this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2024
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Americans love to role play at having a democracy, but when push comes to shove the public is never consulted about such monumental decisions like ending human civilization.
Wait sorry, Palantir saying this somehow reflects upon the US? Like I’m not saying that the US is good or bad but Palantir is definitely fucking bad
Honestly yeah, a fascist billionaire's policy thinktank trying to help gin up a war is reflective of US policy, especially US government policy since they help write it.
it’s certainly on brand but this isn’t the official policy of any country, it’s a billionaire who owns a defense company trying to gin up business. Again, on brand but acting like this is tantamount to or evidence of the US actually doing these things is kind of silly. It’s Palantir, they aren’t a reputable source of anything other than RFPs.
Government tied "independent" think tanks and NGOs are part of the cycle of consent manufacturing that turns the avarice of billionaire ghouls into government policy. The US government is a bunch of banks and weapons manufacturers stacked on top of each other in a trench coat. A government is not a faction: its a tool, a weapon, it has no intention other than the intention of whoever carries it. This one is in the hands of the ultra wealthy and always has been. The desires of rich fucks to make more money is not separable from the actions of the US government: it always informs it. They start wars and genocides for profit. There is no other heuristic guiding the actions of the US empire because there is no faction other than the bourgeoisie that is allowed to control it.
You might as well say "Sure, the shooter is pulling the trigger, but it would be silly to think that reflects on the intentions of the gun."
So anything any billionaire says is the official policy of the US? What about all the shit they say that doesn’t happen? I get your point but it’s over generalizing
The US government fundamentally represents the interests of the capital owning class. What the billionaires want inevitably becomes official US policy sooner or later. Don't take my word for it though https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B
I mean this is completely irrational. Obviously US policy is disproportionately impacted by oligarchs but is what Palantir wants the same as what all billionaires want? What if they want different things? You can’t just pick the dumbest or most egregiously ghoulish thing a rich person said today and say “there! That’s the us policy!”
It's pretty clear that large portions of the ruling class do in fact want these wars. If that wasn't the case then the oligarch owned media wouldn't be constantly drumming up support for these wars.
It’s pretty clear that large portions of the ruling class do in fact want cheap drugs. That’s why you see the oligarch owned media constantly drumming up support for lower drug costs by reporting on how expensive they are, and Mark Cuban has a website he says is cheaper.
Is that what all billionaires want? Is it accurate? It’s the same standard. It’s not that you’re wrong about what a lot of rich US ghouls want. It’s that your argument is lazy and dishonest. You can be right AND not tout Palantir as a source of anything other than bullshit!
The oligarch owned media never actually provides any tangible solutions for lowering drug costs last I checked. It reports on the drug prices being high in the context of capitalist realism. For example, you'll never see US media suggest that drug production should be nationalized.
Palantir gives us a windows into what people running it are advocating. Reading and understanding what they say doesn't mean endorsement, it means being aware of what these people are about. This whole idea liberals have that all problems can be solved by simply sticking your head in the sand is really not working out well last I checked.
You’re moving the goalposts. Before it’s fully sufficient for a billionaire to say it, then it has to be billionaires and the media, and now they have to also be proposing specific types of solutions for it to count. I’m just curious exactly what counts as US national policy and what doesn’t. And last I checked “circlejerking about what Palantir says” isn’t working out great either.
Nobody said this but you
They are one and the same, a body speaks with it's mouth and a ruling class speaks with it's media
We aren't the ones running articles in Fortune Magazine
I refuse to believe you're too dense to grasp the relationship between capital, the media and the state in a country where money rules all. You're clearly pretending not to understand.
Do I need to get you the link to the article about Biden's request IN MARCH that the military start planning for a coordinated nuclear threat from China, Russia, and Korea? Or can you find it yourself.
Anything a critical mass of US billionaires agree on is US policy, yes.
Who do you think runs the US government exactly?
We elect people to make decisions, that’s the whole concept behind representative government. We vote people in at the federal level who are supposed to protect us - it is one of their key responsibilities according to the constitution.
I understand that the concept of representative governance may be lost on people who have little say on those who govern them.
And just to be clear, no, ours is not a perfect system either. I’d prefer ranked choice to FPP voting, but even that has flaws.
Democracy isn't about electing people, it's about having a government that works in the interest of the majority. Western implementation of the concept is clearly broken because the governments consistently act against the interests of the people.
That's not really how it works, though. For example, who sold I vote for to stop the support for Israel? No one. Or who would I have voted for to stop the war in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008? No one. There are lots of things a majority of people favor but aren't on the ballot because the rich determines what issues we can vote on and which ones we can't.
We have the pretenses of a democracy, but it is scaffolded by money and private interests.