Ben Kohlmann 🇺🇸/acc
@benkohlmann
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Pro-acceleration, Frontier Tech @CubitCapital . Fmr VC-backed CEO, F/A-18 pilot, led "virtuous insurgents" Freedom and markets and human flourishing.
Dallas, TX
Joined November 2011
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For ~$9.6B of outside capital, SpaceX has launched a rocket into orbit over 320 times.
For $11B of taxpayer money, California built 1600ft of a concrete bridge.
Let that sink in.
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As a LT in 2012, I wrote an intemperate article that went viral expressing frustration with the slow pace of tech adoption in DoD.
Instead of firing or punishing me, the 4-star in charge of the Navy asked me to build an innovation cell and find other young misfits to staff it.
Senior
@NPR
editor
@uberliner
has been suspended from the public radio network he's served for 25 years after sharing concerns about bias in The Free Press:
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Military flag officers salivate over the 30 year old tech founder with a disruptive tech but get angry when a 30 year old Lieutenant says something that challenges orthodoxy.
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Fly fighters. Lead Marines. Drive ships. Jump out of airplanes. Live in a cramped apartment with other guys and build something crazy.
Do hard things - and life fills with meaning.
Young men are being destroyed. A huge number of guys I talk to between the ages of 20 and 40 have either become soulless drones—resigned to life in a dead-end job, learning nothing, few meaningful relationships, nothing big or daring or beautiful in their life—or punch-a-wall
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What I learned about startup founders from being the worst pilot in the AirWing.
At the age of 25, I was sent straight from my F/A-18 training squadron to a forward deployed squadron aboard the USS Nimitz.
The fastest way to build a reputation as the New Guy is safe and
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What was in the water during the 1960s?
I’m here at Idaho National Labs doing a 2-day deep dive on nuclear power.
Every 15 minutes they say “…and this was invented in the 60s.”
Cracked engineering generation.
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Since this tweet seems to be taking off, check out my wife’s race for TX State Board of Education.
@jamiesue
is committed to ensuring curriculum standards are suited for 21st century problems - not decel indoctrination.
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50 years ago today my Great Uncle David was released from prison after 4.5 years as a POW in North Vietnam.
When he was shot down in August 1968, he was one of the highest ranking officers in the Hanoi Hilton - and endured torture commensurate with his rank.
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E/acc movement called out by name by
@SecRaimondo
at
#RNDF
2023 - promotes strong guardrails against AI.
Equates e/acc with “moving fast and breaking things,” which needs to be muted with AI.
Which way western industry?
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Kids are in bed. First week of school. Light night ahead.
Let’s reminisce about fighter pilot callsigns and how they came about.
I’ll start with mine: “The Professor”…eventually shortened to “Prof”
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Incisive point by
@PalantirTech
CEO Alex Karp at opening panel at
#RNDF2023
:
Only three large companies have publicly supported Israel: Booz Allen Hamilton, Palantir, and
@anduriltech
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@thegarrettscott
Noticed this too. And I shoot to be fast on the draw.
Having also been “mid level” in the past, it’s also hard to respond quickly when you’re cranking on a detailed slide deck, writing up your findings, or spending all day in customer interviews.
I think it’s less speed leads
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A non-intuitive lesson for ambitious young people:
Whoever writes the first draft of something has a disproportionate impact on the final outcome.
If you want influence, take the pen.
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8 year old wanders into our bedroom and finds himself in front of bookshelf.
Looks pensively, then picks a thick sci-fi paperback off the shelf.
Begins reading.
3 minutes later:
“Dad, what is…terra-forming?”
We are so back.
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I once declined a founder who insulted Elon Musk in the opening pitch meeting.
Today is why.
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@oldbooksguy
One of my good friend’s dad was brutally murdered by Kaczynski when she was a young teenager.
A small bomb in a package that used razor blazes, nails, and other bits of metal to nearly tear his head off while his young family was in the house with him.
And it turns out the
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12 years ago today I flew in from San Diego to Austin to meet my eventual wife for our first date.
After landing, I changed out of my oily flight suit, went to the Broken Spoke for some two-stepping...and 8 months late we were married.
Thank you, American taxpayer.
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50 years ago in 1974, the F-16 made its maiden flight.
Sophons are real.
And they don't necessarily come from outer space.
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Came across a bunch of my Naval Aviation patches.
Here’s a look back at how I spent my formative days…via flight suit art.
Some were official…some less so. Like the classic below - made at an inflection point in Navy culture.
