Given the USA's history, the better question is: why wouldn't Russia and China do that?
Put another way: If you were the Native Americans wouldn't you still be wishing you embraced the gun sooner rather than later?
Case in point:
"Brian Shields, former Nortel security adviser, alleges Huawei hacked company for 10 years..."
"It was on behalf of Huawei and ZTE and other Chinese companies that could have used this information to compete against us in the marketplace. It gave them a strategic advantage. How can you survive when you have a competitor basically right there knowing all your moves, what you're doing, what you see as the future products?"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-nortel-exec-warns-aga...
That depends a lot on what "pro-military" means. Do most Americans wish success and well-being for our military service members? Yes. Do most Americans approve of how large our military has become, affecting both government budgets and culture, or of the foreign policy that puts so many of those service members in harm's way? I doubt it. It's not "ultra-left" to oppose militarism. You know what is ultra-left? Having a decent social safety net that enables veterans to integrate back into society, instead of abandoning them like the ultra-right does.
BUT, why would they NOT work on interesting projects for the gov? Projects are projects.
from us, 50 Cent Army/Chinese Government AI who is imitating an American
This smells like FUD.
> Please don't use Hacker News primarily for political or ideological battle. This destroys intellectual curiosity, so we ban accounts that do it.
Could you please stop?
Is this necessarily/automatic enough of a Good Thing as to be assumed as such by fiat?
This seems largely equivalent to "From a pure game theory perspective, everybody who could should work to advance nuclear missile design".
Rather than looking at which leads to a better "positive" outcome (as some have done elsewhere in the thread re: DARPA), I would also consider which leads to a better "floor" (Max-Min type of strategy, where you find the best of the worst-case scenarios.)
Also edited my comment to reflect that.
It's easy to find examples of how to make this sort of argument civilly and substantively; you replied to one.
Deliberately belittling people who conscientiously object to having their labor used for the purpose of war making is dangerous. I'm very glad that Young Americans (at the time) protested the Vietnam War making it clear to the US Military that they couldn't willy-nilly start wars whenever they want to.
You cannot, and should not, be forcing people to do what they do not want. If you want to convince others of the benefits of having a superior armed forces, belittling them as spoiled children is not the way to do so.
As am I. I'm not criticizing war protest. I'm criticizing not contributing to military technology.
> You cannot, and should not, be forcing people to do what they do not want.
No one is forcing anyone to do anything. I'm criticizing them for making their choice. They remain free to make it.
Your point is that working with the military is good, because being ruled by China would be worse than the current situation. So the moral benefit you're proposing extends insofar as we prevent China from taking over the US. How much do you think Silicon Valley needs to cooperate with the military to prevent replacement by the Chinese?
A lot. Whether or not we like it, automation, AI and autonomous weapons are going to become a huge part of the modern battlefield. Silicon Valley needs to be a big part of that process. If you abdicate your role in technology like this, you don't just make it go away. All you do is cede control of it to someone who is willing to do it. Who doesn't share your sense of morality. How, exactly, is that better?
From a pure game theory perspective, if you accept the premise above, then SV should absolutely work with the Pentagon so that the US doesn't fall behind competitively. Unless there was such a strong coalition of cooperation among the entire community globally to not contribute towards Defense initiatives - but even the most optimistic would say this is fantasy.
As one example, I've been warming up to supporting stronger collaboration between the US Tech Industry (because it's bigger than just Silicon Valley) and the NSA purely for the cybersecurity benefits that are going to be needed more and more over time. Cooperating with the best in the industry in the US is the only way to execute well.