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There was a really great podcast where Palmer was interviewed about this company and why he chose to focus on it:

The Human Code - Anduril Industries & Oculus VR Founder Palmer Luckey (69 MINS)

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/turner-podcast-network/the-...

It might help shed some light on the "why" that many people here seem to be asking here in the comments.

This is indeed a really great podcast. I'm sympathetic to his points that 1) the US is falling behind and 2) that in a strong democracy policy plays a big role in shaping the technology.

Is the US regarded as a "strong democracy"? Surely some can argue just how strong, especially with the effective 2-party system. It gets repeated a lot, the US being the greatest democracy and all, but that doesn't make it true per se.

Yeah, between the entrenched 2-party system, Citizen's United, gerrymandering, voter suppression (voter-ID laws, the war-on-drugs combined with felons not being eligible to vote, etc.), the politization of the supreme court and the complete dysfunction of Congress, I'd classify the US as a 'failing' democracy. Not 'failed' mind, you but well on its way. I'd put it about 2-3 democratic dysfunctions behind Turkey and 4-6 behind Russia.

> It gets repeated a lot, the US being the greatest democracy and all

Absolutely no one is repeating that outside of the US itself

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