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Comment by Foreignborn | Hacker News Reader

None of these comments here are reassuring. As if people’s concerns about developing weapon technology are economic concerns lol.

- Partner countries like Israel (however you feel about that) will eventually use whatever we make. America will not be sole user.

- America’s police is not afraid to use technology on its own citizens. Obviously they don’t have access to missile defense, but there are plenty examples of them getting military hardware.

I am not actually 100% never-make-weapons, but I have strong doubts anyone profit-motivated is strongly thinking about the second order effects.

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Hear your concerns but don't you have to look at what your enemy is doing and use that as the barometer for whether you're sufficiently innovative? Seeing Ukraine barely eke through shows we need low cost options

I don't know about you, but for me, "the enemy" describes the government of the country I live in, at least much and probably more so than anybody abroad.

> - Partner countries like Israel (however you feel about that) will eventually use whatever we make. America will not be sole user.

Regarding second-order effects, I take great comfort in that. Once upon a time people were able to discriminate between a country which uses violence to achieve goals (say kidnapping, murdering, and raping 1500 youth attending a concert) and national defense.

The US funded internet research and promoted its deregulation internally in belief that promotion of American values was something worthwhile. Post-Soviet era US tech was not conflicted in promoting a set of values in line with both its cultural and economic interests.

I see this as a small step in that direction, however tepid it may be.

There's also a second order effect to not having the most competent military. Would you rather the US military was less effective than it is today? Or only less effective than it might be?

American police will use cruise missiles on citizens?

American police has bombed before (in an amateur manner), so while unlikely, I wouldn't rule it out entirely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing

>anyone profit-motivated is strongly thinking about the second order effects

Of course they're aware, they just don't care.

VCs don't see an ROI on developing peace.

You don’t get peace by being defenseless.

The american tech industry in general and YC specifically used to be softly, subtly technofascist. The last 18 months it has been shifting more towards overtly so. This is another notch on that ratchet, rather than a totally new thing.

Silicon valley’s foundation is building tools of war to defeat fascists. Today we face a new revisionist expansionist ethno state, and their tech companies are lock step with their government in matters of military and espionage. We can choose to either defend our democracy and the world’s most diverse nation or not.

Hear, hear!

> Silicon valley’s foundation is building tools of war to defeat fascists

Entirely by accident - the US wasn't fighting fascists for some ideals of democracy and freedom, or to liberate conquered peoples, or to save Jews being slaughtered; but because the fascists were invading and declaring war left and right, including against the US. Without Japan attacking, and Germany joining, the US would have probably sat the war out (of course still contributing a lot of armaments and loans to the UK, but that was probably as far as the public and Congress would have allowed things to go).

> the world’s most diverse nation

The US doesn't even make the top 50 other than in religion, which doesn't count IMO (because US subreligious groups are incredibly close to one another):

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-dive...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ethnic_an...

You don’t have to be a fascist to support the arms industry existing. Oddly enough, even some libertarians think that having a military is a good thing for governments to do.

Military strength is a Red Queen’s race; you need to run just to stand still.

"Every political idea I don't like" is automatically "fascism."

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