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Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

costsofwar.watson.brown.edu

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Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#51

Post by georgeburdell »

slowin wrote: post #8

It's up to us, as tech workers to push back against this. I quit my job at Microsoft due to their complicity with Israeli war crimes and oppression (and certainly the US government was involved too). It's tough to leave a high paying job, but I feel good about it every single day. We don't have to be cogs in the MIC machine and we don't have to build systems that terrorize people.

Do you support the status quo of millions of H1Bs? Those people I doubt can or will take such a principled stance, making collective action by tech workers impossible.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#52

Post by tessierashpool »

mentalgear wrote: post #10

also the new war-profiteers are profiting from a war a certain family member started. > NEW YORK (AP) — Among dozens of companies competing for Pentagon contracts to supply attack drones, one stands out. > Powerus is flush with cash and ballooning in size as it buys up rivals and has one other advantage: It is partly owned by President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons. > The latest Trump venture is hoping to win some o…

also the new war-profiteers are profiting from a war a certain family member started

this is true but it's also kind of falling into a trap.

first, the weird endless hunger that man has for any and all spotlights draws attention away from the policy issues and rampant criminality, which are a lot more important than his personality problems.

second, he was causing chaos overseas with military in his first administration too. Silicon Valley wasn't all-in on that.

third, Anduril, Palantir, et al represent a consistent philosophy of how the Valley takes over the military-industrial complex. they come from the same financial backer, Thiel, who also put a lot of money behind Trump. so we got a paper here about the real issue, and if we're shifting our attention from that to this clown who kind of just works for Thiel (among other, even more dubious possible bosses), the risk is that the conversation transitions from substance to gossip.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#53

Post by buellerbueller »

1234letshaveatw wrote: post #34
dgellow wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, both for following your values and for sharing it publicly

yes, OC was so brave

Did you realize that sharing personal attacks is, in fact, optional?

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#54

Post by monideas »

slowin wrote: post #8

It's up to us, as tech workers to push back against this. I quit my job at Microsoft due to their complicity with Israeli war crimes and oppression (and certainly the US government was involved too). It's tough to leave a high paying job, but I feel good about it every single day. We don't have to be cogs in the MIC machine and we don't have to build systems that terrorize people.

Well it's good you just left on your own accord, basically you fired yourself rather than wasting their time having to do it. There's an interesting dynamic with this in that the Chinese and Indian (and other foreign born/first gen immigrant) workers at big tech companies don't care about these things at all. There are some very intense ideological dynamics within big tech companies among the employee base but I always found it interesting that the foreign born employees did not care at all, they were just there to work.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#55

Post by stickfigure »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #26
chanakya wrote: post #22

Serious question: should companies not participate in contracts from their country's defense department? Or is the argument that it's only US companies which shouldn't, because the US is uniquely evil?

Other countries probably focus quite a bit more on the defense aspect. How many times has the US military countered a hostile attacking force? Instead, I can think of significantly more instances where the US was instigating the situation.

US military power does most of its heavy lifting without throwing bombs. We're seeing the end of Pax Americana and it isn't pretty.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#56

Post by trescenzi »

hkchad wrote: post #27

Transforming? You guys do know where google got it's start right? SV has been DOD funded from the start.

Yea how is this comment so low. There was a brief period of time where the military industry complex wasn’t deeply entwined but that period is very much over.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#57

Post by buellerbueller »

chanakya wrote: post #30
0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other countries probably focus quite a bit more on the defense aspect. How many times has the US military countered a hostile attacking force? Instead, I can think of significantly more instances where the US was instigating the situation.

That may be partly true, but in recent times, most western countries participated in wars like Afganistan and Iraq, and provided logistical or other support during the current Iran war.

In even more recent times, the US made war on Iran for no apparent reason at all.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#58

Post by tessierashpool »

bpodgursky wrote: post #3

I mean... the market was handed to the prime defense contractors on a silver platter for decades, and they utterly failed to deliver cost-effective or even working solutions. It's not some 4d chess play by VCs, they just finally realized the market was dominated by the most disruptable enterprises on earth. Good riddance.

I hate to say it, but this is mostly true.

reason I hate to say it is because companies like Palantir and Anduril are clearly pursuing political objectives, including subverting governance by creating tools which set the frame and context that governance happens in.

if Palantir and Anduril were observing the same strict separation between political and military matters, and the same strict separation between domestic and foreign activity, that the military itself observes, then the only thing happening here would be the Valley disrupting a poorly-run industry. I have no issue with that. that is what the Valley's supposed to do.

but that's not what's happening.

It's not some 4d chess play by VCs -- this part is just provably false. they're using military contracting as a Trojan horse for some truly crazy shit.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#59

Post by wartywhoa23 »

georgeburdell wrote: post #51
slowin wrote: post #8

It's up to us, as tech workers to push back against this. I quit my job at Microsoft due to their complicity with Israeli war crimes and oppression (and certainly the US government was involved too). It's tough to leave a high paying job, but I feel good about it every single day. We don't have to be cogs in the MIC machine and we don't have to build systems that terrorize people.

Do you support the status quo of millions of H1Bs? Those people I doubt can or will take such a principled stance, making collective action by tech workers impossible.

That's exactly why they are imported in such huge numbers.

Re: Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)

#60

Post by monideas »

slowin wrote: post #40
1234letshaveatw wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, OC was so brave

I just want to say that I don't think I was brave at all. I actually feel a lot of shame because I knew that Microsoft wasn't compatible with my values when I joined. I didn't know the exact details that came out later, but I took a very high paying job for a company that I thought at best didn't align with my values. I had to live with a growing cognitive dissonance about the choices I made. I also didn't exit tech…

Well there's definitely a global reckoning happening, people are not having children in developed countries due to very serious social ills (every developed country except for Israel of course).
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