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Ask HN: If you're funded by the military, how do you tell people?

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Re: Ask HN: If you're funded by the military, how do you tell people?

#11

Post by taway_1212 »

dpc59 wrote: post #9
poof131 wrote: post #8

Please don’t feel guilty. Voting your conscience is fine, protesting a war is fine, but shaming people who work for the DOD is childish. Americans are risking their lives all over the world for our country. If you’re ashamed to help your fellow countrymen survive, to do their jobs better, and to return home to their families, that’s not good. I spent over a decade in the military. I have issues with the military indu…

They're not risking their lives for your country, they're doing it so that american corporations can make more profit. I highly recommend you read "war is a racket" written by General Smedley Butlers. I also want to point out that I don't blame anyone who's working for the US military, unless they're like Dick Cheney or something, I understand that people need to make a living, and that a lot might even buy into the…

America's military is really a tool for foreign policy. Granted, as with everything in America, the policy is partially set with corporations in mind - but without it, America would have no way to compete for influence over the world, and the second/third-rate countries would be overtaken by China, Russia etc. My guess is that it would not end well for USA.

Re: Ask HN: If you're funded by the military, how do you tell people?

#12

Post by wayn3 »

if you dont want to say that you work for the military, just say what youre working on.

Instead of "I'm working on stealth technology for unmanned carpet bombers" say "I work on next gen nanomaterials that can bend a broad range of wavelengths around objects - to make them invisible - like the invisibility cloak in harry potter".

Whatever. Frame your reality the way you want it to appear. You're not testifying before a court. Leave the things you dont want to say out.

Just make it sound exciting. Amuse yourself. Don't be apologetic.

Re: Ask HN: If you're funded by the military, how do you tell people?

#13

Post by tedmiston »

I wouldn't feel this way. I previously worked for the DoD (AFRL) doing research. Since everything is funded by grants, I personally never experienced people making the leap from being funded by the DoD to doing weapons development. There are tons of defense contractors out there and many make pretty benign stuff like inventory management software.

Re: Ask HN: If you're funded by the military, how do you tell people?

#14

Post by kohanz »

paulcole wrote: post #6

>I bear some responsibility by choosing this field You bear 100% of the responsibility for accepting a DoD grant. You can't absolve yourself of some nebulous amount of responsibility because of who's writing the check.

I don't think that's entirely fair. Graduate students are hardly in a position to refuse a funding source. That's up to the primary investigator and even those only have the luxury if they are able to secure other sources of funding. Unless you're saying you would quit your graduate studies or start over and find another supervisor after your lab becomes DoD funded.

Re: Ask HN: If you're funded by the military, how do you tell people?

#15

Post by poof131 »

dpc59 wrote: post #9
poof131 wrote: post #8

Please don’t feel guilty. Voting your conscience is fine, protesting a war is fine, but shaming people who work for the DOD is childish. Americans are risking their lives all over the world for our country. If you’re ashamed to help your fellow countrymen survive, to do their jobs better, and to return home to their families, that’s not good. I spent over a decade in the military. I have issues with the military indu…

They're not risking their lives for your country, they're doing it so that american corporations can make more profit. I highly recommend you read "war is a racket" written by General Smedley Butlers. I also want to point out that I don't blame anyone who's working for the US military, unless they're like Dick Cheney or something, I understand that people need to make a living, and that a lot might even buy into the…

I’ve read War is a Racket. It’s a great piece and raises issues we all should think about. I also read A Bright Shining Lie, About Face, The Best and The Brightest and other books critical of the military [1, 2, 3]. Like I said in my previous comment, I have many issues with the military, but I’m also concerned when the elite of society no longer feel the need to serve, that makes me think of the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire [4]. War sucks, but we all need to play our part, either in support or protest, but just pretending like it doesn’t exists and going about our day is the worst of both worlds.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bright_Shining_Lie [2] https://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Odyssey-American-Warrior/d... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_and_the_Brightest [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Decline_and...

Re: Ask HN: If you're funded by the military, how do you tell people?

#16

Post by digikata »

Don't feel guilty, the US underfunds basic research as is, if you happen to capture some funding through the DoD route, all it means is that some of the vast DoD funding had a better chance to affect the general good on a practical basis.

On the other hand, the topic you're researching may have an ethical component in terms of its impact in the world. But identification and evaluation of that is completely independent of your funding source. You could be funded completely privately and still need to examine ethics issues.

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