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The Department of War just shot the accountants and opted for speed

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285 points ridruejo | 3 comments | 11 Nov 25 14:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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chiph ◴[11 Nov 25 21:14 UTC] No.45892948[source]▶
> Design For Rapid Scale In a Crisis

One of the things that I think Anduril (Palmer Luckey and other founders) is doing right is designing for manufacturability. The invasion of Ukraine has shown that future conflicts will use up weapons at a very high pace. And that the US capability to build them at the rate needed to sustain conflict isn't there anymore. But that one thing that could help is making them easier to build. (the decline of US manufacturing is a related but separate topic)

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Y-bar ◴[11 Nov 25 23:59 UTC] No.45894589[source]▶
What’s up with Maga people using LotR names for their military/panopticon companies?

Anduril, Palantir, Lembas have I seen so far.

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mmooss ◴[12 Nov 25 05:49 UTC] No.45896758[source]▶
It's especially interesting because their philosophy is the opposite of Tolkien's. They seek power at all costs, trying to create 'rings' and dallying with bad people.

One common rhetorical tactic, commonly used by their political allies, is to use their (perceived) enemies' most powerful words and ideas against them, to disarm and counter-attack. 'Woke' was a term on the left; racism became descrimination against white people, diversity becomes affirmative action for conservatives, banning and mocking and even embracing discussions of Nazis, etc.

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scandox ◴[12 Nov 25 07:34 UTC] No.45897321[source]▶
I don't know what Tolkien's personal philosophy was but I think a reasonable reading of LOTR would put it at centre right. The culture it valorizes has military capability and heroism at its core.
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1. pmyteh ◴[12 Nov 25 08:04 UTC] No.45897508[source]▶
His personal philosophy was very Catholic. My reading of LotR is that it is consistent with that, valorising faithfulness, the personal in place of the modern, and avoiding the temptation to sin for power. I agree it's centre-right (though idiosyncratically) but not about military capability: the orcs are the most modern military capability and they are decidedly not valorised. The central heros are a member of the rural gentry and his gardener, who barely fight. The Shire is defiantly non-military and pre-industrial.
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2. scandox ◴[12 Nov 25 08:19 UTC] No.45897624[source]▶
> The Shire is defiantly non-military and pre-industrial.

The Shire stands as a symbol for a rural and peaceful life but their protected way of life is only possible because of the the military might of others and this is explicitly alluded to several times...for example in a conversation between Merry and Pippin (which I just happened to read to my kid yesterday!):

"Still there are things deeper and higher; and not a gaffer could tend his garden in what he calls peace but for them, whether he knows about them or not."

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3. Y-bar ◴[12 Nov 25 11:29 UTC] No.45898871[source]▶
This is not entirely correct. The hobbits were very good with slings and spears and bows according to Tolkien.

Before the events of The Lord of the Rings, hobbits maintained a tradition of archery and other martial skills, partly due to past conflicts such as the Battle of Greenfields (1). By the time of the Scouring off the Shire, Merry, Pippin, and other veterans of the War of the Ring organized quickly taking up arms. According to the appendices, they managed to eliminate nearly two-thirds of Saruman’s invading force , displaying both tactical coordination and surprising courage. (Treebeard also notes this in The two towers) It’s a powerful reminder that, in Tolkien’s world, even the humblest people are capable of heroism when defending their home.

1. https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_the_Green_Fields