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Comment by jauer | Hacker News Reader

I'm curious how well this article resonates with people outside a particular bubble (vs. being puzzling if you are inside a different bubble.)

The statement that Anduril sponsoring a NixOS conference was inherently damaging as opposed to the reaction causing the damage, "When did defense work stop being taboo" etc.

I've worked in the US Midwest->SFBay->US West and defense work never seemed particularly taboo in my circles, moreso that the work was boring and constricting.

Traditionally cautious sectors adopting a particular technology seems like a sign that a technology is viewed as having a particular level of dependability. That's a good thing.

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I think the fact that Anduril in particular is involved is relevant because Palmer Luckey and the whole Thiel company orbit around it are extremely divisive and there's a military / civil divide along political axis in the US. Here in Europe that's usually not the case and Helsing being a European company in particular now with the security situation on the continent just isn't going to cause much furor.

The irony is that Luckey and Musk, despite their personal issues and divisiveness, are some of the better defense contractors in terms of actually providing good value for dollar and getting things done on time. Compare against, say, Boeing.

I suggest that the Europeans should get over their moral reservations about military industries quickly because the upcoming US administration is not likely to be as helpful as previous ones in the event that Russia decides to test the integrity of NATO.

> I suggest that the Europeans should get over their moral reservations about military industries quickly

Which of us Europeans are you referring to exactly?

Sweden joined NATO and many countries in the bloc have increased spending. In the Netherlands we sent fighter jets to Ukraine to try and help in the war against Ukraine.

This comment is just downright ignorant and condescending. I guess this is how Trump voters view Europe though?

We're commenting on a long essay about making tech conferences hostile to any kind of defense contractor presence, that prefaced itself with a "content warning" simply because a handful of defense contractors were mentioned. That kind.

That obviously doesn't represent most Europeans, and of course there are many Americans that hold similar views. But I do also think it's true that Europe still hasn't really "woken up" to the scale of the problem on their hands.

On spending, most nations that don't directly border Russia are only barely meeting the goals they set forth a decade ago and they're doing so at the last possible moment, to say nothing of the complete inadequacy of that goal given the largest war since WWII is now happening at their doorstep.

I agree - and what's funny is that according to this blog it was the US community that rejected US MIC companies, and the EU community didn't reject the EU MIC company.

This is one of those "the internet isn't reality, and it is self selecting" issues.

Depending on the day and topic, a lot of things look all one way depending on who's commenting on them.

"When did defense work stop being taboo" etc.

There's a good quote in the Economist story on autonomous drones that's also linked from the front page [1]. The idea that you can ethically shun defense work is itself a privilege and a luxury that many people throughout the world don't enjoy.

“It’s the best feeling to see your drone enter a tiny opening in an enemy trench,” says Denys, an engineer at The Fourth Law, the Ukrainian firm which makes these autonomous drones. “I used to be a pacifist, but Russia’s war has stripped me of that privilege.”

As long as there are countries like Russia, there will have to be a strong defense industry. The leaders of such countries understand nothing but violence, so unfortunately, violence it is.

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42352871

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I've never worked in defense. Why do you equate working in those regions with working in defense?

I clearly got it wrong.

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