Knowledge is power, and COMPLETE knowledge is absolute power.
Those who display the greatest paranoia and fear of being controlled and manipulated are unwittingly being distracted by a regime that will make their most alarming fears a reality. While the extremists on the Left and Right are fighting wars over LGBTQ+ rights, a little company named Palantir is quietly using asymmetrical warfare techniques to diminish the freedom and rights of all Americans.
What is meant by asymmetrical warfare? When a $500 Ukrainian drone destroys a $500 million nuclear-capable Russian bomber, that is asymmetrical warfare. It is an example of using a small amount of resources or effort, often quietly, to overcome a slower, less thoughtful opponent.
When a small, relatively unknown company quietly steals the information of all Americans for free and is compensated for doing so, this is an example of asymmetrical information warfare committed against all of us.
How can Americans, particularly those who are the most wary and paranoid, fall into this trap? Is there something about Americans that makes us so gullible? Are there examples of this naivete?
We can always trust Honest Abe
A young man has saved his money to buy a used car to go to college. He has boldly decided not to include his father in this purchase decision. He worked hard for his money; everyone says he is smart, and he believes his father is too old-fashioned and conservative. He endlessly discussed his ideal used car with his circle of trusted 18-year-old friends, and since he was going to college next week, he needed to buy his car soon.
After going online to find local used car lots, car prices, and car models, he strides confidently into the smelly used car lot office. The closest place, with the best Yelp ratings, was “Honest Abe’s Used Cars.” A friendly bearded man invites him outside to “kick some tires.”
As they walk outside, the salesman asks the young man a few friendly questions. “What brings you in today? May I ask why you’re considering buying a car? Do you have a specific make or model in mind? What features are you looking for? How soon do you need a vehicle? How many other dealerships have you been to? What price range are you considering?”
The salesman now knows almost everything about the young man’s decision-making process and his needs. The young man knows virtually nothing about Honest Abe’s Used Cars, except that it is a business with a good Yelp rating and has many used cars.
Glenn Beck
In September 2009, the time slot for the Glenn Beck program had more viewers than all the competing shows on CNN, MSNBC, and HLN. His religious background as a Mormon and his unique brand of libertarian-leaning conservatism made him a cult hero with the Tea Party crowd. He led the Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial in August 2020. He was against Progressivism and called it a disease.
While he was wildly popular, he collected the information of his most ardent supporters and used it to sell them all sorts of strange products. Perhaps he was a harbinger of another master huckster who arrived in 2016? While Beck slowly fell out of favor with his overlord at Fox, Roger Ailes, one of Beck’s most egregious sins was his out-of-control entrepreneurship. Aside from touting gold in almost every breath, he also sold a $200 George Washington Life Guard Quilt Kit, an $80 body wash for men, a $200 Lincoln Axe, and an autograph poster of Glenn Beck crying. His Tea Party crowd collected his patriotic trinkets like collectors.
We can trust the Princess Folly
A young woman wants to buy a soft lavender corset-inspired mini-dress to wear for next month’s beachfront party on Long Island. She must create a dramatic impression for her friends, and she sees exactly what she wants in a TikTok video. So, she googles “soft lavender corset-inspired mini-dress” and waits for her results. Unsurprisingly, near the top of the web page, she sees that Princess Folly, an online store she is vaguely familiar with, has exactly what she wants. Somehow, Princess Folly already has her size, credit card information, address, and all other essential information. She clicks a button, and the web page says her mini-dress will be delivered in three days. Princess Folly knew everything about her due to third-party agreements, but she knew very little about Princess Folly.
We can trust Blogs
A man has a passion for bees. He had read that bees were being killed off by pesticides by the billions, and he knew that bees were essential for plant pollination. As a result, he has created a blog dedicated to bee preservation. His wife began to complain about the time and expense of maintaining it, so he sought ways to generate income from his blog. After conducting some research, he realized that he could monetize his passion by making his blog more sensational and professional-looking.
After a year, his “passion” was yielding unexpected income, so he quit his day job. Another six months passed, and he discovered that he could sell his user list to unnamed third parties and make even more money. Who wouldn’t trust a man with a nature-loving bee blog? Who knew he was selling their user information to outsiders?
How to Rig an Election
A Russian data scientist named Aleksandr Kogan created an app that created psychological profiles on Americans. His app was used in conjunction with the harvested data of 87 million Facebook users in the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.
In October 2021, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, settled a private class-action lawsuit for $725 million. Although there was no public trial, it is clear that Facebook was negligent in sharing the profiles of 87 million users with the Trump political campaign organization without the knowledge or consent of Facebook users.
How Asymmetrical Information Warfare Operates
Almost everything in life consists of information exchange. In exchange for our credit card information at the supermarket, we receive a basket filled with groceries. When we download a free app for our smartphone, we are required to provide our email address. When we buy a used car, we reveal a lot about what we want and how much we can afford. When we register to vote, we declare our party affiliation to the world.
Most information exchanges are asymmetrical, meaning the seller usually has more information about the buyer than vice versa. Of course, the buyer can visit other sellers for comparison, and they typically have a public, objective presence. To improve their sales, sellers usually conduct sales campaigns to convince potential buyers that their products or services are genuine and reasonably priced. However, most buyers lack the time, ability, and resources to research the details of the products and services they purchase. We relinquish our rights when we click on those lengthy legal disclosures displayed in tiny print. Most buyers fall into repetitive purchasing patterns that are hard to break.
Businesses, charities, political organizations, and other entities follow the behavior of their “buyers” very carefully. The donation of $200 to a charitable organization indicates that we “buy” their appeal for funds. When we buy $200 of wine, that tells our grocer and his AI something about us. When we donate $200 to a political campaign, that tells the world and the political AIs that we “buy” the campaign’s message.
Say Goodbye to the Right to Privacy
We might be concerned about our purchasing information, but what happens when private companies have access to official government information?
Palantir Technologies, co-founded by the extreme Libertarian Peter Thiel, has begun aggressively aggregating federal government data on all Americans and businesses provided to this private company, compliments of DOGE, the Trump Administration, and the Supreme Court.
A New York Times investigation published last month revealed that Trump’s March executive order to streamline data sharing across federal agencies had given Palantir a significant role within the government.
Since Trump took office, Palantir has received over $110 million in federal spending, not including a recent $795 million Department of Defense contract. Its basic system, capable of organizing and analyzing massive datasets, is now used by at least four federal agencies, with more expected to follow.
The Palantir system enables the integration of databases from the IRS, Social Security, ICE, and the Department of Education.
If you don’t recall the television series Person of Interest, you may want to watch a few episodes using a streaming service.
If the rise of companies like Palantir does not smell of Big Brother, then what does? Have all the paranoid conservatives and liberals fallen asleep, or have they been distracted by the titanic conflict over the ten transgender people trying to compete in women’s sports?