Between Saudi cities in the desert and Peter Thiel’s attempts to homestead the high seas, it’s clear that for some, money isn’t enough. That can be a danger in liberal democracies.
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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to build cities of the future in the middle of the desert — NEOM — with a ski resort called Trojena, a floating city called Oxagon, and a city built in a straight line called The Line. But the supposed motivations don’t add up. Rather than practical concerns, it seems MBS is animated by a desire to be a great founding figure: a motive shared by American billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel, who first dreamed of libertarian utopias on the ocean — seasteading — has since redirected his interest and energy toward supporting National Conservatism: a farright, antidemocratic political movement embraced by Josh Hawley and Thiel’s clientcandidates J.D. Vance and Blake Masters. This dualstory reveals just how dangerous unlimited ambition can be when up against the limits placed by liberal democracy.

Spectacles is a love letter to democracy, its values, its caretakers, and its ideas. Around the world, individual rights and representative government are facing unprecedented attacks from the forces of reaction and revisionism. But despite liberal democracy’s real shortcomings and today’s alltoofashionable cynicism, we remain committed to its preservation and improvement. Join us as we explore just what liberal democracy is, how it comes about, and how it can best be maintained in a changing world.