Transcript of Interview with Joe Lonsdale

Interview with Joe Lonsdale on his political philosophy.

0. Introduction

Johnathan Bi: Aristocracy gets a bad rap. But Joe Lonsdale argues that the lack of a natural aristocracy is precisely what is missing today. Because when we disposed of aristocracy, we didn't unleash democracy. We got bureaucracy, a geriatric, misaligned slop that will suffocate a civilization if not eradicated. That is what is plaguing America today. Joe Lonsdale is the closest thing you'll find to a Roman senator today, someone who acts courageously in politics, commerce, and the military, all informed by a classical understanding of virtue. This interview will tease out Lonsdale's political philosophy that underlies all of his ventures, Palantir, University of Austin, Cicero and 8VC. My name is Jonathan Bi. I'm a founding member of Cosmos. We deliver educational programs, fund research, invest in AI startups, and believe that philosophy is critical to building technology. If you wanna join our ecosystem of philosopher builders, then you can find roles we're hiring for, events we're hosting and other ways to get involved on johnathanbi.com/cosmos. Without further ado, Joe Lonsdale.

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1. The Importance of Aristocracy

Johnathan Bi: Your ecosystem I think it combined two very rare qualities. Because there's a lot of tech ecosystems that are focused on building, but there's no deep philosophy there. Whereas some ecosystems are very much contemplative about the philosophical side, but they're not really doing a lot in the real world. Whereas for you, there is, underneath the building, a deep kind of core political philosophy that motivates all of it.