1/n
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@chaosprime
The underappreciated key word here is “terrestrial” - space is gonna be a real domain in the next fight!
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Meanwhile the college dropouts in Los Angeles are building nuclear power plants, could seeding engines, next generation manufacturing casting, new materials development algos, and voice activated drones.
Built different.
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After flight school, but before learning to fly the F/A-18, naval aviators go to the Centrifuge.
I recently stumbled across this 2007 video when I was a young LTJG.
G's in the upper right. Profile on bottom. Coaching throughout from a dedicated Sailor.
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Few know or remember the Vietnam era POWs, nor the courage they showed in the midst of Hell.
But for me, knowing David was one of the most profound shapers of my childhood.
And his legacy endures in the legends our family tells.
Fin.
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There was a prolonged period of time post-active duty where I deeply questioned my choice to serve in uniform.
I dont have that problem anymore.
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If war happened in 5 years, here's three things I'd do within DoD to prepare:
1) ID top O-4 thru O-6 warfighting talent and put them through aggressive, multi-year TOPGUN-like strategic wargaming and intense real world simulations. No staff jobs, no joint tours. These
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Gundo fellas are built different.
Arrive at front door of startup at 8:30am and someone opens it.
Me: “are you the first one in the office each day?”
Him: “naw, I live here.”
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The Defense Tech equivalent of “Stanford Dropout” is an active duty military member leaving at 18 years of service - 2 shy of a lifelong pension - to build a startup.
High conviction.
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If you had an hour with 10, 22-year old hard tech founders just getting started, what would you tell them?
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This meme seems to resonate. Here’s the serious, hard truth about DefenseTech:
> effective, lifesaving battlefield innovations come from existential, life and death need rather than monetary incentives
> in the absence of a real conflict where Americans are dying, solutions
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It’s unbelievably good to be a dad
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This is deeply personal for me. My Great Uncle was a prisoner of War for 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War - being tortured daily.
America forgot about him and the hundreds of other Americans held captive.
Until a man named Ross Perot launched a national
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Just got off a call with a young man who aspires to be a military pilot - and he asked about the difference between Air Force pilots and Naval Aviators.
I recommended two references: Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" and...Bob Norris' legendary short essay copied below:
Young Man,
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Incisive point heard from a defense tech startup CEO this morning:
"The best defense tech companies are technology-enabled lobbying firms."
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“Never bet against America.”
Katherine Boyle channeling Buffett.
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Storytime!
The
@USNavy
announced they put an aluminum 3D printer on the USS Essex...which is old hat at this point.
But in 2014 it was revolutionary. And accomplished by a group of Navy misfits within [Redacted]
A 🧵on how defense innovation happened from the inside
(1/n)
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Dude figured out in his early 20s what it took me until 40 to begin to understand
From the GC. This is a smorgasbord synthesis of the advice I've given to people asking how to get into hard tech in last couple months. Everyone wants some certainty.
You'll never get it. Decide what you want and bet your life on it. Bet everything. Just jump.
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Today is my 40th birthday. To commemorate it, I've distilled 40 lessons across philosophy, faith, relationships, family, education, work, finances, and fitness.
A🧵four decades in the making:
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Interesting insight from a founder after I asked him about his observations from the Defense Ventures Summit:
"Most of what I saw was companies driven by product but the reality is that the DOD rewards companies who can service capability"
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This is shocking from my alma mater - when i was at GSB in 2016, I ran a program called Whiskey & Warstories that matched 2 veterans with 6 classmates for an uncensored discussion on miliary service.
By the end of year 1 more than 50% of our class participated - many said it
Embarrassing for
@StanfordGSB
not to recognize the defense tech club. Business schools are full of people grandstanding about “demanding more from capitalism.” Then you look them up on LinkedIn and they work for McKinsey. Thank you for all that you do!! 🙄
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Also just asked him if he’d heard of Anduril.
Pause.
“Isn’t that from the Lord of the Rings?”
Reality check for the defense tech bubble I live in:
Brother in for Christmas. Naval aviation CDR. Works in Pentagon. Was roommate in SD when I started DEF and CRIC.
Asked him what he thinks of DIU and its leadership.
Blank stare. Had no idea who or what I was talking about.
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The military has a long history of punishing soldiers for losing a rifle but promoting generals who fail to win wars.
Obviously, plagiarizing over a dozen passages—entire paragraphs, in some cases—over a 25-year career is a pretty big deal and should be disqualifying for any university president.
How many undergrads have been disciplined (or even expelled) for far less?
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2.5 years ago I was in Big Consulting and a friend literally told this to me.
