The Rich Are Crazier Than You and Me

[Zorro]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a crank. His views are a mishmash of right-wing fantasies mixed with remnants of the progressive he once was: Bitcoin boosterism, anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, assertions that Prozac causes mass shootings, opposition to U.S. support for Ukraine, but also favorable mention for single-payer health care. But for his last name, nobody would be paying him any attention — and despite that last name, he has zero chance of winning the Democratic presidential nomination.

Yet now that Ron DeSantis’s campaign (slogan: “woke woke immigrants woke woke”) seems to be on the skids, Kennedy is suddenly getting support from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. Jack Dorsey, who founded Twitter, has endorsed him, while some other prominent tech figures have been holding fund-raisers on his behalf. Elon Musk, who is in the process of destroying what Dorsey built, hosted him for a Twitter spaces event.

So what does all this tell us about the role of technology billionaires in modern American political life? The other day I wrote about how a number of tech bros have become recession and inflation truthers, insisting that the improving economic news is fake. (I neglected to mention Dorsey’s 2021 declaration that hyperinflation was “happening.” How’s that going?) What the Silicon Valley Kennedy boomlet shows is that this is actually part of a broader phenomenon.

What seems to attract some technology types to R.F.K. Jr. is his contrarianism — his disregard for conventional wisdom and expert opinion. So before I get into the tech-bro specific aspects of this weird political moment, let me say a few things about being contrarian.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/robert-kennedy-jr-silicon-valley.html?unlocked_article_code=nzDtdynWkyb1QDZV6hr6D_iBDSBPlB3Zx2TCcuJwrxrmkx5fmcTRb0njShakM5Mo43W8fxIxG9hz1c00lntAb-THEENhS6bdsxossk3d0TeOIHmcR7HsUcBvFuy8njqj_pyjwGf30uIMPrrw5rDYbdrXmFPz-5uQ1wbHCbbnOgbf3DvJcx7b082WKsaqY5vG4gG1yJZ4zQVdzpAbftij8ha-iLjF6ZTPKg1Q1qSyifY8qYD2yhcVu0maT2sqnaBpP5l3-XwWqKKLI5Fm-E4inT1jORIz7cjlwF3qw_jEqE50-6xE-OZoihDpIoTZIo5erHpkgCgd-MYoWUFEAngHkTtKt1X1loQgRFA&smid=url-share

[dchill]

1. Where do campaigns about woke go to die?

[BeckyDem]

2. I agree. There is a phony manipulative pattern to "opposition" of the status quo.

In reality it is sometimes dark and nefarious...also known as demagoguery.

[Clash City Rocker]

3. Normally, when you're rich, they call it "eccentric"

But he’s so nuts that it’s “crazy” even if he’s rich.

[appalachiablue]

5. Yup, the wealthy are eccentric, not crazy; they have a drinking problem and aren't drunks...

[robbob]

4. I'm wondering if a kook like Kennedy might not siphon more votes

from the GOP then from the Democratic Party? If so, this idea of promoting a spoiler candidate to defeat Biden might backfire spectacularly…

[flying_wahini]

6. I thought the same thing. Normal people won't vote for RFK.

[robbob]

7. It's the GOP mentality;

They figure liberals will flock to him just for the family name. Kind of like how they thought women who were disappointed with Obama’s nomination in 2008 would flock to the GOP because they offered Sarah Palin the vice president ticket.

They don’t understand that the majority of Democratic voters will think and research what a candidate actually has to offer, and not just jump on a brand name.