Showing posts with label profits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label profits. Show all posts

Saturday, December 6, 2025

Trump’s Security Strategy Focuses on Profit, Not Spreading Democracy; The New York Times, December 5, 2025

, The New York Times; Trump’s Security Strategy Focuses on Profit, Not Spreading Democracy


[Kip Currier: At the heart of this heartless Trump 2.0 National Security Strategy is an ethos of naked transactionalism and moral bankruptcy.

The transparent inhumanity, unbridled avarice, and indifference to the wellbeing of fellow human beings are a shameful repudiation of fundamental American democratic values and ethical principles.]


[Excerpt]

"The world as seen from the White House is a place where America can use its vast powers to make money.

President Trump has shown all year that his second term would make it a priority to squeeze less powerful countries to benefit American companies. But late Thursday, his administration made that profit-driven approach a core element of its official foreign policy, publishing its long-anticipated update to U.S. national security aims around the world.

The document, known as the National Security Strategy, describes a world in which American interests are far narrower than how prior administrations — even in Mr. Trump’s first term — had portrayed them. Gone is the long-familiar picture of the United States as a global force for freedom, replaced by a country that is focused on reducing migration while avoiding passing judgment on authoritarians, instead seeing them as sources of cash."

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Trump’s $2 Trillion Plan to Cash in on Ukraine ‘Peace’ Leaks; The Daily Beast, November 29, 2025

, The Daily Beast; Trump’s $2 Trillion Plan to Cash in on Ukraine ‘Peace’ Leaks


[Kip Currier: Notice that there's no Trump 2.0 substantive discussion of human rights violations or accountability for Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, abduction of Ukrainian children (see 11/20/25 Euronews "Back from captivity: Ukrainian children abducted by Russia share their stories", attacks on churches, schools, and hospitals (see also 2023 National Library of Medicine (NLM) study "Attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities during the first year of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine"), and atrocities like the Bucha massacre in March 2022.]


[Excerpt]

"At the center of President Trump’s contentious plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war isn’t peace: it’s profit.

Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are negotiating with Russian officials to ensure U.S. businesses—and Trump’s friends—are in position to make a killing once the war ends, according to an exhaustive Wall Street Journal report published Friday...

Witkoff spoke to the paper about a future where Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine are all business partners. 

“If we do all that, and everybody’s prospering and they’re all a part of it, and there’s upside for everybody, that’s going to naturally be a bulwark against future conflicts there. Because everybody’s thriving,” Witkoff said...

Europe balked at President Trump’s 28-point peace plan—which Witkoff drafted based on a Russian plan— arguing it was overly generous to Russia. The deal had Ukraine concede territory and cut its military capacity, effectively neutering the nation’s sovereignty. The plan wasn’t popular in America either, as it received significant pushback from the GOP...

Though the Journal’s report details the many ways in which Americans and Russians could profit from an eventual peace deal, it’s unclear how Ukraine would benefit."

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Is ethical tech a farce?; TechCrunch, December 5, 2018

Shannon Farley, TechCrunch; Is ethical tech a farce?

"If profits beat ethics, is ethical tech possible? Simply put, yes. There is a different genre of tech startup that values impact over profits. They are tech nonprofits. Rather than building products that satisfy animalistic behavior, from screen addiction to fear mongering, tech nonprofits are building technology to fill gaps in basic human needs — education, human rights, healthcare. Or as an early tech nonprofit Mozilla stated in its manifesto, technology that, “must enrich the lives of human beings.” Tech nonprofits are building tech products that serve customers where markets have failed."

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Google 'working on censored search engine' for China; The Guardian, August 1, 2018

Alex Hern and agencies, The Guardian; Google 'working on censored search engine' for China

"The Chinese human rights community said Google acquiescing to China’s censorship would be a “dark day for internet freedom”.

“It is impossible to see how such a move is compatible with Google’s ‘Do the right thing’ motto, and we are calling on the company to change course,” said Patrick Poon, China Researcher at Amnesty International.

“For the world’s biggest search engine to adopt such extreme measures would be a gross attack on freedom of information and internet freedom. In putting profits before human rights, Google would be setting a chilling precedent and handing the Chinese government a victory."