He convinced me to quit and try to build a company with him. We failed.
But it was the jolt I needed to get back on track.
“So is it hard to poach people from big tech companies?”
“Oh no. The way you poach people from big tech companies is you tell them that their career is meaningless and that they’re wasting their lives on something that doesn’t matter.”
- Palmer Luckey
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“Perhaps they’re all too wise to attempt the task,” he said.
“But you are young enough not to fancy yourself wise. You’re young enough to think of impossible things and discover why they might be possible.”
Today I'm excited to unveil Valar Atomics!
Valar is my master plan to make energy 10x cheaper in 10 years by pulling oil and gas out of thin air with nuclear fission.
This will untether energy from climate and politics, fuel American industry, and unlock a new era of growth
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A remarkable story of a man who ran towards the fire and away from prestige.
Then was killed, and a coverup ensued.
His family picked up the torch and changed the lives of hundreds of veterans, including myself, through the Tillman Scholars.
A hero we should look up to.
Pat Tillman died 20 years ago today.
He gave up an NFL career and millions of dollars to enlist in the Army in the wake of 9/11. Tillman was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, something the Army lied about and tried to cover up. The military even ordered his
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At Hill & Valley,
@RepStefanik
just announced she’s working to get funding thru Office of Strategic Capital to replicate what
@shift
and
@MikeSlagh
was doing with the now defunct Defense Venture Fellowship.
Big news!
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Reality check for the defense tech bubble I live in:
Brother in for Christmas. Naval aviation CDR. Works in Pentagon. Was roommate in SD when I started DEF and CRIC.
Asked him what he thinks of DIU and its leadership.
Blank stare. Had no idea who or what I was talking about.
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Champagne, oysters, cheese, and kids swimming in the pool.
This is the good life.
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I’ve been a VC for one year. Here’s what I’ve learned:
> Rabid optimism is inevitable when spending significant time with founders trying to change the world
> Venture is hard. Not like building a startup hard. But still hard. It’s hard because feedback loops are so long and
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@mualphaxi
@hardaway_cam
When i was at GSB in 2016, I ran a program called Whiskey & Warstories that matched 2 veterans with 6 classmates for an uncensored discussion on miliary service.
By the end of year 1 more than 50% of our class participated - many said it was the highlight of their year. It was
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this is my politics
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I was here live.
It was glorious.
CEO of Palantir, Alex Karp:
“You are sitting at your elite school pretending that because you watched TikTok twice and got an A+ on some crazy paper, because your professor couldn’t get a job anywhere else, that you actually understand the world.”
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Defense startups are creating, and VCs funding, great solutions to defense tech shortfalls.
But they're not solving two existential items needed to win active wars:
1) Manpower
2) Societal will to win
In contrast, our adversaries are deliberately focused on disrupting both.
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@NavalDrones
I think we had about a 15% hit rate (3D printing, personnel reform, cyber strategy), which isnt bad. And yes, the CRIC was killed four years later under a new CNO.
But it set the foundation for the flourishing of official and non-official innovation orgs like NavalX, DIUx,
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@mihirneal
@isro
Impressive that NASA even got the Indian government in on the moon landing conspiracy.
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you know there is a bubble in defense tech when every single business school has a conference on it now.
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In my experience the most skeptical defense tech VCs tend to be veterans who tried to do innovation in DoD.
Not sure if a feature or bug.
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We’re hiring for a Venture Associate role
@CubitCapital
.
The JD (with application steps embedded) is below, but if you’re thinking about applying, I wanted to share why I’m energized before and after every workday:
> There is no part of me I need to hide while in the office or
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No one is coming to save us. It’s up to us.
I’m proud that my wife,
@jamiesue
, is heeding that call.
She’s running for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education to represent 2.2 million citizens in northeastern Texas. (I’ll share my harrowing last-hour filing story from a
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The biggest problem with this account is it makes me yearn for the open sea and the thrill of accelerating from 0-150 in 1.5 seconds.
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"If you agree with what I'm saying - it's game time for you...If you want this to stop, you actually have to be more vocal."
At Hill & Valley,
@PalantirTech
Alex Karp gave a strong call to action in his remarkable chat with
@jacobhelberg
.
Your voice matters. Use it.
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My Side Quest is initiating new Dads into the Fraternity of Fatherhood. Last Friday, I hosted my third “Father’s Forum” for a man about to have his first kid.
Our society rightfully celebrates Motherhood – new moms are literally showered with gifts and advice, surrounded by
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@USNavy
@smallwars
@AdamMGrant
@USNavyCNO
@NAVSEA
Lesson: Technology is always in service of humans. And it should unlock human potential in addition to technical value.
