Curtis Yarvin: The Quiet Little Tech Prophet Who Wants to Bury Democracy Alive
And how his ideas are crawling out of Silicon Valley and right into the bloodstream of American power.
*Curtis Yarvin.
Curtis Yarvin: The Quiet Little Tech Prophet Who Wants to Bury Democracy Alive
And how his ideas are crawling out of Silicon Valley and right into the bloodstream of American power.
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #611: Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025.
You want to know what keeps me up at night? Nothing. Yes, that’s a fact.
However, I realize that not everyone is like that. I understand.
What would keep me up at night…if I hadn't long ago developed the skill of never worrying?
It wouldn’t be the loudmouth fascists screaming on cable TV.
It would be the quiet ones.
The ones who use whiteboards instead of rifles.
The ones who talk about “efficiency,” “optimization,” and “innovation”… while secretly drawing blueprints for monarchy.
While I don’t ever worry, I do have deep concerns about several people and/or issue…and this man is one of them.
Meet Curtis Yarvin.
A software engineer turned philosopher-king wannabe.
The man tech insiders whisper about but rarely mention in public.
Because he’s the author of the most dangerous idea in America:
That democracy itself needs to be replaced.
And here’s the kicker…the people closest to power are listening.
The Origins of a Dangerous Idea
Yarvin was a prodigy kid….straight-A brain…debate-team mouth…and the sort of person who believes the world would run smoother if he were in charge.
He went from Brown to Berkeley…then into the software world…building a system called Urbit…a digital universe that looks like a tech toy but hides a political dream: a new world that doesn’t need governments at all.
When you peel the skin off his career…here’s what you see:
A man allergic to democracy.
A man who believes bureaucracy is a disease.
A man who preaches that America’s institutions…universities…media…and government…are all part of a secret religion he calls “The Cathedral.”
In his mind…the Cathedral brainwashes citizens to worship equality and inclusion. And the only cure is to burn it down and install a “CEO-king” to run the country like a company.
That’s not conspiracy.
That’s his actual written position.
He wants to “retire all government employees”…literally calls it RAGE: Retire All Government Employees.
He wants a corporate monarchy.
He wants a king wearing a suit and stock options instead of a crown.
The Selling of the Anti-Democracy Dream
Most political lunatics end up screaming on a sidewalk.
Yarvin ended up in venture-capital boardrooms.
He spoke the language billionaires understood:
Systems…efficiency…product-market fit…decentralized networks.
He just replaced users with citizens.
He pitched tyranny as a software upgrade.
And that’s how his ideas slipped through the gates of Silicon Valley.
Peter Thiel invested in his company.
J.D. Vance quoted him in speeches.
Tech founders passed around his essays like they were forbidden scripture.
Here’s why:
To a billionaire…democracy is friction.
Voting slows things down.
Accountability gets in the way of profit.
So when a smart guy with a quiet voice comes along saying,
“Maybe democracy was a mistake…”
They don’t argue.
They lean forward.
2025: When the Theory Starts Looking Like Policy
You can always tell when a fringe idea starts turning mainstream…it gets re-branded.
Nobody in Washington says “monarchy.”
They say “strong executive.”
Nobody says “purge the civil service.”
They say “reform the administrative state.”
Nobody says “dictatorship.”
They say “efficiency.”
Sound familiar?
Because this fall…those exact words are being printed in White House talking points and congressional memos.
And the fingerprints trace straight back to Curtis Yarvin.
Every time you hear talk about “firing the deep state” or “streamlining government like a business,” you’re hearing the echo of his RAGE manifesto.
Every time a tech mogul says “democracy doesn’t scale,” that’s Yarvin’s seed sprouting in their brain.
And now…October 2025…that language isn’t coming from bloggers. It’s coming from cabinet meetings.
The Trojan Horse Called Tech
Here’s the genius of the strategy:
Yarvin doesn’t storm the gates.
He codes his revolution.
Instead of armies…he builds networks.
Instead of propaganda…he builds platforms.
Instead of votes…he builds algorithms.
