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Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

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691–700 of 756 posts

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#691

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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It doesn't seem fair to require people to speak out publicly about every random, crazy things communicated by Trump and his regime. In my view, it gives legitimacy to his ramblings and certainly feeds into his narcissism to have people react. It seems more reasonable and practical to speak out against his war once action has actually been taken. (As a UK citizen, I don't even understand why Trump is being allowed to…

I can’t imagine that.

Politicians are supposed to lead. To present courses of action. Not to criticize other politicians after some event has already occurred and outcomes are visible.

It’s as if you were riding in a car with a friend, speeding. If you tell the friend “slow down, this is dangerous” then you are acting a little bravely and this is virtuous. Waiting to see if you get to your destination or have a crash before opening your mouth is definitely not virtuous.

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree there's not a universally agreed upon definition of terrorism, I want to hear more about why you think bombing with novel munitions expressly delivered to dense urban areas which killed 250k people 90% of whom were civilian, in an attempt to scare them into surrender, is not "terrorism".

Because forcing enemies to surrender has always been a valid tactic in war.

Including the bombing of civilians, for effect. Got it.

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#693

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pick one.

I can't really, because I read the whole thing and I don't see what you're saying at all. Like not even the worst one could I interpret as anti human. I don't get it.

"21. Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful."

This is incredibly racist, ending thinking at "well, some types of people just suck, and other types of people are better" without considering the complex and nuanced factors over the course of human history that result with the world we have today.

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#695

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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I don't know if Trump could walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, but he sure seems able to screw Ukraine and bomb Iran at the same time. He just finished sending Vance to Hungary to stump for Orban, too. The love affair between far-right authoritarian leaders is not a 2 person relationship.

I'm sure Ukraine is really disappointed that the Shahed supply has dried up

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#696
post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most simplistic would be _Divide and Conquer_ (Axis) vs _United we stand, divided we fall_ (Allie). This administration is going down the divide and conquer path. I recommend _Culture in Nazi Germany_ by Michael H Kater. [0] The current US administration has numerous similarities to 1930s Germany. The way they support banning books and the treatment of the LGBT+ community. Working to take over media organizations wit…

And a lot of dissimilarities, like the lack of mass executions of the disabled for example or a missing mass extermination plan of millions, maybe also kidnapping teenagers from the street and shipping them to brothels for soldiers, shooting babies? but apart from that exactly the same

Are you looking for and only accepting isomorphism between the two?

There are no governing bodies in history that have ever been isomorphic. Only similarities exist between them. Japan never assisted with extermination of Jews and they are in the Venn diagram of Axis and authoritarianism.

I have high confidence that Adolf Hilter, Bentio Mussolini, and Emperor Shōwa never were part of a child trafficking ring that catered to the wealthy and assisted them with raping and torturing of youths on a privately owned island. There are simulates though with _human trafficking_ between all parties.

Didn't Donald Trump state that immigrants are poisoning the blood of the country? Didn't Adolf Hitler say Jews are poisoning the blood of the country? Aren't both simulates?

There never can be two states that are exactly the same; from policies to events. Iceland and Germany are classified as democratic countries and they have dissimilarities.

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#697

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your argument just makes “king” George out to be constrained in the way a president is. Your placing of King in quotes is bizarre. Like, you see a resemblance between the current president and an actual king, and your takeaway is to try to retcon history and claim the king was not a king? Your argument that someone can't act like a king unless they're breaking laws is a bad argument (and ignores the fact that this…

> Like, you see a resemblance between the current president and an actual king No, I don't. An actual king isn't constrained by checks and balances, or the law, for the most part. You're just adjusting the definition of king here to fit your argument. For example, you refer to King George being stymied or frustrated by some act of Parliament. Is he a king or president? Our president today (and since the founding of A…

> An actual king isn't constrained by checks and balances, or the law, for the most part.

This is demonstrably false: King George, who was an "actual king", was constrained by some checks and balances, yet he was still a king. We know that much is correct. Therefore your personal definition here must be what is incorrect. And indeed, it is. You're just adjusting the definition of king here to fit your argument.

It seems like people are so hung up on the Twitter reality TV sports of politics that they've forgotten what a king is.

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#698
post #662

When your mortgage, everything you eat, the clothes your wife and children wear all come from one company, it is not hard to convince yourself that "this company might not be moral, but if I weren't here, someone else would be." And most people never even consider the ethics and morals of their workplace.

But you didn't have to start working there, is the thing. That's what always confounds me.

If you are capable of being hired at Palantir, there are thousands of non-evil companies who would be happy to have you.

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#699

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conquest from who? I generally take the word "conquest" to mean some outside force coming in and taking over. That didn't happen in either Vietnam or Korea. You could argue that the USSR used conquest to take over territories for the soviet union. However, that's not something really arguable about Vietnam or Korea. Vietnam, in particular, was the native population overthrowing their conquerors, the french, and then…

> Conquest from who? The Communists. Would you rather live in North or South Korea? Vietnam is interesting in that they're still politically authoritarian but willing to be more economically open; see also China. (Just don't say the wrong thing about the wrong people.)

> Would you rather live in North or South Korea?

Today obviously the South. In 1950, probably the North. Throughout the Korean war, it's a wash. The US obliterated the north, but the south was completely insane towards their own civilian population. The ROK was not a "nice" government to live under during the korean war.

If you lived in the north there was a good possibility that you were getting bombed. It was best to live near china.

If you live in the south, there was a good chance you would be conscripted and sent to the meat grinder as a man.

The subsequent cease fire, the south has rebuilt and become the better place to live. The north has mostly struggled due to international sanctions. They have never fully recovered.

Re: Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys

#700

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because forcing enemies to surrender has always been a valid tactic in war.

Including the bombing of civilians, for effect. Got it.

Please provide a detailed plan of how the US should have fought in WW2
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