Right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel has donated $10 million to a super PAC formed to support Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance, who is considering a run for U.S. Senate in Ohio. Thiel's massive donation illustrates the impotence of the nation's campaign finance system.

Vance became a bestselling author with Hillbilly Elegy, which was adapted into a movie on Netflix. Vance is a conservative but his book became popular with readers on the left and right as an unofficial guide to Trump's appeal among working-class whites. Vance describes his modest upbringing in Middletown, Ohio and his mother's roots in Kentucky. The New York Times described the book "as a cultural anthropology of the white underclass that has flocked to the Republican presidential nominee’s candidacy."

But while many readers found Vance's personal stories informative, his policy prescriptions are formulaic and familiar. Vance, who went to Yale Law School and runs his own venture capital firm, believes that the solution to the problems afflicting the poor in Appalachia is hard work. According to Vance, there are "far too many people awash in genuine desire to change only to lose their mettle when they realized just how difficult change actually is."

Vance also engages in stereotypes about people receiving welfare that have existed for decades. The problem with the working poor, Vance claims, is that they spend their money on "giant TVs and iPads," instead of planning for the future. "There is no government that can fix these problems for us," Vance concludes.

This anti-government philosophy is likely one explanation for Thiel's large contribution in support of Vance's candidacy, which is not even official. Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and a member of the Facebook Board of Directors, historically engaged in politics as a libertarian. In 2009 essay for the Cato Institute, Thiel complained "there are no truly free places left in our world" and advocated "new technologies" that could "create a new space for freedom." He suggested constructing floating cities in the ocean, escaping to space, or creating online communities "not bounded by historical nation-states."

In the same essay, Thiel said that "[s]ince 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of 'capitalist democracy' into an oxymoron."

Although he did spend some time investing in floating cities, Thiel remained engaged in politics. In 2016, Thiel endorsed Trump on the final night of Republican National Convention and donated $1.25 million to Trump's campaign. He embraced Trump's brand of nationalism, including his trade war with China. It's unclear how any of this is consistent with Thiel's libertarian philosophy, although some have speculated his attraction to Trump was based on Thiel's interest in "transgressive ideas."

Thiel has a right to his views, even if they contradict each other. But his $10 million donation to Protect Ohio Values, the super PAC supporting Vance, is evidence that the campaign finance system is completely broken. Money will always influence politics. But the campaign finance system is supposed to provide some guardrails. Instead, billionaires like Thiel are able to spend virtually unlimited sums in support of a candidate. It doesn't have to be this way.

- Judd Legum