Brendan this was an incredibly insightful piece and you got to the heart (or lack thereof) of American culture when it comes to war mongering and the ever present threat of violence. Now tech bros call it disruption but we know it’s violence.
thank you so much for reading!! i think Palantir is so interesting because for some people it’s a morally bankrupt organization and for others it’s actually viewed as a meritocratic engine to protect the west by all means. I’m interested in following it because I think it will become one of the most important companies of the next 5 years as this merch play signifies it has greater ambitions.
I agree with the first assessment, not the latter, but agree it's a company to monitor (surveil, perhaps?!) -- and apologies for the typo on your name!
This is so interesting and it also makes me think about all the people who agree with you enough to never buy the merch but still bring big wallstreetbets energy to the stock. I wonder if there’s any tension in not loving what the company is about but buying the dip anyway.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Like — despite this, if I could go back in time, would i have told myself to buy Palantir stock? The answer for me is no, there are other companies I’d commit time travel inside trading for that feel way less of a relaxation of my values haha but i think a lot of people do find virtue in the company’s mission and there is historical evidence to suggest that there are times where the technology has been used for “good” ie. the containment of the coronavirus. what do you think?
i think i would time travel! only bc when i started to see the buy now rumblings in 2020, i decided to buy NFTs instead and that's just...embarrassing lol at least i could have had a down payment for something but now i just have air
This essay wildly overstates and distorts what Palantir actually does. There’s a big difference between critiquing power and misunderstanding how technology works, and this piece mostly does the latter.
Imagine being this scandalized by an American company building American tech for American defense, all without even understanding the difference between analytics, deployment, and policy. The horror.
Always look forward to your newsletter. Excellent and harrowing and succinct.
thank you for reading :) i was worried this one was going to veer more on the “tech journo” side so im glad you found it effective!
Brendan this was an incredibly insightful piece and you got to the heart (or lack thereof) of American culture when it comes to war mongering and the ever present threat of violence. Now tech bros call it disruption but we know it’s violence.
thank you so much for reading!! i think Palantir is so interesting because for some people it’s a morally bankrupt organization and for others it’s actually viewed as a meritocratic engine to protect the west by all means. I’m interested in following it because I think it will become one of the most important companies of the next 5 years as this merch play signifies it has greater ambitions.
I agree with the first assessment, not the latter, but agree it's a company to monitor (surveil, perhaps?!) -- and apologies for the typo on your name!
This is so interesting and it also makes me think about all the people who agree with you enough to never buy the merch but still bring big wallstreetbets energy to the stock. I wonder if there’s any tension in not loving what the company is about but buying the dip anyway.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Like — despite this, if I could go back in time, would i have told myself to buy Palantir stock? The answer for me is no, there are other companies I’d commit time travel inside trading for that feel way less of a relaxation of my values haha but i think a lot of people do find virtue in the company’s mission and there is historical evidence to suggest that there are times where the technology has been used for “good” ie. the containment of the coronavirus. what do you think?
i think i would time travel! only bc when i started to see the buy now rumblings in 2020, i decided to buy NFTs instead and that's just...embarrassing lol at least i could have had a down payment for something but now i just have air
This essay wildly overstates and distorts what Palantir actually does. There’s a big difference between critiquing power and misunderstanding how technology works, and this piece mostly does the latter.
Imagine being this scandalized by an American company building American tech for American defense, all without even understanding the difference between analytics, deployment, and policy. The horror.