The Anti-Palantir Manifesto • Hacker News Board

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#51

Post by api » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:03 PM UTC

bko wrote: post #30

spencerflem wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha I think we have a different idea of which 1% is making life miserable

I don't remember Elon Musk breaking into my garage and stealing my bike. But you never know, they never caught the guy.

Street crime is tangible, visceral, and visible. When someone physically accosts you or physically invades your space, you feel it.

Incestuous "robber baron" state-capitalism that privatizes gains and socializes losses, or outright white-collar crime, are not so tangible. You don't see it or feel it. It doesn't feel as invasive.

It's worse though, with the only exception being violent crime against your body. It does more actual damage over a longer term.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#52

Post by hashmap » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:03 PM UTC

bko wrote: post #20

The fear of an imminent surveillance state just rings so hollow to me. It used to appeal to me as an existential threat, but then real world experience made me realize how implausible this is, not due to technological limitations but political will. We already have surveillance states. Walk into any chain drug store in the country and you'll be met with cameras tracking your every movement, deodorant under lock and k…

> Police should use it to capture and stop the 1% of the population that's making life much more difficult for the rest of us. And they should lock them up for a considerable amount of time, not as rehabilitation or punishment, just to make the lives of ~99% of us better off. Maybe not 3 strikes, but can we settle on 10? 20? Anything would help.

criminals are not out there making life difficult for you. you are far more likely to die in a car crash than a repeat offender that you don't know. this complaint is a subjective truth blithered from behind a keyboard.

> So these theoretical arguments about a surveillance state where some hypothetical political dissident is getting doxed and raided just strikes me as fantasy.

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/04/nx-s1-5717031/ice-dhs-immigra...

we know this is what they do, and we know this is what palantir does in other countries to help governments oppress civilians. that is the product. that is why it is worrying to see it used here.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#53

Post by someonebaggy » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:03 PM UTC

cenobyte wrote: post #9

Europe and Asia have it much much worse than we do on the surveillance state. Ask anyone in jail for social media posts in the UK. Ask any Chinese citizen about their social score and how it's adjusted. So this sounds like an Anti-American and Anti-Palantir rant.

[dead]

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#54

Post by api » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

Lendal wrote: post #19

> 5. Surveillance can only be defeated by building software and hardware to defend ourselves. Here's where it went off the rails. Once you've abandoned the idea of democracy and peaceful self-governance, you're just another technofascist. You are Palantir, just in an earlier stage.

People no longer believe in the possibility of reforming institutions or good governance. Most people believe all politicians -- all of them -- are con men, liars, degenerates, or incompetents, and that nothing good can be achieved through political means.

I think it's a sign that we're further down the decay slope than we think.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#55

Post by snootypoot » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

the author lost me at "muh immigrants". stopped reading. its like the only people who agree with me on resisting evil tech companies and surveillance ai are open borders fanatics who refuse to accept that regulating who is able to access your home is something that people have always done. go on and "resist" big tech for the poor immigrants sake while big tech and every other corporation goes out of its way to replace you with cheaper labor in the form of illegal migrants, scammy visa guest workers, foreign labor, etc.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#56

Post by smalltorch » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:05 PM UTC

andsoitis wrote: post #11

smalltorch wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't you see the common theme? The internet is going to turn into a control mechanism if we don't equalize the power dynamic and build things that make it easy to empower the individual. Build for the common man, not the vampire.

> The internet is going to turn into a control mechanism if we don't equalize the power dynamic and build things that make it easy to empower the individual. What does that have to do with Palantir?

Palantir was not even what my reply was about?

That was my extrapolated common theme I gathered from the author. I just didn't understand how a common theme couldn't be drawn from the contents of the article.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#57

Post by g-b-r » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:05 PM UTC

Since all the top comments so far are skeptical of the post or in favor of Palantir, let's just say, irregardless of everything else:

Fuck Palantir and fuck Peter Thiel.

And fuck you to who flagged the article.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#58

Post by krunck » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:07 PM UTC

Lendal wrote: post #19

> 5. Surveillance can only be defeated by building software and hardware to defend ourselves. Here's where it went off the rails. Once you've abandoned the idea of democracy and peaceful self-governance, you're just another technofascist. You are Palantir, just in an earlier stage.

I would say that all forms of incipient fascism and totalitarianism can really only be stopped by a motivated populace willing to step away from feelings of safety, from their endless entertainment, and embrace a bit of risk and stand up physically to their governments an yell at the top of their lungs: NO!

Sitting in your cozy home coding and thinking you are making a difference is bullshit. We are physical beings who ultimately fear physical violence from those who would oppress us. The response must be physical. Stand up, protest, make noise.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#59

Post by howmayiannoyyou » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:07 PM UTC

lenerdenator wrote: post #4

> 19. America created the first global surveillance state, but it will not be the last. Too many have forgotten, or perhaps taken for granted, the revelations of Wikileaks and Snowden. States across the world from China to Russia are creating even more powerful global surveillance systems and propaganda machines. Leveraging private defense contracts in countries across the world, Palantir seeks to make itself the ope…

Simply false.

Surveillance networks are commonplace throughout history. Classic examples include Renaissance Italian networks in Europe, Egyptian networks operating in the Levant, Nazi networks in Europe and the UK, and so many more.

Did the US bring technology to the game? Yes. Were they the first global surveillance state, no. Are they the first to bifurcate by legal statute domestic and foreign intelligence? Yes, and with Congressional and Judicial oversight I might add.

Re: The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

#60

Post by howmayiannoyyou » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 4:08 PM UTC

cenobyte wrote: post #9

Europe and Asia have it much much worse than we do on the surveillance state. Ask anyone in jail for social media posts in the UK. Ask any Chinese citizen about their social score and how it's adjusted. So this sounds like an Anti-American and Anti-Palantir rant.

Yes, its exactly that. Its time HN - like X - posts the countries where its posts originate.