r/politics • u/T_Shurt • 19h ago

Possible Paywall Hegseth Announces Elon Musk and Newt Gingrich Will Help Lead Military

https://newrepublic.com/post/216045/pete-hegseth-elon-musk-newt-gingrich-help-lead-military
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u/SurroundTiny 19h ago

The title left out the third person; Palmer Lucky. Designer of Occulus VR, co-founder of Anduril Industries, self described 'radical Zionist ', and brother-in-law of Matt Gaetz.

See? It did get dumber.

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u/Jdmaki1996 Florida 19h ago

What’s with the all the techno fascists naming their shit after Tolkien stuff?

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u/travio Washington 19h ago

At least he named his company after something the good guys used. Naming your intelligence company palantir after the seeing stone the big bad guy used to spy on people is just bonkers.

Same with Zuck and the Metaverse. It came from Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson, a cyberpunk dystopia where governments have been superseded by mega corporations.

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u/PassiveGambler Washington 18h ago

Well, the palantiri were not evil themselves, nor were they created by the big bad. They were communication devices originally created by the elves (in Tolkien's universe, elves were more closely aligned with divinity than men). They were then given to the Numenoreans. They only responded appropriately to those who had the right to use them (ie the nobility and those they appointed to guard them). The reason they were dangerous is the big bad got hold of one and was able to use it combined with his own power.

The metaphor they're going for is: "We, the brilliant, righteous, and divinely aligned, created a way to retrieve and share information. We must ensure that it is only used by those who have a divine right to use it (the ultra wealthy neo-aristocracy). If it falls into the wrong hands, it can be used for great evil."

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u/GaiaMoore California 18h ago

You got me thinking, it feels like the techno-fascists are speedrunning Akallabeth and the fall of Numenor.

"We're brilliant and righteous and divinely aligned, the Valar are just jealous and won't share their cool stuff with us. We totally won't risk greater forces destroying the entire world because we thought we were gods"

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u/Ashamed_Kale_1077 17h ago

I just finished reading the LOTR a couple months ago. It's such an amazing series but after I read some other books since then, I've realized the writing style in them is so much. I'm reading dune now and just speeding through it comparitively.

I can't wait to read more Tolkien after though. Also wtf is akalabeth? Is that in one of the other books?

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u/dinodicksafari 17h ago

The Silmarillion. It is denser than the Lord of the Rings trilogy as it goes into the mythology and history of Middle Earth.

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u/Ashamed_Kale_1077 17h ago

Good deal. I've got the hobbit next and then will probably read the Silmarillion

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u/Spirited-Way2406 15h ago

Warning, The Silmarillion is the history that all of the characters in LOTR are reacting to whether they know it or not. It wasn't written in a fictional style, more a saga or Biblical style, like it was mean to be read aloud in remembrance.

However, if you read it and then watch or read LOTR, suddenly a lot of things have even more depth and punch. Galadriel is the last survivor of a whole lot of awful shit. Elrond founded a peaceful hidden refuge for a lot of damn good reasons. Etc. The old histories even influence how people live in the Shire, although Bilbo and a few other oddballs may be the only ones who know or care.

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u/ButtholeConnoisseur7 16h ago

Dense really is the right word for Tolkien's writing. Comared to say, Stephen King, whose books you can digest in a day, (I like Stephen King) it kinda becomes too much information after reading a certain amount of time

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u/Enlightened_Gardener 11h ago

Like a plumcake made too rich and eggy.

You have to have a few pages a day, or you get indigestion.

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u/oops_all_memes 14h ago

I'm reading dune now and just speeding through it comparitively.

Huh? Dune? Speeding through as compared to LOTR? What? You couldn't have picked a more puzzling book to compare it to when it comes to writing style

I more or less devoured the first book but it was a slugfest

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u/SwarmOfRatz 13h ago

half of the reading was referencing the glossary

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u/bigmcstrongmuscle 14h ago

It's in the Silmarillion.

There are five main parts to the Silmarillion. The third part (Quenta Silmarillion) is the main one people talk about, and is all about the Elves and the First Age. Akalabeth is the fourth part, and it's about the rise and fall of Numenor in the Second Age.

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u/SealEmployee 12h ago

I always used to see this as a flaw in the Silmarillion that man threw everything away like this when they had an effective paradise on Numenor but recent events make it all too likely.

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u/According_Tea_6329 18h ago

The wrong hands being the poors?

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u/PassiveGambler Washington 14h ago

I think it's intentionally vague. I don't think they view the poor as bad. They view them (us) as lesser. They don't have any ethical qualms with manipulation, lias, or any attempts to overrule the will of the people because the people don't have a right to make decisions. That's the right of the special, chosen few. They are the only ones who have access to all of the information and believe they know best. They also aren't actually any smarter than most people. "Evil" or "the wrong people" is just whoever they're beefing with. Right now, that would be Iran. Just listen to Peter Theil talk about the antichrist.

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u/EmpressClaraB 10h ago

Once we automate all the manual labour, we won't even need to let the poors have hands any more! It's all working out!

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u/RobutNotRobot 17h ago

Sauron poisoned them in the same way that malicious liars destroyed social media

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u/Tathas 16h ago

There's also the fact that

A weaker user could be dominated or deceived by a stronger one, as seen when Sauron manipulated Saruman and Denethor through the stones.

While the stones always show truthful images, selective presentation could mislead the viewer, creating false impressions without lying.

That 2nd one is especially apt.

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u/somewhat_random 18h ago

In the same way that hydrogen bombs are not evil in themselves as long as the right people use them to take care of the "other" people.

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u/Conflatulations12 15h ago

So that makes Thiel some kind of weird elf covered in grease and fop sweat?

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u/rg4rg I voted 14h ago

Just like the internet.

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u/backseatgoldfish 13h ago

And likewise, the irl tech is not bad in itself. It’s metal and plastic put together. It has no sentience. But the people who control it, however…

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u/RollingMeteors 11h ago

We must ensure that it is only used by those who have a divine right to use it (the ultra wealthy neo-aristocracy). If it falls into the wrong Chinese hands, it can be used for great evil."

FTFY