JA Westenberg

What interests me about IBM and the Reich isn't just corporations = evil.

I would consider that an axiom that leads nowhere particularly useful anymore.

To me, the interesting question is: what incentive structures produced this outcome? And do those same incentive structures still operate today?
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/why-do-corporations-love-authoritarianism/

Why Do Corporations Love Authoritarianism?

The least fun fact you're likely to read today: IBM helped the Nazis. Through its German subsidiary Dehomag, "Big Blue" custom-engineered Hollerith punch card machines specifically designed to meet the Third Reich's requirements for tracking, sorting, and processing human beings. These were specialized systems developed to enhance the efficiency of

westenberg.
Mar 21, 2025 at 6:40amPubler
Show threadJohnnoMar 21, 2025
@Daojoan
I think it is the heads of the corporations who like Authoritarianism and it possible has something to do with a very much inflated sense of their own importance and value to the corporation. Life is transactional and if your give the CEO $17m a year, don't be surprised when he behaves as if he is the most important person in the corporation. Usually, though, the corporation would get along pretty well without him if the underlings were trusted and respected.
Show threadJohn HalloranMar 21, 2025

@Daojoan what if our political and economic systems systematically favor sociopaths? A rough proxy for this would be to ask whether people with sociopathic tendencies are over represented among CEO’s and federal government elected officials.

So… was there a worse ratio of narcissistic freaks onstage at the inauguration than at your local coffee shop?

Show threadAlberto CotticaMar 21, 2025

@Daojoan not to be nitpicking here but "corporations => evil" is acceptable shorthand for "there is a base alignment problem between profit-seeking entities and authoritarian politics".

And: good work, thanks.

Show threadfelix (grayscale) 🐺Mar 21, 2025

@Daojoan corporations are fundamentally authoritarian structures, so of course they align with authoritarian governments.

corporations are viable because about 30% of all humans have authoritarian tendencies. 30% is large enough to sometimes win any democratic process, so it's a constant struggle.

Show threadAndreu Casablanca 🐀Mar 21, 2025

@Daojoan Not a complete solution for a myriad of reasons, but those who can (if they care about this problem) should join or create #coop companies. It would make a big difference.

#coops #cooperativemovement

Show threadRegMar 21, 2025

@castarco @Daojoan

At this stage the best hope would be for large corporations to become mutuals, but they're not going to do that voluntarily.

Show threadToni AittoniemiMar 21, 2025

@Daojoan Beware of talks of ”efficiency”

The most efficient way to run a business is monopoly.

The most efficient way for a political ideology to govern is a dictatorship.

Democracy is born from backstops and ”inefficiencies”.

The people in the machine are the democratic force.

Show threadAndrocatMar 21, 2025

@gimulnautti

Except that dictatorships are invariably corrupt.

Their overall efficiency is lower than democracy, despite all the checks and balances of the latter.

@Daojoan

Show threadToni AittoniemiMar 21, 2025
@androcat @Daojoan Yes. But they like to think of themselves as efficient.
Show threadGentleman TechnologistMar 21, 2025

@gimulnautti @Daojoan also “efficiency” itself is not absolute, it always involves trade-offs.

You can make something more energy-efficient but then it will cost more. Or cost-efficient but then it won’t last as long. Or more efficient to produce, and so on.

When someone talks about efficiency, we need to ask what they mean. What are they prioritising?

Show threadGilbert PilzMar 21, 2025
@Daojoan Corporations were born out of the necessity to diffuse financial risk across a group of investors. To this basic function modern corporations have added the ability to diffuse moral responsibility across a large group of actors. Corporations can commit the most heinous offenses without any one person having to feel that they were responsible for those actions. Look at the statements from the people involved in the opioid epidemic. Nobody felt that they were responsible.
Show threadYlönënMar 21, 2025
@gpilz @Daojoan This is true also for concentration camps and genocides. Those participating also often cite that they were merely following rules and orders. No single person was to blame and collective blame was partially accepted when it was forced upon them afterwards on trials.