At first glance, it would seem that Kickstriker, a website from three graduate students at New York University, is a platform designed to mimic the incredible success of Kickstarter. Digging a little deeper reveals that these projects aren’t exactly in the same vein. Of the projects currently on the site, one is for a mobile interrogation unit and another is to help fund the Tibetan militia resist Chinese rule. Essentially, it’s for publicly-funded warfare.
Luckily, Josh Begley, Mehan Jayasuriya and James Borda, the students behind Kickstriker, only ever intended for the site to be satirical. The site was originally crafted after a discussion about the Kony 2012 campaign led them to wonder how far-fetched crowdfunding a mercenary group would actually be.
Given that companies like Academi (formally Blackwater, formally Xe) exist, it isn’t entirely beyond reason that such actions could end up being funded by the public. Like any good satire, there’s that kernel of truth that makes it all the more concerning. When presented in chunks like this, it isn’t impossible to imagine that there’d be people out there willing to part with some cash to back one war effort or another. It’s just reasonable enough for it to be worrisome.
For example, dropping $250 for “a die-cast metal replica of the first Mobile Black Site” seems like something people might do. Another project, the Panopticopter, would provide a DIY surveillance drone kit for a mere $500. Who hasn’t wanted a homemade surveillance drone from time to time?
(via Wired)
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