In 1951, Stanford received less than $2 million from government contracts and federal grants. Nearly a decade later, in 1960, as the space race against the Soviet Union intensified, that number more than quadrupled to $8.3 million. Stanford had effectively become what historian Rebecca S. Lowen called the “cold war university.”

While it is evident that China’s use of technology for surveillance, control and repression is deeply concerning, the moral imperative of the U.S. to prevent the nation state’s abuses is eroded by the fact that U.S. companies have profited from similar practices. At home, Palantir is building surveillance and identification tools in the service of... See more

Thiel’s view has been echoed by the economist Tyler Cowen, who believes that the U.S. has largely been stagnant in scientific and technological progress since the 1970s. In 1969, man landed on the Moon; by 1976, the supersonic airliner flew passengers between New York and London. As the stagnation hypothesis went, the digital revolution over the... See more