
Curtis Guy Yarvin (1973-), also known as Mencius Moldbug, is an American neo-reactionary and alt-right philosopher.
Born to a Jewish family with liberal and communist political leanings and a history of civil service, Yarvin became a libertarian while working in Silicon Valley and was inspired by the works of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. Yarvin founded the Urbit computer platform in 2002, and he began the Unqualified Reservations blog in 2007. Inspired by Thomas Carlyle, he believed that libertarianism was a doomed project without the inclusion of authoritarianism, believing that "monarchies" (both actual monarchies and corporations) were responsible for much of the world's social and technological progress. He also saw George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt as leaders with the leadership styles of a CEO, and he advocated for a "monarchy" in their style (and in the style of Carlos III of Spain) as a cure to the perceived failures of democracy. He coined the term "red pill" to mean a shattering of progressive illusions, but he supported same-sex marriage, freedom of religion, and private drug use. His views on slashing the federal civil service influenced 2024 Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, and he also influenced the political views of Silicon Valley CEOs like Peter Thiel. While he did not identify as a white nationalist, he believed that whites had higher IQs than blacks for genetic reasons and believed that some races were more suited to slavery than others.