4 ms·

Brightest minds of US were too focused on displaying ads and making teenagers addicted to tik tokies-like stuff instead of working security, defense, etc You c

Brightest minds of US were too focused on displaying ads and making teenagers addicted to tik tokies-like stuff instead of working security, defense, etc You couldve seen anti militsry industry sentiment on HN for years, which apparently worked for US adversaries, who knows who was behind that propaganda :) Inb4: im from eu

cicko 7mo ago
> im from eu Yeah, the ultimate place of military preparedness.
- raincole 7mo ago
  It's not "look I'm doing better than you," it's "please don't repeat our mistakes."
cyanydeez 7mo ago
The brightest minds were systematically bullied out of position, called DEI hires or accused of random crimes. They might not have been the best, but lets not pretend we're sending our brightest minds herw.
- no_shadowban_5 7mo ago
  [flagged]
- throwawaypath 7mo ago
  The brightest minds were systematically bullied out of position, called racists/transphobes or accused of random crimes.
leoc 7mo ago
To be fair, it was bright Chinese minds at ByteDance which worked on getting US teenagers addicted to TikTok videos.
- high_na_euv 7mo ago
  Meta, Google did their parts too
flohofwoe 7mo ago
Would those "brightest minds" want to work for the current US government? Even if they did out of patriotism to the country, the Trump administration would have pushed them out by now and replaced with yes-men.
- 0x3f 7mo ago
  The pay levels seem more of an inherent problem than the political winds.
  - giantg2 7mo ago
    The people I know leaving that sector have been steadily leaving for years due to the day to day bullshit/internal politics and poor leadership that they have to put up with, not the pay nor current administration.
    - 0x3f 7mo ago
      Right but if you're a lifelong gov worker you are probably used to the pay, and it's hard to switch from gov work to startups or big tech (at least, I would see it as a thing to question). Whereas the GGP talks about people switching from the private sector (adtech, etc.) to public. The first thing they are going to see is the salary and run a mile. That's partly why Palantir 'works'; they pay tech salaries and have a tech culture, but do gov work. Booz Allen et al were less advanced prototypes of that as well.
      - giantg2 7mo ago
        I know people who have switched to gov work despite the pay. Then they left due to the bullshit, without anything lined up.
- TiredOfLife 7mo ago
  They also didn't work under Biden and Obama.
bluegatty 7mo ago
This has definitely nothing to do with the subject at hand. US Forces and Defence Complex have most of the talent they need. Even with prevailing capabilities in many areas, it's not possible to do most things. Armies are not 'magic' - we're lulled into a false sense of understanding of capabilities by focusing to much on 'special forces' and other kinds of operations.
yomismoaqui 7mo ago
I prefer having those minds focused on optimizing ad serving than on optimizing school bombings.
- high_na_euv 7mo ago
  I meant intercepting missiles, drones, etc
- polotics 7mo ago
  That tragedy of the Maven targeting system is very much something that could have been optimized away, so no! Ad-servers optimizing minds could have been better employed on that project. (nothing to do with Java's Maven, look it up) Someone told me: "Think! Who were these girls' parents..." and that's BS it was really a big senseless mistake, now we're clearly in Vendettastan
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 7mo ago
  Having those minds eliminate targeting mistakes wouldn't make a difference?
  - paxys 7mo ago
    Sure, "mistakes"
panick21_ 7mo ago
What are you talking about? Better missiles dont stop Iran from closing a tiny waterway in their border. US weapons are pretty damn good for the most part. But trade protection is just not something fancy advanced weapons can solve. Military planners have known this for a long time. If anything, if you were serious you would say that the US didnt pay enough tradesmen and technician to build enough of the needed weapons.
deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]
b345 7mo ago
What makes you think what the US, most probably at the behest of occupiers of Palestine, is going to do wonders for sentiment of the general public towards the US military industry? The anti-military sentiment is justified and will probably grow as more people wake up to the terrorising and dual faced nature of the US.
YeGoblynQueenne 7mo ago
The US no longer uses its army for defense. Nobody in their immediate region dares attack them, they're too powerful ("Godzilla", in the words of John Mearsheimer). All the wars that the US has fought since WWII are nothing to do with defense. Just look at the Wikipedia article on "power projection": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_projection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_projection The leader image is ... a US aircraft carrier (the USS Nimitz). That's what the US uses its military power for, to influence events in lands far, far away from its territory. But, now, tell me which one of the many wars that the US has fought in after WWII did not end in disaster. Afghanistan? Iraq? Korea? There was a meme doing the rounds the other day: "Name a character who can defeat Captain America". The answer being "Captain Vietnam". The US has faced humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat while bringing death and destruction and immeasurable misery to millions around the world. That is what HN users seem to have an "anti" sentiment for. If you watch the news you'll be able to tell that this goes far beyond HN. The whole of US society seems to be extremely tired with those "forever wars", those senseless excursions to faraway lands, that not only do not secure US interests but turn world opinion more and more against the US. Even the US' closest allies now fear the US: vide Greenland. Anyone with more than a video game or comic book understanding of how the real world works would do well to be concerned. Edit: also from EU, btw. Greek but living in the UK.
- chneu 7mo ago
  >The whole of US society seems to be extremely tired with those "forever wars", This is the main thing I would disagree with, as an American who rubs elbows with conservatives quite a bit. A large amount of Republican and conservative Americans want war. They're primed for a war they haven't had this generation. There are a lot of relatively young conservatives who are eager for war. A weird number of Republicans don't think we lost Iraq or Afghanistan, or a few other wars, so they aren't tired of it yet. Like 15-25% of Americans also believe in some form of the end times prophecy involving Israel. I'm not kidding about this. The number really is that high. A lot might not openly state that they believe in it, but they were raised under a religious teaching that says it will happen. Hegseth, literally, has a crusades tattoo and openly talks about eradicating Muslims on his weekly or monthly sermon. But yes a majority of americans, like 60%, are extremely tired of ongoing wars. But I can also drive to towns in the western US where trump still has majority support and they will openly say they support the Iran war. America is really polarized and a lot of conservatives only talk about this stuff to family now. I grew up super rural and have to deal/work with very religious conservative Americans often enough. There are a lot more of them than people think. They've just learned to self-segregate and keep to themselves and say things a certain way.
nitwit005 7mo ago
If you have an innovative idea, it's fairly easy to sell to the public, and extremely difficult to sell to the Pentagon. People are just making the obvious choice most of the time. Why risk your business success unnecessarily?
platinumrad 7mo ago
> You couldve seen anti militsry industry sentiment on HN for years, which apparently worked for US adversaries, who knows who was behind that propaganda Me.

