zlacker

The particular problem here is the vast majority of people that are writing this software

1. Don't care, blood is great.

2. Think they are the good guys.

3. Are more worried about their next paycheck and having bad things happen to them related to not paying rent.

>>pixl97+(OP)
Yes, Palantir folks have self selected for the first two over and over - anyone working there for many years now is completely blacklisted from anything I touch, when someone advertises ex-Palantir folks in the job description I know I can safely avoid that company forever.

>>pixl97+(OP)
> 3. Are more worried about their next paycheck and having bad things happen to them related to not paying rent.

i feel like a broken record: anyone with a resume good enough for Palantir would have no problem finding work for another company/public sector employer. but they stay.

>>Guinan+k5
They pay a lot

>>hobs+01
I would never allow one of them to be hired via any hiring process I have influence over.

>>pixl97+(OP)
I'd like to invite you to prove any three of your points.

>>no-dr-+ub
It’s hard to prove without knowing the app devs, but for points 1 & maybe 2, we can look at whether Americans think the raids are justified.

28% of them think they are [0]. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that the devs would be part of that number

Edit: it looks like the poll it’s for the recent incident of the woman who was shot - my mistake. Then I would assume the number for the raids themselves is higher

[0]: https://x.com/YouGovAmerica/status/2010853750618063016

>>wahnfr+j7
Another arm of the murder cult

>>no-dr-+ub
You don't think most people are motivated by their personal paychecks?

People need paychecks. Not everyone is going to get to build and lead their own businesses?

>>pixl97+(OP)
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!"

Getting a worker to understand that their work negatively affects innocent people is a big uphill battle.

>>wahnfr+j7
As would any other job that these devs could get. If you're working at Palantir, it very isn't likely because of of financial desperation.

>>no-dr-+ub
> JP Doherty did not want to sign the email. But he knew he didn’t have a choice. His son, Rhys, was scheduled to have strabismus surgery in January, correcting an eye issue that made it difficult for him to walk on his own. The procedure cost $10,000 out of pocket. Doherty discussed the decision with his wife, and while she wanted him to be able to quit, they both knew the kids needed his health insurance. [0]

Regarding Musk's "hardcore" ultimatum at Twitter.

[0]https://www.vanityfair.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-ultimatum

>>wahnfr+j7
Guess why

>>hobs+01
The unfortunate converse is there are plenty of other software companies looking for that .gov money that would pick these less than scrupulous employees right up.

>>no-dr-+ub
Then what, pray tell, is their motivation?

>>hobs+01
Same. I would never allow anyone who has Palantir on their resume to be hired in any company I have influence over. They are the brownshirts of the tech industry, worse even than the people poisoning children's minds at Meta.

>>wat100+Pe
That's not my experience from the time I worked for Google. The popular sentiment was actually "We now work for a company that dropped 'don't be evil' and that sucks". See Manu Cornet comics - they are a pretty good reflection of the sentiment I'm talking about, a random example https://goomics.net/387

And it's not like everyone just complained for moral posturing and then continued to wipe the tears of disgust with wads of cash. Many people who left also mentioned the ethics part as why they left.

>>pixl97+(OP)
In a thread last year a Palantir employee said most of them were either Indian, East Asians, or laid off and/or unemployable White males. Good luck guilt-tripping any of them.

Note: I'm not American, nor White/WASP, nor Asian.

>>pixl97+(OP)
I don’t think it’s really this simple. Palantir is a major government contractor that enables it to be more tech savvy. It’s embedded through hundreds of teams / agencies. You can’t remain a credible partner if you play morality police on every workflow. Palantir has worked through multiple administrations of both parties and have to support whoever is in power to have a seat at the table.

Ultimately the question is just: would you prefer to have a competent or incompetent government?

Otherwise you can agree or disagree with government policies, but that shouldn’t be directed at tech vendors, it should be directed at politicians and people in government / at the voting booth.

>>prapta+Sm
Due to background, I know a lot of people who work at google, and while many of them will give lipservice to ethical concerns, none of them have made any changes at all because, and this is an exact quote, "the money is too good."

>>pixl97+(OP)
Not surprised. At least 30% of the population voted for the current president. Should be some software developers among those?

>>pixl97+(OP)
"The most monstrous monster is the monster with noble feelings"

>>basket+5o
> Ultimately the question is just: would you prefer to have a competent or incompetent government?

Is this a joke? Have you looked at the current administration?

>>taude+ze
When we stop tying our health insurance to our employment, we'll see a drastic uptick in people starting their own businesses. Working at company Z because their health insurance is fully paid for by the employer vs working at company Y where it costs you 1,400 a month for HDHP but the salaries are the same shouldn't be a thing

At least that's my theory.

>>chinat+0t
Haha, true, although I meant competent from a tech perspective. The reason Palantir is even in the building is because the government is notoriously bad at technology.

You need to separate government institutions ability to use tech from Trumps obvious buffoonery.

>>basket+5o
> You can’t remain a credible partner if you play morality police on every workflow

Sure. That's the price to pay for not setting morality aside. One that they're not willing to pay.

>>3form+vx
Palantir's ICE contract itself is 30 million over 2 years. Thats 15 mil a year, where this past year's total revenue was ~4B. Thats about .00375 of their revenue. I hardly think it's the literal contract money they care so deeply about.

>>basket+5o
Here's a better question, in line with your positioning... Is Palantir necessary to a "competent government"

I think you know the answer to that.

>>standa+vJ
The government is notoriously terrible at tech. Are you debating that? Out of the top tech talent over the last 20 years, how many of them do you suppose work in FAANG vs the US government?

I'm not saying Palantir specifically is necessary, but I do think finding avenues for Silicon valley to help the US government is necessary for them to be tech competent.

>>fifilu+eq
A fair number, I assure you, I know plenty.

>>basket+bu
I am thinking that whether I want a technically competent federal government depends entirely on who I think will be running it in the future. Right now the technical incompetence, such that it exists, works to our advantage.

>>fifilu+eq
Wouldn't be surprised if proportionately more software devs supported this. Tech is still a fast track to riches so they would fall for the narrative more than the average worker.

>>Guinan+k5
In this job market, nothing is guaranteed. I'm struggling and I talked to devs with double my experience who had networks freeze up. Strange times.

>>pixl97+(OP)
You forgot another point--or it could be related to #3: off-shoring and H1B. Many people are just working the job and working on a small piece of software where they don't know or care about the ramification of project. They're getting paid and even if they know what's happening, they're not incentivized to care about what happens in America.