JA WestenbergMar 21, 2025

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.
Show threadJohnno
@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.
Mar 21, 2025 at 6:43amWeb