Curtis Yarvin

Islamophobia and the Techno-Zionist Right

Dork of the right

Curtis Yarvin, a Zionist-American blogger formerly known as Mencius Moldbug, is a key figure in the so-called “Dark Enlightenment” or neo-reactionary (NRx) movement, which calls for the dismantling of democracy in favour of an authoritarian techno-state. A vocal admirer of Israel’s ethnostate model, Yarvin has gone so far as to describe Palestinian toddlers as “genetically guilty”—a remark that underscores the racialised, Islamophobic worldview underpinning much of his writing.

Yarvin's political ascent has been fuelled by his ties to powerful figures in the tech world, especially billionaire investor Peter Thiel, whose venture capital firm backed Yarvin’s computing platform, Urbit. Thiel’s own company, Palantir, has worked closely with the Israeli military in AI-driven surveillance and targeting. Yarvin’s anti-democratic philosophy has resonated with influential Islamophobes like Steve Bannon and JD Vance, and drawn admiration from racist tech bros including Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen.

Though born into a liberal, secular household with Jewish and Protestant roots, Yarvin abandoned academia to enter Silicon Valley, where he developed the ideas that would become the foundation of the NRx movement. He envisions a “CEO monarch” ruling America like a private corporation—an extreme reaction against what he calls the “Cathedral,” his term for modern intellectual and media institutions.

Alongside British pseudo-philosopher Nick Land, Yarvin has cultivated a political vision steeped in racial hierarchy, civilisational conflict, and open disdain for the Muslim world. In the wake of Israel’s 2023 assault on Gaza, he defended the killing of civilians as a necessary evil, further revealing how his brand of techno-authoritarianism is interwoven with a dehumanising attitude toward Muslims, Palestinians in particular.

While Yarvin’s ideas wear the mask of innovation, their core is a familiar fusion of colonial nostalgia, racial chauvinism, and Islamophobic contempt—now repackaged for the digital age and promoted by a powerful, well-funded network with deep ties to Zionist interests.