
PalanThiel: The Uncola - laurex
https://www.profgalloway.com/palanthiel-the-uncola
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praptak
_" US government is the most noble customer in history"_

Noble people don't kidnap and don't torture people[0]

[0][https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24522378](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24522378)

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thundergolfer
Yeah that’d be line item 98764 on a list of ignoble things the USA government
has done.

I find it hard to believe that Scott believes that sentence. He didn’t even
say the most noble _government_ , which is still ridiculous but an easier
sell.

Is this sentence just American chest-beating?

~~~
praptak
I believe this sentence is an ironic summary of Palantir's PR and I'm sort of
agreeing with the author that this PR is outrageous bullshit.

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gameswithgo
>The U.S. government is the most noble customer in history, whether you
support the person in the White House or not.

That is a non argument for how nobel the US government is. This seems to be a
disingenuous way of pretending that the current administration doesn't have
serious problems by suggesting it is just down to a matter of people's minor
preferences. Even before the current administration it would be a tough
argument to call our government the most nobel.

~~~
Barrin92
I've followed the Pivot podcast for a while and Kara Swisher and Scott go back
and forth on this on occasion. She generally took a more pro-privacy stance
and Scott is much more concerned with the arbitrary way in which tech
companies seem to cooperate or resist authorities depending on how they feel
at any given day.

Kind of torn on the issue. In general I think Scott has a point. Having vital
national security infrastructure in the hand of unaccountable private firms
who'll do whatever they'll like is bad, but the US government is just about
one of the worst on the planet to make that case.

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thundergolfer
Peter Thiel is a scary person to leave around with so much power. He’s a
brilliant technologist and so unconcerned with cloaking his selfishness and
will-to-power he seems somethings like a fiction character.

Power in Facebook and Palantir, media and government. It’s certainly relieving
to hear Scott argue the latter company is not gathering strength, but he also
doesn’t argue that Palantir is impotent.

I am pretty curious whether Thiel has a third chess piece in play. What other
industry would most attract a techno-megalomaniac?

