He created Oculus headsets as a teenager, now he makes AI weapons for Ukraine

So what you're saying is that we need to restrain their freedom so we can protect their freedom?

Of course, now, post-ZIRP, things are a wee bit different.

Google FB etc are inherently global. Military is inherently regional.

Mixing military and civilian tends to cause messes. See Boeing doing military stuff and now their planes and ISS shuttles don't work. Also so Cheney transferring the military biodefense budget to Fauci and the NIH and now we have lab leaks and covid.

That seems to have mostly died down and all of those companies have contracts with the DoD.

Ultimately, I agree with your sentiment. Alibaba can't tell China no. And while US corporations have that freedom. It isn't one they should exercise because the US military's ability to remain competitive is in the vital interest of all that live in the US. Even if you don't always agree with the government's use of the military.

While America does not have a perfect history and is not a perfect system, there is no other country in the world right now that i would rather have overwhelming military advantage over others.

Not China, not Russia, Not any other country.

I am a pacifist at heart, and I truly wish it wasn’t so, but it is impossible for any nation that believes in its continued existence [0] not to arm itself and maintain alliances with other like minded nations (including, regrettably, nuclear arms).

I agree with the sentiment around demilitarisation, too. If everyone started getting rid of weapons there would, in many ways and for much of the time be less war and suffering. It feels right, compassionate, and empathetic. It’s what I would want. But it’s wrong.

It only takes one national collapse, one coup, one crackpot dictator, one rogue leader to upend that and walk all over everyone. And we have far more than one, both nascent and incipient, at this point.

This used to be somewhat untested in modern times, making it easier for loud anti-defence voices to be heard and acted on. But Ukraine is living that reality every day and Russia is far from the only would be aggressor.

So yes, we need to build capable militaries and strong alliances, and we need work to promote a more stable world outside those alliances.

At the same time we need to try, as hard as possible, to use our democratic power to prevent our nations and their allies overreaching with their military power, given that they must not surrender it.

But the idea that any subset of nations can choose peace by not having weapons in anything like the world we inhabit is, unfortunately, dangerous wishful thinking.

[0] Every nation believes this, regardless of its truth. We can (and should) evaluate the legitimacy and stability of a nation, alongside its governance when forming alliance, but all will rationalise their own existence (however poorly) and therefore their defence.

That Tolkien was a world war veteran doesn't make it any more ironic. The way you o avoid wars is to deter them: countries aren't selfless magnanimous institutions, they need to know that they'll lose in war in order to keep them from trying to wage it.

We're witnessing Russia, a massive country with nuclear deterrence, trying to annex a smaller peaceful country that hasn't provoked any neighbor since it existed - Ukraine. Russia has used genocide in the past, and is now using it again to try to wipe yet another country and culture from the face of the earth.

The vast majority of Russians don't care, and many support this war with a "brotherly nation" (imagine). Others see going to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians as a way to make a better living, for them and their families - they don't see the shortcomings of Putin that led to their misery, but they see the value in making more money killing Ukrainians - go figure!

And Putin made such a strategic blunder, that his existence is now tied to this war - even if that means killing millions of Russians and Ukrainians.

So, what can Ukraine do, or other countries close to Russia or close to China, who are looking to expand borders?

They can no longer rely on US for help because of their own internal division and the resignation from being the "leaders of the free world".

To me, the most obvious answer is:

- GET NUKES - The problem with this is that many countries who have nukes don't want more nukes spread around, because sht can get out of hand and nukes might be deployed - this argument no longer makes much sense given what Russia is doing, they're literally using nuclear deterrence to expand borders. But nukes are expensive.

- AI WEAPONS - Russia is protected from external intervention under the nuclear umbrella, and they have bodies to throw. They're sustaining a lot of casualties, and Russians seem to be motivated to continue to kill Ukrainians for small personal gain, so something must be done in this regard. The accuracy of western weapons seems to have been playing in favor of Ukraine, but clearly it's not enough. So you will need something to balance off high numbers of motivated soldiers in comparison to those defending - here AI seems to be the solution.

- AI WEAPONS + NUKES - this seems to be the safest solution of them all.

Reality check: Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China are developing AI weapons. They're already deploying them for information warfare, so you can only assume they will deploy them as weapons as soon as they can.

Sadly, that's the world we live in, so we have to adjust to the times. I don't think its a matter of "should we", but more "how can we make them in greater numbers and cheaper".

AI weapons seems like an inevitability.

Besides, there aren't that many unused tanks and planes in the West right now. We're in the midst -- and perhaps even just the beginning -- of a military purchasing frenzy, especially in Europe.