Accelerationism

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If you search about accelerationism on google, you might first click on the wikipedia definition of it which I’ll copy and paste right here for your convenience.

Wikipedia Definition

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Accelerationism is a range of ideologies that call for the drastic intensification of capitalist growth, technological change, and other processes of social change to destabilize existing systems and create radical social transformations. It is an ideological spectrum divided into mutually contradictory left-wing and right-wing variants, both of which support aspects of capitalism such as societal change and technological progress.

Accelerationism was preceded by ideas from philosophers such as Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Inspired by these ideas, some University of Warwick staff formed a philosophy collective known as the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (CCRU), led by Nick Land. Land and the CCRU drew further upon ideas in posthumanism and 1990s cyber-culture, such as cyberpunk and jungle music, to become the driving force behind accelerationism. After the dissolution of the CCRU, the movement was termed accelerationism by Benjamin Noys in a critical work. Different interpretations emerged: whereas Land’s right-wing thought promotes capitalism as the driver of progress, technology, and knowledge, left-wing thinkers such as Mark Fisher, Nick Srnicek, and Alex Williams utilized similar ideas to promote the use of capitalist technology and infrastructure to achieve socialism.

The term has also been used in ways unrelated to capitalism and technology. One such use is by right-wing extremists such as neo-fascists, neo-Nazis, white nationalists and white supremacists to increasingly refer to an acceleration of racial conflict through assassinations, murders and terrorist attacks as a means to violently achieve a white ethnostate.

Definition of “Accelerationism”

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Accelerationism is a complex, multifaceted idea about using speed, intensification, and technological growth as means to provoke deep societal change—rejecting gradualism or resistance in favor of pushing systems beyond their limits.

Why you should care about “Accelerationism” ?

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First of all, ignoring all the politics of the subject, the whole concept of this-let’s call it philosophy is that we shouldn’t try and stop advanced in any idea that might seem dangerous(like Nuclear Energy research or Artificial Intelligence).

Based on this definition, you probably could guess how different the left and right side of political ideas might take advantage of this idea, like it or dislike it, support it or condemn it.

None of us can escape the irony of the fact that the idea that first came from leftist superstars like Baudrillard is now the plaything of the right wing and libertarians, techno-fascists and even Anarcho-Capitalists.

Most famously, or even Infamously, Curtis Guy Yarvin, also known by the pen name, Mencius Moldbug, a far-right political blogger and software developer.

Mencius Moldbug: Origins and Thought

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Mencius Moldbug is the pen name of Curtis Yarvin, an American software engineer and political theorist who became widely known in the late 2000s for his blog Unqualified Reservations. He is best known as the architect of the “Dark Enlightenment” or neo-reactionary (NRx) movement, which rejects egalitarian democracy and advocates for technocratic, authoritarian models of governance. Yarvin’s work revolves around his critique of what he calls “the Cathedral”—an alliance of academia, media, and state bureaucracy that enforces progressive orthodoxy.

Central Ideas

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• Neo-cameralism: Yarvin envisions a future where states function as sovereign corporations, governed by CEO-like figures accountable only to shareholders (wealthy stakeholders), not to voters. This “gov-corp” would seek maximum efficiency over popular legitimacy, echoing both historical monarchy and modern technology corporations.

• Critique of Democracy: Moldbug argues that democracy is a façade controlled by entrenched progressive elites, perpetuating inefficiency and moral decay. He advocates for replacing democratic government with centralized, technocratic authority—a model inspired by the efficiency of Prussia under Frederick the Great and Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew.

Moldbug & Accelerationism

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Yarvin’s vision is closely intertwined with right-leaning accelerationism. Originally, accelerationism proposed that accelerating capitalist development would hasten the collapse of existing systems; Yarvin and fellow thinkers, like Nick Land, have appropriated this idea for the far right, arguing that destabilizing democracy through technological progress will yield a new technocratic order. This view incorporates:

• Belief in the desirability and inevitability of institutional collapse, to be replaced by more efficient technocratic and corporate-led states.

• The use of technology as both means and justification for dismantling bureaucratic democracies.

• Endorsement of “hyperstition,” whereby belief in and advocacy for a certain future help manifest that reality through technological acceleration.

Influence on Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley

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Curtis Yarvin’s ideas have spread through Silicon Valley and the American tech elite, influencing investors and entrepreneurs like Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Elon Musk, David Sacks, and Marc Andreessen. The main vectors of his influence include:

• Peter Thiel: Thiel, billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, is known for expressing anti-democratic sentiments (“freedom and democracy are incompatible”) and has directly funded Yarvin’s startup Tlon with a $1.1 million investment. Thiel has also served as a mentor and backer for politicians—like JD Vance—who have cited Moldbug’s ideas. Thiel’s critique of democracy and advocacy for technocracy reflect Yarvin’s influence.

