IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Why Is Greenland Part of the Kingdom of Denmark? A Short History

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

šŸ“ Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Greenlanders' Strong Opposition to US Takeover

Greenlanders overwhelmingly reject joining the US, prioritizing self-determination and welfare. "A poll from January shows that only 6% of Greenlanders are in favor of joining the U.S., with 85% against it." (heresie-dabord). "Polls also consistently show that Greenlanders do not want independence if the price is the collapse of the Greenlandic welfare state." (Grikbdl). Pro-independence parties won a supermajority in 2025 elections, rejecting pro-Trump options. (yorwba)

2. Impracticality of Mineral Extraction

Mining rare earths is unprofitable due to harsh conditions, lack of infrastructure, and environmental hurdles; past efforts by US, China, and Denmark failed. "The only way minerals there will be mined profitably is by someone strongarming and displacing any local population, disregarding all environmental protection rules." (LarsKrimi). "The mineral dream is a dream for a reason. Americans have tried. The Chinese have tried. The Danes have tried. None have made a profit." (LarsKrimi)

3. Criticism of US Imperialism and Trump's Motives

Trump's push seen as mafia-like aggression, not genuine security needs (US already has bases via Denmark). "Iā€™m not sure why anyone is surprised that trump is acting like a mafia boss trying to shake down the rest of the world." (FuckButtons). "I see so many americans suddenly hyperfocus on the strategic importance of Greenland because Trump again talks about stealing it." (lysace). Comparisons to Puerto Rico, not Alaska, due to native voting risks. (simion314)

4. Denmark's Abuses and Path to Independence

Denmark's recent colonial wrongs (forced IUDs, child separations) fuel independence desires, but legal process requires referendum and Danish consent. "Indigenous Greenlanders have also been treated pretty badly by Denmark, even very recently." (graemep). "The 2009 law firmly established that the decision to go for independence from Denmark would now rest with the Greenlandic people." (T-A). US already has full military access since 1951. (T-A)

šŸš€ Project Ideas

HN Arctic Dialogue Monitor

Summary

  • Monitors Hacker News, Reddit, and other forums for discussions about Arctic sovereignty and geopolitics, automatically translating and analyzing sentiment.
  • Surfaces real-time public opinion and expert analysis to policymakers without them having to read dense technical forums.
  • Core value proposition: Turns scattered internet debates into actionable intelligence on geopolitical flashpoints.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Danish and Greenlandic government officials, EU foreign policy analysts, diplomatic corps.
Core Feature Multi-language sentiment analysis of social discussions, key argument extraction, and automated briefing generation.
Tech Stack Python (BeautifulSoup, Scrapy, HuggingFace Transformers), Elasticsearch, Streamlit for dashboard.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Government SaaS subscription (tiered based on monitoring scope).

Notes

  • HN commenters explicitly mention the lack of media attention to Greenlandic voices ("I'd prefer to hear from Greenlanders"). This tool would aggregate those voices directly.
  • The discussion shows a disconnect between political rhetoric and local sentiment; this tool bridges that gap for decision-makers.
  • Provides practical utility in crisis management and public diplomacy strategy.

Indigenous Rights & Legal Precedent Aggregator

Summary

  • A searchable database of international legal rulings, treaties, and compensation schemes related to indigenous rights and forced sterilization scandals.
  • Focuses specifically on the legal frameworks of Denmark/Greenland (IUD scandal), Canada, and Australia to provide comparative data.
  • Core value proposition: Helps legal teams and advocates build stronger cases for sovereignty and reparations using historical legal data.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Greenlandic independence activists, human rights lawyers, international courts (ICJ).
Core Feature OCR of historical legal documents, citation network mapping, and timeline visualization of legal battles.
Tech Stack NLP (spaCy, NLTK), PostgreSQL, React frontend with D3.js for visualizations.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby (Open Source) / Consulting for legal firms.

Notes

  • The discussion cites specific historical grievances ("forced contraceptive devices," "separation of children").
  • Users are debating the legal mechanics of independence; this tool provides the historical legal precedent required to substantiate claims.
  • HN users appreciate data-driven arguments; this aggregates the "receipts" needed for that style of debate.

Sovereignty Transfer Simulator

Summary

  • A modeling tool that simulates the economic and political outcomes of different sovereignty scenarios (e.g., US Statehood, EU Association, Independence).
  • Allows users to adjust variables like mineral revenue, welfare state funding, and military basing rights to see projected outcomes.
  • Core value proposition: Quantifies the "welfare state collapse" fear mentioned in the article, moving the debate from rhetoric to economics.
Key Value
Target Audience Economic planners in Nuuk, investment analysts, policy think tanks.
Core Feature Monte Carlo simulations of fiscal stability under different geopolitical alignments.
Tech Stack Python (NumPy, Pandas), Jupyter Notebooks, API for economic data (IMF/World Bank).
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: Premium API access for financial institutions and government bodies.

Notes

  • The discussion centers heavily on economic viability ("collapse of the Greenlandic welfare state").
  • Users like cornholio and Grikbdl explicitly compare economic models (Venezuela vs. Alaska).
  • A simulator would validate or refute these comparisons with actual data, providing high utility for voters and policymakers.

"Manifest Destiny" Sentiment Tracker

Summary

  • A browser extension and dashboard that tracks and visualizes geopolitical rhetoric in US political media, specifically flagging expansionist language (e.g., "Monroe Doctrine," "strategic interests").
  • Alerts users when rhetoric shifts from diplomatic to coercive.
  • Core value proposition: Provides early warning systems for smaller nations regarding US foreign policy intent, based on media analysis rather than official statements.
Key Value
Target Audience EU/NATO intelligence analysts, geopolitical risk assessors, journalists.
Core Feature Real-time scraping of US political news/rallies, keyword flagging, and sentiment trending.
Tech Stack JavaScript (Chrome Extension), Python (NewsAPI, custom NLP models), Slack/Discord integration.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby (Free tier for NGOs) / Revenue-ready: Enterprise license for risk management firms.

Notes

  • The debate references US rhetoric ("Manifest Destiny," "Spheres of influence").
  • Users like lysace and cmrdporcupine highlight the psychological disconnect between US and non-US perspectives on expansion.
  • This tool addresses the "unmet need" for non-US entities to monitor and predict US geopolitical moves based on internal discourse.

Read Later