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 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 threadGentleman Technologist

@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?

Mar 21, 2025 at 9:39amWeb