Tech Bro Military Contractor Has Crazy Plan To Save America’s Marriages

A billionaire who arms the Pentagon says the fix for American divorce is a dose of the body’s bonding hormone.

Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus and the defense firm Anduril, laid out the pitch as the startup he would build today on Moonshots, the podcast and event series run by Peter Diamandis.

“I would try to end the tragedy of divorce with oxytocin doping for marriage counseling,” Luckey said on the show.

He argued couples on the brink should stay married, especially those raising children. “Most of the people who don’t want to stay together should stay together, especially for their kids,” Luckey said. He traced the idea to his interest in natalism and the falling American birth rate, according to the program. (RELATED: Lindsay Clancy-Style Horror Stories Pile Up As Moms Turn On Their Own Children)

Palmer Luckey reveals the startup he’d build today: oxytocin doping to end divorce "I would try to end the tragedy of divorce with oxytocin doping for marriage counseling." "We understand mammal pair bonding pretty well. There’s a lot of people who want to stay together. Most of the people who don’t want to stay together should stay together, especially for their kids." "And we can, if people think SSRIs are fine, which they’re not, but if they were, then oxytocin doping to stay together is definitely fine." "It’s the mammal pair bonding chemical. There’s things you can do to increase the uptake, and it’s very well understood. Also, totally unregulated, which is great. Unregulated spaces are a lot easier to do. You can go buy a kilogram of oxytocin on Sigma Aldrich Chemical Supply right now, and if you do that, maybe you won’t die alone." "It’s pure biology. It’s used for women who don’t bond with their kids, and now for women who don’t bond with their husbands. It’s also used for kids with various neurological issues, some kids with autism who struggle with pair bonding." "The cool thing is it’s a self-reinforcing loop. We understand that very well. Unlike most drugs, it doesn’t form a chemical dependency. It actually unburdens you from a chemical dependency."

Luckey described oxytocin as the chemical behind mammal pair bonding. “There’s things you can do to increase the uptake, and it’s very well understood. Also, totally unregulated, which is great,” he said.

He said buyers can order the compound in bulk from a chemical supplier. “You can go buy a kilogram of oxytocin on Sigma Aldrich Chemical Supply right now, and if you do that, maybe you won’t die alone,” Luckey said.

He framed the effect as a self-reinforcing loop with no addiction risk. “Unlike most drugs, it doesn’t form a chemical dependency. It actually unburdens you from a chemical dependency,” he said. He pointed to its use in mothers who fail to bond with their babies and in some autistic children, according to the program.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved oxytocin for medical uses such as inducing labor and controlling postpartum bleeding, but intranasal oxytocin has not been approved for use in the United States, according to The Hospitalist.

Luckey sold Oculus to Facebook. He later built Anduril into a major military supplier.