The Technological Republic - Alexander Karp

I went out of my normal lane for this one because the author is the CEO of the company I work for! I have been hearing his thoughts for more than 10 years, and while I don't agree with all of them this book is a distillation of his philosophies.

One of the points he has been saying for years is that Silicon Valley has lost its way. They make apps that only service consumers, many of which in ways that are unhealthy. He goes a little far, saying things like Uber or Doordash are superficial. Why have technology if its doesn't make our lives more convenient and easy? Anyways, I agree with the overall point, that many engineers waste their time pursuing things that make money over providing value. However, I disgree with basically everything after that because he thinks that the best way to provide value is to work for your country, or in this book America specifically.  Not only that, but the military should be where technology is thriving the most, just like it did in war times, and not like it thrives now in the consumer market only.

Lots there, but nothing surprising - Palantir has been a government contractor since inception, and while my work has been exclusively commercial I know the role the government plays in our work. He argues that the military used to be what drives innovation, and that many generations of engineers have forgotten the debts we owe to our country for freedom, innovation, etc. He spends a lot of time theorizing around why the left is failing, and I don't think its because he is a Republican, I think he is upset with where Democrats has landed. I don't think he uses the work "woke", but he does use many anecdotes around cancellation. He also says the left has no opinions on anything, inclusive to the point of not standing for anything of substance. If it sounds distasteful, it can be, but its written with a lot of thought, almost to the point that it sounds like a scientific paper at times. I withheld judgement while I read, since I think Karp is actually saying a lot around polarization and lack of nuance in today's culture.

That being said, this book left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It keeps coming back to the military, and while I understand his points it is hard to square with the people in power right now. If we want to make America the world super power not just for decades, but centuries, as he does, how can we possibly ignore the damage the current leaders are having? I have worked for the company under many administrations, and it is difficult to feel like you are helping the good guys these days. He doesn't mentioned Trump, but he does mention Musk and his "founder mindset", building things in the private sector that used to be what the government would spend money on. The way he speaks about the identity of a nation is interesting, but he goes as far as to say he think mandatory conscription isn't a bad idea. Again, it always goes back to the military, but he deserves some credit in not completely pandering to them. This book could easily be seen as a thesis on why the government should give palantir more money, but it actually refrains from bragging about Palantir a ton - in fact I only really remember 2 or 3 paragraphs that mention it.

No shockers in this one, and part of what always interested me about Palantir was the willingness to tackle difficult and meaningful problems. I don't necessarily feel like I need to be aligned fully with leadership, and there are other leaders at the company that I find more blatantly disgusting in their alignment with the current regime. But Karp is the voice of the company, and he has been pretty steady in his messaging. It's just a bit dissonant given the state of the government. It's given me lots of chances to think about my own contributions to this company, how my philosophy on the work has changed, and weigh whether I still want to work there.