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 threadJohn Halloran

@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?

Mar 21, 2025 at 7:37amIceCubesApp