Curtis Yarvin

Curtis Yarvin
Born	1973
Nationality	American
Occupation	Software developer, political theorist, blogger
Known for	Neoreactionary movement, The Cathedral concept, Formalism
Years active	2007–present
Website	https://graymirror.substack.com/

Curtis Guy Yarvin (born 1973), also known by the pen name Mencius Moldbug, is an American political theorist, software developer, and blogger. He is known for founding the neoreactionary movement (NRx) and developing influential concepts like The Cathedral that have shaped right-wing political discourse in the digital age. Yarvin's ideas—which advocate for replacing democracy with more authoritarian governance structures—have gained increasing influence among tech entrepreneurs, conservative intellectuals, and political figures, particularly those associated with the Trump administration.

Biography

Born in 1973, Yarvin comes from a politically engaged family background. His paternal grandparents were Jewish American communists, and his father worked for the U.S. government as a foreign service officer, which took his family overseas to Portugal, Cyprus, and the Dominican Republic during his childhood.

After studying computer science, Yarvin worked as a software developer before beginning his political blogging career in 2007 under the pseudonym "Mencius Moldbug" on his blog Unqualified Reservations. He largely stopped updating his blog in 2013 to focus on his startup Urbit, a decentralized computing platform. In April 2016, he announced that Unqualified Reservations had "completed its mission" and was finished. In 2020, Yarvin began another blog of his political views called Gray Mirror on the publishing platform Substack.

Key concepts

The Cathedral

Yarvin's most influential concept is "The Cathedral," which he describes as "a short way to say 'journalism plus academia'—in other words, the intellectual institutions at the center of modern society, just as the Church was the intellectual institution at the center of medieval society." According to Yarvin, these institutions function as a secular theocracy that propagates progressive orthodoxy throughout society.

Within The Cathedral concept, Yarvin argues that democratic governance is largely illusory, with actual power residing in this distributed network of elite institutions that shape public opinion and policy. This analysis has been particularly influential within the Remilia theoretical framework, where it has been integrated with Charlotte Fang's concepts of the State Propaganda Complex and Democracy Breeds for Control.

Formalism

In his inaugural article on Unqualified Reservations in 2007, entitled "A formalist manifesto," Yarvin introduced the concept of "formalism"—the formal recognition of existing power structures that have been obscured by democratic pretenses. This concept argues that actual power should be aligned with formal political authority, replacing what he sees as the current system where real power is exercised through unofficial channels.

Neocameralism

Yarvin advocates for a governance model he calls "neocameralism," which envisions nations reorganized as joint-stock corporations with sovereign authority. In this model, countries would be run by CEO-monarchs or small governing boards focused on maximizing property values and providing security, operating with the efficiency of corporations rather than democratic governments.

Neoreactionary movement

Yarvin's ideas formed the foundation of the neoreactionary movement (NRx), a philosophical and political current that emerged in the late 2000s. The movement is characterized by its rejection of democracy, egalitarianism, and progressive values, advocating instead for hierarchical social structures and authoritarian governance models.

Neoreaction draws on various intellectual influences, including Austrian school economics, classical conservative thinkers like Thomas Carlyle, and contemporary figures like Hans-Hermann Hoppe. The movement gained traction primarily in tech circles, particularly in Silicon Valley, where its techno-capitalist elements resonated with certain entrepreneurial figures.

Influence and reception

Silicon Valley connections

Yarvin has developed significant connections within Silicon Valley, most notably with venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who invested in Yarvin's startup Tlon (the company behind Urbit) and has been described as "fully enlightened" by Yarvin. Other tech figures like Marc Andreessen have referenced Yarvin's work and described him as a friend.

Political influence

Yarvin's ideas have gained increasing influence in right-wing political circles, particularly during and after the Trump administration. Former Vice President J.D. Vance has cited Yarvin by name when discussing strategies for reforming the federal bureaucracy, and Yarvin has claimed to have provided staffing recommendations to the Trump administration through intermediaries.

In January 2025, Yarvin attended a Trump inaugural gala in Washington, described by Politico as "an informal guest of honor" due to his "outsize influence over the Trumpian right."

See also

• The Cathedral
• State Propaganda Complex
• Democracy Breeds for Control