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I don't think the comparison here is valid even in the slightest, and I am not even talking about it from the "terrorist groups and defense contractors are not

I don't think the comparison here is valid even in the slightest, and I am not even talking about it from the "terrorist groups and defense contractors are not morally equal" angle at all. I simply think that the venn diagram of people willing to do software dev work for a defense contractor like Boeing or Raytheon and people willing to do software dev work for the cartels/terrorist groups is not even close to approaching a full circle. Sure, most people willing to do software dev work for the cartels/terrorist groups are probably totally morally ok with doing work for a defense contractor. But I am willing to bet that most people willing to work for a defense contractor will not feel morally alright working for the cartels/terrorist groups even in the slightest.

lupire 4y ago
The "terrorist" thinks they are defense contractor and that Raytheon is the terrorist. It's fully symmetric. The difference is that many or most won't cross borders to work for the opposing team. ISIS has many engineers.
- kortilla 4y ago
  Maybe for some of the terrorist groups, but it’s certainly not the case for people working for the cartels. There is no “both sides” argument to working for a group that just wants to get filthy rich using brutal violence, bribery, and disregard for the downsides of hard drug addiction. The cartels don’t have a recruiting story of bringing justice to the oppressed, etc. It’s just opportunity for money and power for people with limited opportunities otherwise. Totally orthogonal to recruiting for “mission focused” orgs like terrorist groups.
  - thephyber 4y ago
    > The cartels don’t have a recruiting story of bringing justice to the oppressed, Two points. You pivoted from terrorists to cartels. You clearly don’t realize that cartels actually get their info and their purpose from protecting (or at least doing enough visible work to appear to be protecting) the average person in their territory. Sure, not all cartels work this way, but even if not initially, they eventually buy their info this way. And, yes, terrorist groups absolutely do try to claim they are fighting for justice. They are just targeting a different demographic than you have in your mind. The children of parents killed by US defense contractor weapons. The religious zealots convinced of whatever religious transgression. The clash of values. There are plenty of political platforms, and they all can be recruiting stories.
    - kortilla 4y ago
      > You pivoted from terrorists to cartel No I didn’t. Read the thread. It lumped both together.

lupire 4y ago

The "terrorist" thinks they are defense contractor and that Raytheon is the terrorist. It's fully symmetric. The difference is that many or most won't cross borders to work for the opposing team. ISIS has many engineers.

kortilla 4y ago
Maybe for some of the terrorist groups, but it’s certainly not the case for people working for the cartels. There is no “both sides” argument to working for a group that just wants to get filthy rich using brutal violence, bribery, and disregard for the downsides of hard drug addiction. The cartels don’t have a recruiting story of bringing justice to the oppressed, etc. It’s just opportunity for money and power for people with limited opportunities otherwise. Totally orthogonal to recruiting for “mission focused” orgs like terrorist groups.
- thephyber 4y ago
  > The cartels don’t have a recruiting story of bringing justice to the oppressed, Two points. You pivoted from terrorists to cartels. You clearly don’t realize that cartels actually get their info and their purpose from protecting (or at least doing enough visible work to appear to be protecting) the average person in their territory. Sure, not all cartels work this way, but even if not initially, they eventually buy their info this way. And, yes, terrorist groups absolutely do try to claim they are fighting for justice. They are just targeting a different demographic than you have in your mind. The children of parents killed by US defense contractor weapons. The religious zealots convinced of whatever religious transgression. The clash of values. There are plenty of political platforms, and they all can be recruiting stories.
  - kortilla 4y ago
    > You pivoted from terrorists to cartel No I didn’t. Read the thread. It lumped both together.