Palantir CEO: Silicon Valley Shouldn't Dictate US Policy

xiphias2 6 years ago |

Sure, it's much better if Robert Mercer dictates US Policy and all the environmental protections are rolled back.

yters 6 years ago |

Ironic given where most of SV's money and tech knowledge came from.

I agree with the headline. If the US government wants a certain thing, within the bounds of the law, it should be willing to pay the going rate for that thing to companies willing to provide it. If there are no takers, we’ll, then the government doesn’t get that thing unless it provides it itself.

What Karp is really complaining about is how tech workers are being vocal in their disagreement with US policy, which is their right to do.

ixtli 6 years ago |

Interesting that they're worried a prevailing attitude amongst the laborers in tech that we shouldn't be engaging in things Palantir profits off of (like migrant concentration camps) might cause them to attack the industry itself.

mc32 6 years ago | |

They are detention centers. Normal process by most countries upon illegal entry is to send you back. We actually grant people the option to stay and take their chances on appeal rather than just send them back. They can choose to go back. A gulag does not allow the option to return whence you came.

What do you think would happen if I took a boat into Japan, China, S Korea, South Africa, Romania, Ghana, etc., and as a foreigner got stopped asked for passport and didn’t have a stamp? I’d get sent back. No chance to stay in a tent and appeal.

jkachmar 6 years ago | | |

As mentioned elsewhere, please see the ACLU’s suggested alternatives to the current United States administration’s detention policies [0].

Also consider that the following conditions are obviously inhumane: separating children from their parents, administering drugs to children without consent or medical information, withholding supplies necessary for basic hygiene equipment (e.g. toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, etc.), and dangerously overcrowding people in these facilities.

The above is certainly not comprehensive, but it should be thorough _enough_ to convince anyone that what we (the United States) are doing is wrong, and that we (technical labor) should not support it if at all possible.

https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-fact-sheet-alternatives-immi...

cheez 6 years ago | |

I'm curious, what is the alternative to illegal migrant jails?

jkachmar 6 years ago | | |

Fortunately the ACLU has you covered:

https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-fact-sheet-alternatives-immi...

cheez 6 years ago | | |

Let me ask you a question: if you lived a miserable life, and you could break the law and live a good life for five years, would you break the law? Probably.

I know there are literal alternatives to illegal immigrant detention, but what are the alternatives that still discourage illegal immigration?

From your PDF, there is a 20% likelihood that I can evade deportation.

With 40K people crossing per month (or whatever it's at now), that and assuming that half are crossing for economic reasons (i.e., not political safety reasons), that's 4K people per month that will remain illegally _after being processed_. That's a heckuva lot.

cheez 6 years ago |

The headline is incorrect. "Large tech platforms shouldn't dictate policy winners and losers" is more accurate.

I think his view is well reasoned and while you can disagree ideologically, I would like to hear the reason.

bpchaps 6 years ago |

Flagging this. This post has been advertised on Twitter non-stop. This is very clearly written as a PR piece, and it won't go away.

paxys 6 years ago |

Yup, leave that to Wall Street, defense contractors and oil companies. Can't have these engineers messing with the status quo.

notus 6 years ago | |

None of these people should be deciding the status quo tbh, neither should SV

adamnemecek 6 years ago |

I hope this kills the company. I think that working for Palantir is going to be the same as working for Philip Morris.