in the course of the development of this struggle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosa-luxemburg/social-democracy-seeks-and-finds-the-ways-and-particular-slogans-of/) [Rosa Luxemburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosa-luxemburg/) > ['Democratic socialism' is awful as a slogan and catastrophic as a policy. And 'social democracy' - a term that better fits the belief of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-stephens/democratic-socialism-is-awful-as-a-slogan-and-catastrophic-as-a/) [Bret Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-stephens/) ## More by Peter Thiel > [People don't want to believe that technology is broken. Pharmaceuticals, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology - all these areas where the progress has been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/people-don-t-want-to-believe-that-technology-is-broken/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [If you think about basic science or coming up with new theories of mathematics, these are not the kinds of things which are necessarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-think-about-basic-science-or-coming-up-with-new-theories-of/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [I think we have a bubble in the US in government bonds, because of the quantitative easing and the negative real interest rates, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/i-think-we-have-a-bubble-in-the-us-in-government-bonds-because-of-the/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Time and decision-making themselves follow a power law, and some moments matter far more than others”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/time-and-decision-making-themselves-follow-a-power-law-and-some/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Today, we exaggerate the differences between left-liberal egalitarianism and libertarian individualism because almost everyone shares their common indefinite attitude. 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Competition means no profits for anybody, no meaningful differentiation, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/creative-monopoly-means-new-products-that-benefit-everybody-and/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“we have given up our sense of wonder at secrets left to be discovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/we-have-given-up-our-sense-of-wonder-at-secrets-left-to-be-discovered/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Today our society is permeated by the twin ideas that death is both inevitable and random.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/today-our-society-is-permeated-by-the-twin-ideas-that-death-is-both/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“if your company can be summed up by its opposition to already existing firms, it can’t be completely new and it’s probably not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-your-company-can-be-summed-up-by-its-opposition-to-already/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Is a lukewarm attitude to one’s work a sign of mental health? Is a merely professional attitude the only sane approach?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/is-a-lukewarm-attitude-to-one-s-work-a-sign-of-mental-health-is-a/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“If you’ve invented something new but you haven’t invented an effective way to sell it, you have a bad business—no matter how good the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-ve-invented-something-new-but-you-haven-t-invented-an/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [The business model piece is we're always talking about competing more effectively. If you're starting a company or career you don't want to compete.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/the-business-model-piece-is-we-re-always-talking-about-competing-more/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [If you invest in Microsoft or Oracle, or a number of other companies for that matter, you're fundamentally making a bet that there's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-invest-in-microsoft-or-oracle-or-a-number-of-other-companies/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [Our economy is broken. I'm not a politician, but neither is Donald Trump. He is a builder, and it's time to rebuild America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/our-economy-is-broken-i-m-not-a-politician-but-neither-is-donald/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) [Explore all 257 Peter Thiel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## More Capitalism quotes > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. 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Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [Corporations have nothing to do with values, and they know it, and sometimes say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kierans/corporations-have-nothing-to-do-with-values-and-they-know-it-and/) [Eric Kierans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kierans/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) F. A. Harper > [The free market is ugly and stupid, like going to the mall; the unfree market is just as ugly and just as stupid, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-free-market-is-ugly-and-stupid-like-going-to-the-mall-the-unfree/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Capitalism, communism ... it's all garbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mstislav-rostropovich/capitalism-communism-it-s-all-garbage/) [Mstislav Rostropovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mstislav-rostropovich/) > [There are no two countries with the same style of economic mechanism, with the same capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/there-are-no-two-countries-with-the-same-style-of-economic-mechanism/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [Historically, usury was defined as any interest whatever on an unproductive loan.Our whole banking system I have ever abhorred, I continue to abhor, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/historically-usury-was-defined-as-any-interest-whatever-on-an/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Socialism is humanity's second nature. 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