Palmer Luckey says analysts claiming it's too expensive to manufacture in the US are lying to protect megacorps
"I think I have a more realistic view than almost anybody. One of the problems with all these analysts that are telling you that it's going to cost $37,000 to build an American iPhone or $100,000 to buy an American computer."
"They're trying to prop up a status quo that the megacorporations want to keep going. They want to outsource everything. They want to hire cheaper non-American labor."
"They are willing to say and do anything to convince you that it can't be fixed, that it can't come back, that America is this helpless, neutered, post-relevant empire, and it is just not the case."
"How do I know that? Because I have to make stuff in America every day because I work in the defense industry. The stuff that Anduril makes every day is not actually that different from a computer. My drones are basically computers. They have memory, a GPU, a CPU, sensors, batteries, a rugged integration."
"The only difference between an Anduril attack drone and a laptop is a keyboard and a screen. That is not that hard to figure out, especially for a guy like me who started Oculus and comes from the consumer electronics space."
"We're not going to let people lie about what America can and can't do anymore. We're just going to do it."
There was a time when politicians were treated like respectable public servants, almost demigod figures in some circles who demanded our deference.
Then X came along and became the great equalizer. They talk to us, we talk back, and once they open their mouths, it’s obvious they’re no better in reasoning, intellect, morality, or charisma than the average person scrolling past them.
They’re average people who won popularity contests for seats inside institutions of coercion. And it is only that coercion that allows their mediocrity to shape the society the rest of us live under.
But if there’s anything I’ve realized, it’s that Michael Malice was right. We are ruled by very unimpressive people.
The curious thing about change is that people assume it automatically means “better.”
It doesn’t.
Change has no direction. It can just as easily be for the worse. Much worse.