His creation Urbit sounds harmless…a decentralized personal server network.
But the underlying idea is deadly simple:
Create a world where governance happens outside government.
In that world, power isn’t earned through consent…it’s owned through code.
Think about that:
Private sovereignty hidden inside software.
Shareholder kings running digital nations.
No ballots. No oversight. No accountability.
Now put that idea into the hands of a White House that already hates regulations and worships billionaires.
You see where this is going?
Why the Elite Can’t Get Enough of Him
Because Yarvin gives them permission.
Permission to despise the masses without guilt.
Permission to believe that failure of democracy is proof of their superiority.
Permission to see themselves as saviors instead of looters.
Every authoritarian movement needs an intellectual…a thinker to wrap the greed in philosophy.
For Putin…it was Dugin.
For the European far-right…it’s Faye.
For America’s emerging autocracy…it’s Curtis Yarvin.
And make no mistake: they listen.
When the vice president quotes a man who says democracy must die…it’s not curiosity…it’s recruitment.
When billionaire investors bankroll his companies…it’s not charity…it’s partnership.
When think tanks echo his slogans…it’s not coincidence…it’s coordination.
They’ve found their prophet.
The Dirty Secret of “Post-Democracy”
Here’s what they won’t tell you:
All this talk about “innovation in governance,” “smart cities,” “network states”…it’s the same trick every authoritarian pulls before seizing power.
Dress it up in progress.
Sell tyranny as efficiency.
Call obedience “optimization.”
They say we’re evolving past democracy.
No…that’s bullshit. We’re erasing it.
Because once you accept the premise that voters are the problem…you’ve already crossed the line.
You’ve handed power to the people who can buy the servers…not the people who cast the votes.
And right now…those people are the exact same billionaires funding the politicians dismantling our institutions brick by brick.
The 5 Warning Signs You’re Living in a Yarvin World
The language of management replaces the language of representation.
Politicians stop talking about citizens…start talking about stakeholders.Public agencies are gutted and replaced with “innovation offices.”
It’s not reform. It’s regime change in a business suit.The media is labeled “the Cathedral.”
Suddenly, every fact that contradicts power is heresy.Tech becomes the enforcement arm.
Data replaces law. Terms of service…replace the Constitution.The word “freedom” keeps getting used…but you can feel it shrinking.
If any of that sounds familiar…it’s because it’s already happening.
And it’s accelerating.
Why 2025 Matters
Because this is the year the mask came off.
The ruling faction isn’t hiding its contempt for democracy anymore.
They’re saying it out loud…in panels…in think-tank essays…in billionaire retreats.
They call democracy an obsolete technology.
They say citizens are bugs in the code.
And they quote Curtis Yarvin like he’s Adam Smith reborn.
This summer/fall…the administration rolled out its so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
That’s not an accident.
That’s RAGE…Retire All Government Employees…with lipstick.
The goal is the same: purge…privatize…and centralize power.
They’re not draining the swamp.
They’re paving it and calling it progress.
The Money Trail
Follow the cash.
Peter Thiel funds him.
Andreessen circles him.
The same network that bankrolls AI companies now bankrolls political power.
They’re building a fusion of data and dominion…and Yarvin gave them the moral permission slip.
He told them, “You’re the natural rulers. Stop pretending otherwise.”
So they stopped pretending.
They want the government to look like a startup.
The courts to look like a compliance department.
The presidency to look like a CEO.
And the people?
Just users….free until you violate the terms of service.
The Psychology of Control
Yarvin’s genius isn’t just in his ideas…it’s in his framing.
He doesn’t shout. He seduces.
He doesn’t scare the elite. He flatters them.
He tells them:
“You’re not destroying democracy. You’re upgrading it.”
He uses the same tactic every great salesman uses…he tells the mark what they already want to believe.
That they’re smarter.
That they deserve control.
That the messy…noisy middle-class crowd is the problem.
He turned tyranny into a status symbol.
The Blueprint in Action
Let’s break down the playbook…the “X-Ray” of how an idea becomes a regime:
Discredit democracy.
