
Dear Tech Workers, U.S. Service Members Need Your Help - mhb
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/opinion/military-war-tech-us.html
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helen___keller
This sort of utilitarian argument is missing the point, which is that well-
paid in-demand workers want to feel good about their work, and the business of
war isn't going to invoke those feelings.

This is like the wayfair walkouts earlier this year. It's not that wayfair
employees wanted children in border camps to go without beds, but the
employees personally did not want their workplace to be in the business of
furnishing border camps.

edit:

> For me, it’s hard to understand why tech employees would not want to help
> their fellow Americans survive on the battlefield and accomplish their
> missions in the safest and least damaging way possible. Not because our wars
> are a good or bad idea, but because, although not everyone does the
> fighting, these wars belong to all of us.

> While I did choose to dedicate my life to our common defense, I did not and
> do not choose when and where to go to war. Each time I went to war, it was
> because my fellow Americans — including engineers in Silicon Valley — chose,
> through our democratic institutions, to send me there.

Honestly this whole thing is a bit tone deaf. Trust in our democratic
institutions is (from my understanding) at an all time low. For your average
engineer I think your choice of workplace is the greatest leverage to making
the world a better place, and it certainly becomes part of your identity. In a
nation of "not my president", who wants to be told that "these wars belong to
all of us"?

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mindslight
As I've gotten older, I've come around to the idea that perhaps there was some
nobility to fully entering World War II. But every subsequent military
conflict has been motivated by economic empire building. If "fellow Americans"
want to "survive", the straightforward answer is to not sign up for an
organization that attacks and occupies foreign lands.

Every "reduced risk" for the military is an increased incentive to launch a
new war.

And preemptively responding to "But what about real threats that could need to
be defended against (eg China)" \- if this is your bigger concern, then you
need to figure out how to mitigate the moral hazards that have eroded trust in
the institution.

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Tehchops
An interesting take on the other side of this issue.

There exists a crucial distinction between supporting "war" and supporting
"service members".

That being said, it feels like the author is ignoring non-trivial aspect of
this issue: growing the military industrial complex is almost certainly a
long-term net-negative.

If a growing number of powerful corporate entities find war profitable, we may
find ourselves in a growing number of wars.

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alottafunchata
This is such a valid point. We owe so much of our privileged opportunity to
those who have served and continue to serve. They are an absolute thin line
protecting us against people who want to do us harm. I think it's appropriate
to leverage our gains in technology to help keep these brave Americans alive.

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mcv
It's not like they're fighting for the survival of the US. Much of the
fighting is due to some stupid idea in the head of some politician, or even in
the service of corporate profits, and a lot of innocent lives get sacrificed
on those altars.

If you want to support those brave service men and women, it's better to
support better medical care for veterans. It's bizarre that that's been such a
long running problem in such a warlike country. But that's something that
takes care of the actual people involved rather than the questionable
corporate/political motives behind some wars.

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espeed
Dear DoD and IC, U.S. Tech Workers need your help. US tech workers are under
constant attack from foreign adversaries and rogue groups, both foreign and
domestic. Get the house in order and make protecting the base priority one and
all else will follow.

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draw_down
I think it’s ok not to want to contribute to building tools of war.

