
Palantir helps authorities track illegal immigrants - phr4ts
https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/22/peter-thiels-startup-helps-authorities-track-illegal-immigrant/
======
twblalock
Thiel calls himself a libertarian, but his involvement with Palantir
demonstrates that he is just as much a big-government statist as the people he
criticizes.

~~~
mixedCase
Libertarian doesn't equal open borders, as that's a broad political spectrum.

Hell, even some anarcho-capitalists (like the late Murray Rothbard and Hans-
Hermann Hoppe) are against open borders.

~~~
throwaw12ay
I think the point is like Musk, these people hardly refuse government
subsidizes. You might argue they provide a service, they are not getting a
handout, but it's still paid by the same taxes they want to get rid off at
first place.

~~~
dogma1138
Libertarians are not universally against taxation or Government involvement at
large, it's a pretty wide umbrella.

Musk can also be seen as a libertarian but he does advocate for social
programmes like UBI which have to be provided through taxation.

Most libertarians I know are not universally against taxation, they are
against double taxation and would prefer to tax corporation and consumption at
higher rates rather than individual labor.

Libertarianism is primarily about the role of the government within the life
of an individual and about maximizing the agency an individual holds over
their own life; It doesn't mean that an ideal libertarian society would have
no taxes; If anything most libertarians would rather pay higher local taxes to
offset lower national taxation because they have more agency in determining on
what and how their money is being spent on.

Libertarians don't want anarchy, they are fully aware that roads, schools,
police, firefighters, EMT's the military and for most of them even hospitals
and much more have to be publically funded, and the only way to do it is
through taxation.

~~~
gr33nman
I wish your version of libertarian was more outspoken.

~~~
dogma1138
It's not my version; and I find more often than not is that people hear what
they want to hear.

------
mwilcox
Palantir is hardly a startup

~~~
nickpsecurity
Seriously... I dont know why I bothered clicking the title thinking it was a
new company. Just the same datamining company that helps government agencies
helping a government agency.

------
hprotagonist
>"They are not all accounted for, the lost Seeing Stones. We do not know who
else may be watching!"

------
evanwolf
This startup helps hackers track Peter Thiel's immoral startups.

~~~
nodesocket
Wait I'm confused. Are you literally upset by this? Why is enforcing the law
and following policies so everybody can make a successful transition to become
a US citizen a bad thing? If your illegal, and most likely your not going to
pay your fair share for the entitlements and services you and others use then
I have zero respect for you.

~~~
ewzimm
People tend to ignore the negative consequences of causes they support. We all
want to live in the best possible world, and it's hard to accept that any
policy we choose will have serious negative consequences. We know for a fact
that failing to enforce immigration laws will lead to tens of thousands of
murders and kidnappings every year. And yet enforcing them will lead to a lot
of misery for those who are deported. There's no convenient solution where
everyone wins. It's hard to accept the reality of the situation, and so we
often choose to see only one side.

~~~
ewzimm
There was a response to this which quoted some statistics, including the
argument that overall crime had decreased in the USA while the illegal
immigration population had increased. I wanted to respond, but it seems to be
gone.

This trend is true, but this is the kind of statistical manipulation that
happens when emotions come into play about these kinds of sensitive issues.
Comparing trends in overall crime with the growth of a minority population is
misleading, as it's a minor contributor to total crime, even if it is
disproportionate, especially in violent crimes. Some arguments even switch
briefly to talking about legal immigrants, which is a completely different
population. Also, this is an international issue.

There's plenty of interesting information in the USA. I like this article
because it shows some of the errors on both sides.

[http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2015/12/04/problems-w...](http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2015/12/04/problems-
with-gao-illegal-alien-crime-stats/)

------
mindcrime
Maybe it's time for somebody to start a company aimed at helping illegal
immigrants avoid the government?

~~~
SilasX
Yes, it's called "people smuggling" or "coyotes".

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyotaje](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyotaje)

~~~
mindcrime
I actually was thinking more about "avoiding the government" for immigrants
who are already here, and over the long term, than the actual border crossing
bit. But that was an interesting read nonetheless. Thanks for sharing.

