The United States has Palantir, China has TikTok
Why China is winning against Palantir's powerful capabilities
Two countries, two ways of living, two ways in which the world can be seen and two drastically different but equally possible futures. They are attacking each other through different means; Palantir (and the other companies in the field) are fighting to contain evil and TikTok is the Chinese envoy sent to prevent that from happening.
In my view the latter is arguably inflicting more damage to us than what Palantir is achieving against our foes, and this isn’t Palantir’s fault, nor is it a testament to a lack of technological prowess but rather the absence of leadership and the lack of representation of values that is ultimately delivering a moral defeat.
The perception that our society is broken is causing a breaking of our people. When we try to defend a growing list of sensibilities and we obsess over every piece of a never-ending ideological puzzle, we lose who we are and what makes us unique. We can’t win a war if we don’t know it is going on right now, and we can’t be fighting a war that does not exist. We simply cannot afford it.
Why am I saying this? I’m talking about the culture shift that is going on right now, the newly imposed need on all of us to focus more on the way we do things rather than on the substance of what we do. The How is now more important than the Why or even the What. I blame a lot of actors, but TikTok and the way China is deploying it in the rest of the world compared to what the Chinese see in ByteDance’s app is very concerning to me.
If China or Russia, or any other nation, would happen to declare war against the United States and / or its allies, do you think an outstanding majority of citizens would join and fight against the enemy, after how society is seemingly so divided in regards to core values? Or rather the TikTokization of the West would result in a lack of will to defend our freedom, even make people sympathize with the enemy?
I honestly do not see the day where that would happen, because there’s no need to. The culture shift is so dramatic that China and their allies only need to wait. Just look at recent Wall Street Journal poll to understand what I’m saying here.
The only way that the West can defend itself is by doing so, and that is why I think promoting Palantir and spreading their good work is the best course of action. The least we can do as members of the free world and as a free people, and of course as shareholders and followers of the company, is share what Palantir does; cutting waiting lists for cancer patients in the UK, helping manage refugees fleeing from Ukraine due to the war, defend a country by securing its borders, help distribute food through their partnership with the WFP… And countless other ways in which they don’t just talk and say what they’d do with NGOs and donations but actually deliver results. Their work makes a difference, it matters.
We all know from different organizations and billionaires that fund campaigns against Palantir, but they aren’t really the main issue here. The problem are those that award the contracts, those that have the power in their hands and that actively withhold the public from the life-saving capabilities Foundry offers. The politicians that will rather give voice to groups actively seeking to destroy our edge against our rivals than to the ones literally saving freedom, sometimes even for free.
I can’t understand why partnering with Palantir is seen by some as controversial or problematic and not as a source of pride in the fact that that company is not doing business in China or in Russia by design. Doing business with Palantir should come with a badge that states ‘I’m proud of the West and I want to defend it’. Also, it makes your business more efficient and will save you some money in the long term, just ask Tyson Foods.
Some have voiced their opinion that Palantir should be broken into 2 different companies; one with Foundry and the other with Gotham as their respective businesses. I disagree. Every Western company that works with Foundry should want to be associated with promoting our values of liberty and freedom for all, not just change their social media profile picture every 30 days.
There’s no precedent, there’s no reference on which to compare Palantir. They not only defend the West but are actively working to improve it, to make it faster, better and more powerful. And not just Palantir, but we should all want companies like Anduril, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to be in good health. To be able to deliver their product and help the military protect as many people as possible.
I’m very concerned with the way the minds of our youth are being bombarded with woke and anti-Western sentiments through these apps, but we do have a company actually fighting to make us and our way of life prevail, and that is Palantir. I want the best for them because that is the best for us, as citizens of the West.
Excellent post, keep the good work.