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Weird title. Silicon Valley was literally founded by military spending and as far as I know it never really stopped. Apparently the crux of the article is that

Weird title. Silicon Valley was literally founded by military spending and as far as I know it never really stopped. Apparently the crux of the article is that the military wants more private capital to flow in the defense industry and an healthier ecosystems because the few large companies which have become keys to the military complex have become really inefficient. It’s interesting but a different point entirely.

thebooktocome 4y ago
Yeah, I don’t get it. In the process of becoming a substitute for one of the big primes, any given Silicon Valley corp is going to become just like a Raytheon or NGC. The process of govt contracting at scale breeds inefficiency and rent-seeking.
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  .. and indeed, that's the real reason I never went to a defense company: it's the stifling culture inside it.
est31 4y ago
> Apparently the crux of the article is that the military wants more private capital to flow in the defense industry and an healthier ecosystems because the few large companies which have become keys to the military complex have become really inefficient. There has been such a healthy ecosystem of smaller companies in the defense industry, but the pentagon has forced the companies to consolidate. See: "last supper" of 1993 for example, but even before that there have been decades of mergers. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/merger-mania-should-the-pentagon-pay-for-defense-industry-restructuring/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/merger-mania-should-the-p... This report has also some nice graphs showing that this has been a very long trend, see Table 1 and figures 2 and 3: https://media.defense.gov/2022/Feb/15/2002939087/-1/-1/1/STATE-OF-COMPETITION-WITHIN-THE-DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL-BASE.PDF https://media.defense.gov/2022/Feb/15/2002939087/-1/-1/1/STA...
tobylane 4y ago
Does the amount of foreign founders and funders make a difference here? I imagine it’s grown.
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  They let a South African keep his security clearance after breaking federal law so no big deal if there isn't Chinese entanglement.
  - stametseater 4y ago
    Said "South African" is a naturalized American citizen, which should be 'American enough' for anybody. His business dealings with the communist Chinese are a bit more concerning. Edit for response: > why did you put quotes around american enough Because in my view you're either an American citizen or you're not. I think it's offensive to speak of being American being a matter of degree. Insinuating that Elon Musk is less of an American than anybody else with an American citizenship is simply offensive.
    - tobylane 4y ago
      Musk also has citizenship of Canada and South Africa. It does matter in security clearances, but I don’t know how firm that rule is.
      - kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
        Usually they force dual citizens to renounce their other citizenships. I had a coworker who was sidelined for over a year waiting for the paperwork to go through before he could proceed with the SF86. Presumably VIPs get special treatment on that too.
    - gobengo 4y ago
      why did you put quotes around american enough
  - 4y ago
mbrudd 4y ago
> Weird title. Silicon Valley was literally founded by military spending and as far as I know it never really stopped. Came here to say this! Malcolm Harris wrote a book about this history (https://bookshop.org/p/books/palo-alto-a-history-of-california-capitalism-and-the-world-malcolm-harris/18512232?ean=9780316592031 https://bookshop.org/p/books/palo-alto-a-history-of-californ...), recently discussed on an interesting episode of Tech Won't Save Us (https://techwontsave.us/episode/155_the_untold_history_of_silicon_valley_w_malcolm_harris https://techwontsave.us/episode/155_the_untold_history_of_si...).
dredmorbius 4y ago
Steve Blank's "Secret History of Silicon Valley" (2008/9) is an HN perennial: <https://steveblank.com/secret-history/ https://steveblank.com/secret-history/> Algolia search: <https://hn.algolia.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fsecret%2Dhistory%2F https://hn.algolia.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fsec...>

thebooktocome 4y ago

Yeah, I don’t get it. In the process of becoming a substitute for one of the big primes, any given Silicon Valley corp is going to become just like a Raytheon or NGC. The process of govt contracting at scale breeds inefficiency and rent-seeking.

AlbertCory 4y ago
.. and indeed, that's the real reason I never went to a defense company: it's the stifling culture inside it.

est31 4y ago

> Apparently the crux of the article is that the military wants more private capital to flow in the defense industry and an healthier ecosystems because the few large companies which have become keys to the military complex have become really inefficient. There has been such a healthy ecosystem of smaller companies in the defense industry, but the pentagon has forced the companies to consolidate. See: "last supper" of 1993 for example, but even before that there have been decades of mergers. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/merger-mania-should-the-pentagon-pay-for-defense-industry-restructuring/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/merger-mania-should-the-p... This report has also some nice graphs showing that this has been a very long trend, see Table 1 and figures 2 and 3: https://media.defense.gov/2022/Feb/15/2002939087/-1/-1/1/STATE-OF-COMPETITION-WITHIN-THE-DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL-BASE.PDF https://media.defense.gov/2022/Feb/15/2002939087/-1/-1/1/STA...

tobylane 4y ago

Does the amount of foreign founders and funders make a difference here? I imagine it’s grown.

kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
They let a South African keep his security clearance after breaking federal law so no big deal if there isn't Chinese entanglement.
- stametseater 4y ago
  Said "South African" is a naturalized American citizen, which should be 'American enough' for anybody. His business dealings with the communist Chinese are a bit more concerning. Edit for response: > why did you put quotes around american enough Because in my view you're either an American citizen or you're not. I think it's offensive to speak of being American being a matter of degree. Insinuating that Elon Musk is less of an American than anybody else with an American citizenship is simply offensive.
  - tobylane 4y ago
    Musk also has citizenship of Canada and South Africa. It does matter in security clearances, but I don’t know how firm that rule is.
    - kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
      Usually they force dual citizens to renounce their other citizenships. I had a coworker who was sidelined for over a year waiting for the paperwork to go through before he could proceed with the SF86. Presumably VIPs get special treatment on that too.
  - gobengo 4y ago
    why did you put quotes around american enough
- 4y ago

mbrudd 4y ago

> Weird title. Silicon Valley was literally founded by military spending and as far as I know it never really stopped. Came here to say this! Malcolm Harris wrote a book about this history (https://bookshop.org/p/books/palo-alto-a-history-of-california-capitalism-and-the-world-malcolm-harris/18512232?ean=9780316592031 https://bookshop.org/p/books/palo-alto-a-history-of-californ...), recently discussed on an interesting episode of Tech Won't Save Us (https://techwontsave.us/episode/155_the_untold_history_of_silicon_valley_w_malcolm_harris https://techwontsave.us/episode/155_the_untold_history_of_si...).

dredmorbius 4y ago

Steve Blank's "Secret History of Silicon Valley" (2008/9) is an HN perennial: <https://steveblank.com/secret-history/ https://steveblank.com/secret-history/> Algolia search: <https://hn.algolia.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fsecret%2Dhistory%2F https://hn.algolia.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fsec...>