cicko 7mo ago

> im from eu Yeah, the ultimate place of military preparedness.

raincole 7mo ago
It's not "look I'm doing better than you," it's "please don't repeat our mistakes."

cyanydeez 7mo ago

The brightest minds were systematically bullied out of position, called DEI hires or accused of random crimes. They might not have been the best, but lets not pretend we're sending our brightest minds herw.

no_shadowban_5 7mo ago
[flagged]
throwawaypath 7mo ago
The brightest minds were systematically bullied out of position, called racists/transphobes or accused of random crimes.

leoc 7mo ago

To be fair, it was bright Chinese minds at ByteDance which worked on getting US teenagers addicted to TikTok videos.

high_na_euv 7mo ago
Meta, Google did their parts too

flohofwoe 7mo ago

Would those "brightest minds" want to work for the current US government? Even if they did out of patriotism to the country, the Trump administration would have pushed them out by now and replaced with yes-men.

0x3f 7mo ago
The pay levels seem more of an inherent problem than the political winds.
- giantg2 7mo ago
  The people I know leaving that sector have been steadily leaving for years due to the day to day bullshit/internal politics and poor leadership that they have to put up with, not the pay nor current administration.
  - 0x3f 7mo ago
    Right but if you're a lifelong gov worker you are probably used to the pay, and it's hard to switch from gov work to startups or big tech (at least, I would see it as a thing to question). Whereas the GGP talks about people switching from the private sector (adtech, etc.) to public. The first thing they are going to see is the salary and run a mile. That's partly why Palantir 'works'; they pay tech salaries and have a tech culture, but do gov work. Booz Allen et al were less advanced prototypes of that as well.
    - giantg2 7mo ago
      I know people who have switched to gov work despite the pay. Then they left due to the bullshit, without anything lined up.
TiredOfLife 7mo ago
They also didn't work under Biden and Obama.

