35
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2024
35 points (100.0% liked)
TechTakes
1432 readers
79 users here now
Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.
This is not debate club. Unless it’s amusing debate.
For actually-good tech, you want our NotAwfulTech community
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Ah, thankyou for bearing with me, I see what you mean.
I just assumed there must be a large military office nearby and they were targeting the procurement personnel who do the actual contract and tender work, plus maybe the manufacturer headquarters is nearby and this is part of one of the more revolting symptoms of a highly militarized capitalist culture. I didn't get quite as far as drawing the connection to targeting politicians and staffers who likely can't put a meeting with missile sales reps on their publicly documented calendars, but that makes a lot of sense.
there's another thing in american context specifically: generally keeping defense manufacturers in state is a popular decision among voters (both parties) because it brings DoD contracts (lots of money) and well paid both blue and white collar jobs. this in turn influences back procurement decisions (a bit) (hey, my state has a factory of this junk obsolete since it was on drawing board (like A10), can you put some money in it? closing that factory would lose me an election)
this is more clearly seen in nuclear weapons manufacture, against all logic it's spread around the country with little reliable logistics between these sites
My sense growing up in Huntsville was that the airport ads for defense contractors were kind of like, e.g., Exxon sponsoring a pavilion at EPCOT. The intent wasn't to push any specific consumer towards buying any specific product, but to pump out a positive image for the company generally.
And a lot of those contractors' people fly through Huntsville on business. (For those not in the know: The airport is just down the highway from Redstone Arsenal, which is where we brought all them Nazis we recruited to help us beat the Commies to the Moon. The only reason Huntsville exists as more than a sleepy/dying cotton mill town is the space program and missile warfare.) There may well be deals along the lines of "advertise here and your people get the cushy lounge".