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1. Embed this notice
   Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Apr-2026 20:02:31 JST Aral Balkan

   Folks to me a decade ago: Aral, what’s all this tinfoil-hat stuff about Silicon Valley? You’re being alarmist! What’s the worst that could happen? Etc., etc.

   Meanwhile, a Silicon Valley billionaire:

   > Some people are like “oh, but isn’t it terrible to celebrate the power of weapons?” and I say, you know what, societies have always needed a warrior class that is enthused and excited about enacting violence on others in pursuit of good aims. I think that it’s reasonable for philosophers to degrade those people and whine about how they’re sick in the head. But society needs them. Even if I’m sick in the head. We need people who are willing to fight for our country—and I’m not doing that directly, my life’s not on the line. But you need people like me who are sick in that way and don’t lose any sleep making tools of violence

   https://web.archive.org/web/20260401060004/https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/palmer-luckey-is-our-most-terrifyingly-deranged-billionaire

   #SiliconValley #deathCult #BigTech #capitalism #fascism #PalmerLuckey

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Apr-2026 20:08:55 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     “[With Oculus] I was just trying to build toys that delighted people. There was no vengeance, there was no malice, there was no killer instinct involved. I think I didn’t develop that obsession or framing until I felt I was stabbed in the back by a lot of people who should have treated me better.”

     If the most successful people in your system are out there writing their own supervillain origin stories maybe your system is a stinking pile of shit.

     https://web.archive.org/web/20260401060004/https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/palmer-luckey-is-our-most-terrifyingly-deranged-billionaire

     #capitalism #fascism #USA #SiliconValley #PalmerLuckey

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Apr-2026 20:30:26 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     You want to understand who liberals are and why they’re not an alternative to fascism? Here’s them giving this son of a bitch a standing ovation after inviting him to present at one of their most sacred events.

     (Yes, that’s Palmer Luckey getting a standing ovation after his TED talk.)

     #capitalism #liberals #fascism #SiliconValley #TEDTalks #TED #PalmerLuckey

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Apr-2026 20:38:30 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     Seriously, watch the fucking Q&A (unless you have high blood pressure)

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=w2-KESR90FsLVjV5&t=637&v=ooMXEwl7N8Y&feature=youtu.be

     Assholes, the whole lot of ’em.

     #capitalism #liberals #fascism #SiliconValley #TEDTalks #TED #PalmerLuckey

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Apr-2026 20:39:28 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Juan Per¢ent,🇲🇽 🍉,🇻🇪

     @dacig This is my surprised face (not).

   • Embed this notice
     Juan Per¢ent,🇲🇽 🍉,🇻🇪 (dacig@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Apr-2026 20:39:29 JST Juan Per¢ent,🇲🇽 🍉,🇻🇪

     in reply to

     @aral He describes himself as a "Radical Zionist"...

   • Embed this notice
     CM Thiede (cmthiede@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Apr-2026 22:33:05 JST CM Thiede

     in reply to

     @aral and growing bored with building autonomous killing machines, now waxing nostalgic with retro gaming.

     https://social.vivaldi.net/@cmthiede/116217178590076213