• Silicon Valley Ethos: Moldbug’s critiques resonate with “techbro” elites who see democracy as inefficient and believe in governance by technical designers and capital allocators. His writings have helped frame Silicon Valley as a laboratory for post-democratic governance and have emboldened “ broligarchy” networks to pursue corporate and algorithmic control over traditional state structures.

• Broader Impact on Tech Figures: Yarvin’s “CEO-monarch” ideal, and “Retire All Government Employees” (RAGE) initiative (If it reminds of Elon Musks role at DOGE, you get it), have been echoed by leaders and political players associated with the rise of the tech-right, neoreaction, and the authoritarian turn in some aspects of American governance.

Moldbug, Neoreaction, and Contemporary Politics

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Moldbug’s personal connections and visibility have provided a steady pipeline of his ideas into contemporary tech and political movements. Although he started as a blogger, his influence is manifest in discussions around post-democratic governance, the privatization of state functions, and the ideological alignment of a new tech elite. Critics warn of these ideas as threats to liberal democracy and as visions fundamentally at odds with pluralism and social equality.

Mencius Moldbug remains a central reference point for understanding the new alliance between accelerationist philosophy, authoritarian “solutionism,” and Silicon Valley’s increasing foray into realms traditionally reserved for the state.

Neo-Feudalism & Cyberpunk

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Neo-Feudalism: The Contemporary Power Structure

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Neo-feudalism describes a re-emergence of feudal-like social, economic, and political relations in a modern context. In this system:

• Dominance of Private Power: Individuals’ public lives are increasingly governed by business corporations instead of states. Wealthy elites or corporations operate with sovereign-like authority, often outside of conventional laws.

• Wealth and Power Concentration: Just as medieval feudal lords controlled land and peoples, today’s technology billionaires or major corporations wield powers equivalent to entire nations. Examples include the leaders of global tech firms controlling large markets, employing thousands, and exercising influence over public policy.

• End of Shared Citizenship: The commodification of essential services (security, communication, information) and privatization leads to exclusion of marginalized groups and a breakdown of traditional citizenship. Social contracts become transactional, dictated by private actors instead of democratic institutions.

• Rise of “Techno-feudalism”: As described by Yanis Varoufakis, contemporary capitalism is evolving toward a structure where huge online and tech enterprises act as digital lords, controlling behavior, markets, and even information flow—contradicting the ideals of free-market capitalism.

Cyberpunk: Imagining a Technological Future

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Cyberpunk as a genre envisions high-tech, low-trust societies where:

• Megacorporations rule: Corporations have supplanted governments, creating new forms of stratified societies, often with echoes of feudal organization.

• Hyper-urbanized dystopias: Cityscapes are dominated by inequality, mass surveillance, and advanced technology that exacerbates class divides.

• Cyborg subjectivity: Technology shapes individual identity and agency, producing divided loyalties between corporate overlords, underground networks, or AI systems.

• Lingering Resistance: Despite oppression, cyberpunk worlds often feature marginalized groups using technology in subversive or hacktivist ways.

Accelerationism: Theoretical Bridge Between the Two

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Accelerationism proposes that social transformation comes not by resisting capitalism and technology but by pushing their development to extremes:

• Right-Accelerationism: Advocates for unrestrained technological and capitalist progress, which, unchecked, is speculated to create a “hyper-corporatized” order, possibly resulting in new digital or corporate feudalism. As Nick Land suggests, capitalist techno-systems left unchecked may develop self-escalating feedback loops, rendering human welfare secondary to efficiency and profit.

• Technocracy and Corporate Governance: Figures like Curtis Yarvin (Mencius Moldbug) and some Silicon Valley elites imagine technocratic “CEO-kings” ruling over state-corporations, with power concentrated among a techno-aristocracy. This “gov-corp” model, rooted in accelerationist logic, embodies modern neo-feudal principles in practice.

• Cyberpunk Accelerationism: Cyberpunk fiction and accelerationist theory mutually influence each other. The cyberpunk vision of society—one driven by rapid technological change, megacorporation rule, diminished state capacity, and walled city-states—parallels the social landscape many accelerationists suggest is emerging or should emerge. Both see technological development as leading to new, often darker, social forms.

Synthesis: How Neo-Feudalism and Cyberpunk Frame Accelerationism

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