Technology is good. People are better.
(14/n)
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“Machines don’t win wars - people do and they use their minds to do so.”
The “will to fight and win” is the biggest challenge facing our national security.
When folks start commenting on the Soul…it’s the beginning of an awakening.
America is worth defending.
I flew to El Segundo <24hrs ago and my overwhelming impression is not the people's intelligence (high), ambition (huge), work ethic (major), but their soul. El Segundo has a beating heart made up of people who care about the goodness in their work and finding meaning in service.
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A friend's son is headed off to college; his Dad died in combat over a decade ago.
She asked some of us to share thoughts for young men entering adulthood.
Here are six things I sent her to pass along:
>The five people you spend the most time with will define your goals,
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The tide is turning.
Wow. “The construction of new manufacturing facilities in the US has soared 116% over the past year, dwarfing the 10% gain on all building projects combined.”
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Underrated sign of industry expertise is the ability to make effective memes.
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I was an LP in this deal.
Can attest to the fact that
@evanmr
did a Herculean job getting all of our capital back at big personal financial and mental cost.
He is my gold standard for how a GP should treat investors.
Integrity matters.
Post Mortem: My Worst Deal
128 units in Daytona Beach, FL
Someone took a loss, but it wasn't my investors
👇
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Rob Henderson's perspectives over the past few years have driven home for me that status is the most coveted currency for elites.
His recent analysis dives into that reality in the wake of yesterday's affirmative action decision. Legal takes are important; social ones more-so.
"upwardly mobile Asian Americans are now adopting the luxury beliefs of upper-middle-class white Americans, which is an indicator of assimilation. Assimilation used to mean supporting an ethos of hard work and merit, but not anymore."
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How I got it: First port call as a new guy in the squadron, we pull into Hong Kong.
Everybody always chipped into buying the fanciest penthouse in a big name hotel - think 30 guys and gals crashing on the floor.
Someone was always tagged as the "admin queen." This individual
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Best startup swag competition.
Pics or it didn’t happen.
I’ll go first:
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Ended the day with a call with my favorite defense tech founder.
He’s not a portco. Hes just quietly building a juggernaut fueled by customer dollars, a small team, and almost no outside investment.
Dude doesn’t see around corners - he sees thru SCIFs.
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Good Morning.
Hamas still holds 5 Americans hostage in Gaza.
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I was recently pitched by a revenue generating, bootstrapped defense-first startup.
blew my mind.
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Remarkable story of Barnes and Nobles turnaround.
Reminded me of what
@FreightAlley
has done with Flying magazine - it pays to love what you’re selling, whether books or the love of flying.
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What if…and hear me out team…
We live in the best time ever to be alive.
And it’s only going to get better from here.
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Good deed of the day - successfully talked a spec ops guy leaving the military out of getting a state school MBA and diving into the business world head first
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This is a core reason why after 7 years of wandering in the desert of business school and consulting I came back to defense innovation.
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based on recent conversations with a number of early stage defense tech companies, the most in-demand role is a strong government GTM BD lead...
Shows that good tech doesnt matter as much in B2G...knowing how to build relationships and navigate the byzantine bureaucracy is key
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Exceptional day of programming by
@MikeSlagh
and the
@shift
team at Defense Ventures.
Thought provoking to relive the early days of the Movement on stage with those of us there at the Revolution.
The engine is turning - and accelerating.
LFG.
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The last few days of defense tech events / hackathons and the Gundo boys building for America is inspiring.
And I can’t help but think of the 20ish year old men and women in harm’s way who can’t generate hype on X.
They are the reason for what we do.
One team, one fight.
🇺🇸
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I once was awarded a navy achievement medal for planning a Christmas party.
When u have a veteran in the newsroom to review service records.
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“ All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds Awake to find that it was vanity; But the dreamers of day are dangerous men.”
-T.E. Lawrence
> be 7% of world population
> invent mechanized industry, the airplane, steamship, rocket, & rifle
> Explore the Most extreme climates, the deep sea, and the stars
> dominate large swathes of Africa, Asia, North and South America
… “dangerous”?
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@AGHamilton29
That’s their goal though - directly replace the accrued wisdom of generations with new stories that cement their shibboleths.
Zero sum.
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She eventually teamed with Sybil Stockdale, wife of the senior ranking officer in prison, to advocate for their release.
It tools years of concerted effort.
And folks like Ross Perot Senior stepped in to help.
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