bluegatty 7mo ago

This has definitely nothing to do with the subject at hand. US Forces and Defence Complex have most of the talent they need. Even with prevailing capabilities in many areas, it's not possible to do most things. Armies are not 'magic' - we're lulled into a false sense of understanding of capabilities by focusing to much on 'special forces' and other kinds of operations.

yomismoaqui 7mo ago

I prefer having those minds focused on optimizing ad serving than on optimizing school bombings.

high_na_euv 7mo ago
I meant intercepting missiles, drones, etc
polotics 7mo ago
That tragedy of the Maven targeting system is very much something that could have been optimized away, so no! Ad-servers optimizing minds could have been better employed on that project. (nothing to do with Java's Maven, look it up) Someone told me: "Think! Who were these girls' parents..." and that's BS it was really a big senseless mistake, now we're clearly in Vendettastan
2OEH8eoCRo0 7mo ago
Having those minds eliminate targeting mistakes wouldn't make a difference?
- paxys 7mo ago
  Sure, "mistakes"

panick21_ 7mo ago

What are you talking about? Better missiles dont stop Iran from closing a tiny waterway in their border. US weapons are pretty damn good for the most part. But trade protection is just not something fancy advanced weapons can solve. Military planners have known this for a long time. If anything, if you were serious you would say that the US didnt pay enough tradesmen and technician to build enough of the needed weapons.

deleted 7mo ago

[deleted]

b345 7mo ago

What makes you think what the US, most probably at the behest of occupiers of Palestine, is going to do wonders for sentiment of the general public towards the US military industry? The anti-military sentiment is justified and will probably grow as more people wake up to the terrorising and dual faced nature of the US.

YeGoblynQueenne 7mo ago

The US no longer uses its army for defense. Nobody in their immediate region dares attack them, they're too powerful ("Godzilla", in the words of John Mearsheimer). All the wars that the US has fought since WWII are nothing to do with defense. Just look at the Wikipedia article on "power projection": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_projection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_projection The leader image is ... a US aircraft carrier (the USS Nimitz). That's what the US uses its military power for, to influence events in lands far, far away from its territory. But, now, tell me which one of the many wars that the US has fought in after WWII did not end in disaster. Afghanistan? Iraq? Korea? There was a meme doing the rounds the other day: "Name a character who can defeat Captain America". The answer being "Captain Vietnam". The US has faced humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat while bringing death and destruction and immeasurable misery to millions around the world. That is what HN users seem to have an "anti" sentiment for. If you watch the news you'll be able to tell that this goes far beyond HN. The whole of US society seems to be extremely tired with those "forever wars", those senseless excursions to faraway lands, that not only do not secure US interests but turn world opinion more and more against the US. Even the US' closest allies now fear the US: vide Greenland. Anyone with more than a video game or comic book understanding of how the real world works would do well to be concerned. Edit: also from EU, btw. Greek but living in the UK.

chneu 7mo ago
>The whole of US society seems to be extremely tired with those "forever wars", This is the main thing I would disagree with, as an American who rubs elbows with conservatives quite a bit. A large amount of Republican and conservative Americans want war. They're primed for a war they haven't had this generation. There are a lot of relatively young conservatives who are eager for war. A weird number of Republicans don't think we lost Iraq or Afghanistan, or a few other wars, so they aren't tired of it yet. Like 15-25% of Americans also believe in some form of the end times prophecy involving Israel. I'm not kidding about this. The number really is that high. A lot might not openly state that they believe in it, but they were raised under a religious teaching that says it will happen. Hegseth, literally, has a crusades tattoo and openly talks about eradicating Muslims on his weekly or monthly sermon. But yes a majority of americans, like 60%, are extremely tired of ongoing wars. But I can also drive to towns in the western US where trump still has majority support and they will openly say they support the Iran war. America is really polarized and a lot of conservatives only talk about this stuff to family now. I grew up super rural and have to deal/work with very religious conservative Americans often enough. There are a lot more of them than people think. They've just learned to self-segregate and keep to themselves and say things a certain way.

nitwit005 7mo ago

If you have an innovative idea, it's fairly easy to sell to the public, and extremely difficult to sell to the Pentagon. People are just making the obvious choice most of the time. Why risk your business success unnecessarily?

platinumrad 7mo ago

> You couldve seen anti militsry industry sentiment on HN for years, which apparently worked for US adversaries, who knows who was behind that propaganda Me.