Alarms Sound over 'Technofascist' Palantir Manifesto
commondreams.orgIf this wasn't a tech CEO, we'd probably be looking at an active shooter/bomber situation
This manifesto is way off base and I guess I see why it's called "fascist." It seems to be implying that those in government are getting too little scrutiny and that violent crime is some huge crisis.
Frankly I don't know the last time anybody I know has been affected by violent crime. But scarcely a week goes by when somebody in the executive doesn't do something criminal or criminal-adjacent (e.g. insider trading).
Like are we living in the same world? IMO the Epstein-class is 100 time bigger a threat than getting mugged, and if we are going to have be scrutinizing people it needs to be measuring that our public servants aren't taking bribes, selling classified documents, meeting with Russians, etc.
Do you mind if I ask where you live and what part of town?
This seems to be all anecdotal, and if you haven't traveled or talked to people that live in different types of area than you, it would make sense to me that you may not be seeing it at all.
I can assure you, crime is a huge problem in a lot of areas I've been to recently.
The FBI's crime statistics back up his anecdotal evidence. Violent crime has been falling for decades.
https://bjs.ojp.gov/topics/crime/violent-crime
It may well still be a problem in some places, and there are many different approaches we can take. Each one likely calls for a different answer.
And we won't get any of them right if we are constantly terrified of crime based on the false belief that it's getting worse. It is getting better, and our national tactics need to be based in that reality.
The actual most common crime is wage theft.
I've lived in a few areas from suburbs to major metropolitan areas. But this isn't about personal anecdotes, it's my understanding that objectively this is established as fact that the violent crime rate is actually quite low [1]
Also the crime I have witnessed (e.g. homeless people) would not have been in any way shape or form prevented by tracking cellphones or whatever palantir is selling.
I think it's very, very easy for an emotional citizen to conjure up images of being mugged for $200 while very easily ignoring the thousands of dollars we each lose by billionaires cheating on their taxes.