Call it slow…corrupt…outdated.
Create an enemy.
Brand all dissent as “The Cathedral.”
Offer a simpler solution.
“Just let the CEO run it.”
Fund it through tech.
Platforms…data…infrastructure.
Privatize everything.
Schools…prisons…even voting systems.
Declare success.
“See? The market works!”
By the time people realize they’ve been conned…they’re not citizens anymore. They’re customers with no return policy.
What Makes This Different from Old-School Fascism
Old fascism used jackboots.
This one uses JavaScript.
Old fascism burned books.
This one buries truth under algorithms.
Old fascism marched in parades.
This one wears Patagonia vests and hosts podcasts.
But the end result’s the same: a society where power answers upward…not outward.
Don’t be fooled by the aesthetics.
This is fascism with a user interface.
The Next Phase: Exporting the Model
If you think it ends here…you’re missing the real play.
Yarvin’s followers talk openly about “exit communities”…private city-states where the ultra-rich rule themselves.
Florida’s test case is already underway.
Several tech billionaires are buying tracts of land in the Midwest for “sovereign innovation zones.” Yes…you read that correctly.
Their dream is a nation of privatized fiefdoms.
Each one an experiment in post-democracy.
Once they prove the concept works…they’ll replicate it.
Like franchises.
Freedom ™ …now available in select markets.
The Real Battle Isn’t Left vs Right….It’s Up vs Down
This is where most people miss the point.
This isn’t about Republicans and Democrats anymore.
It’s about the top vs everyone else.
Yarvin’s ideology serves one class only: the rulers.
His dream of efficiency means obedience from below.
And every time we shrug at another purge…another privatization…another “efficiency initiative,” we’re surrendering a little more ground in a war most people don’t even know they’re fighting.
How to Fight Back (Yes, There’s a Way)
Expose the ideology:
Call it what it is…not innovation…not reform….elitist authoritarianism in drag.
Refuse the framing.
When they say “the Cathedral,” translate it: “institutions that protect your rights.”
Defend competence without surrendering democracy.
Bureaucracy can be fixed. Monarchy can’t.
Starve the propaganda.
Share actual reporting…not billionaire-funded think-tank PR.
Stay politically engaged even when it feels pointless.
Cynicism is the soil autocracy grows in.
Name names.
Sunshine kills rot. That’s why this piece exists.
Let’s Drop the Illusion
Curtis Yarvin isn’t just a blogger with weird ideas.
He’s the whisper behind the curtain telling powerful men they were meant to rule.
He’s the operating system behind a White House now testing autocracy in beta.
He’s the proof that ideas matter…because bad ones destroy nations.
If 2024 was the rehearsal…2025 is the rollout.
And unless Americans start treating this ideological malware like the threat it is…by 2028 we’ll be living in the product launch.
Let This Simmer in Your Mind
“If you don’t control the narrative, somebody else is writing your future…and billing you for it.”
That’s what Yarvin and his disciples are doing.
They’re re-writing the operating system of America while we argue about memes.
So the next time some smooth-talking executive or politician says,
“Democracy just doesn’t scale,”
You look them in the eye and say,
“Neither does tyranny, pal. But it sure scales faster.”
Then you share this story.
Because light is poison to their kind.
I’ll be back soon. Join me.
-Jack
P.S. Paid subscribers: tomorrow I’ll drop the internal map of Yarvin’s influence network… names…donors…and quotes connecting the ideology to actual 2025 policy drafts.
If you’re not yet in the paid tier…this is the one you don’t want to miss.
And it gets worse. Since I saw this I’ve been sharing it everywhere:
In 2008, a software developer in San Francisco named Curtis Yarvin, writing under a pseudonym, proposed a horrific solution for people he deemed “not productive”: “convert them into biodiesel, which can help power the Muni buses.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/where-j-d-vance-gets-100000608.html
These people are the worst people in the world and you are correct that they have seduced all the psychopaths who are tech people. It really is all bullshit so don’t forget that but they really do want to have dependent people die and the rest to be their slaves.