IBM, Hitler and the Holocaust: A Terrible Tale of Capitalism

"Government control" comes in a lot of forms. Regulating a market is different from nationalizing it.

 

A lot of the reason why American companies bowed out was because the government forced them to.

This is what happened with Prescott Bush's company.

 

Hitler was a crony capitalist. He was also a national socialist.

Crony capitalists are different from what I guess you could call "true" capitalists, and national socialists are different from social democrats or modern socialists.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capitalism

 

True, and some regulations are important and necessary. The big-time dealers in death of our century went way beyond regulating and took control of private industry. They did not believe in free-enterprise.

 

I'd make the argument that very few leaders do.

For example, America is very oligarchic in most markets, and local markets for utilities are mostly state supported monopolies.

Free enterprise is something few and far between in most of the world, including here.

 

America hasn't been a free market capitalist system for at least 100 years...don't make things up to suit your radical agenda

 

IG Farben was Hitler's largest defense contractor. They were financed by JP Morgan...who, everyone knows was certianly not a proponent of the free market. He was a wealthy socialist.

Another bold faced lie. Big businesses like to privitize their profits and socialize their losses onto taxpayers. That is socialism.

 

I would call that corporatism rather than socialism in the usual sense.

Socialism is usually done with the intention of benefiting the public rather than the elite. Corporatism does the opposite.

 

Lots of contradiction here. Freedom is one side, pro govt is the other. Hitler was all pro govt, as was Stalin, Mao, Castro, Obama, Truman, Bush2, Caesar, Republicans, Democrats, and on and on.

All with the same outcome, low standards of living.

 

When has that ever happened?

 

America is not Capitalistic? There's no Capitalism in America?

 

Anyone who for one moment believes Hitler and the SS to have been 'socialist', may as well turn off the machine that clearly powers their brain. Save on electricity.

Socialists, trade unionists, and a plethora of political opponents were hunted down, and persecuted, much like many Americans who post on here would seem to like 'liberals' and 'socialists' hunted down, in the US. And Muslims. All you need do now is build internment camps and keep people there without trial, or limit of time, by simply declaring them a threat to you.

Oh wait...

 

You are attempting to tell us that the holocaust was a result of capitalism, but you have yet to make any sort of case for that rather absurd assertion.

Feel free to attempt to actually support your silly childish assertions.

Were the purges of up to 60 million people by Stalin a result of capitalist greed in the west too? Did you forget about that or were you simply not aware of it having occurred.

What was the extermination of as many as 78 million people during the cultural revolution under Mao Ze-Dong a result of?

 

1. Hitler was a huge socialist - How do you think the Autobahn was built?
2. Nazi Party = National Socialist Worker's Party
3. The Jews were the Capitalists... not the Nazi's
4. How the (*)(*)(*)(*) is this a "Current Event"?

 

U.S.S.R
Nazi Germany

 

Oh give me a break!

By that rationale then, Bush and Reagan were 'socialists' for still having a welfare state, right?

Sheesh..

 

My GOD, you finally got one right, Margie. Did you tell your pal 'Flag' about your obvious change in political thinking? You see, Flag thinks that Nazi Germany under Hitler was a capitalist nation, and so for someone as yourself who in the past has accepted obama's socialism and perhaps Hitler's socialism/fascism as something to be admired and followed, with a suspect mind toward capitalism, I find this latest switch of yours to be a bit intriguing.

 

Your view of history is quite puzzling and wrong.

What party did Hitler lead?

The National Workers Socialist Party

Does that sound "Capitalist" to you?

How was the Autobahn and the other Hitler created projects built?

Socialism.

Why were the Nazi's mad at the Jews?

The Jews were unabashed successful Capitalists.

The Nazi's are certainly leftists by all reasonable measures.

 

Any other dissent about the above post? Warning... you must have real facts.

 

That wasn't my point. Corporatism has never intended to be for the public's benefit.

Even the "too big to fail" argument was half-hearted at best.

With socialism, there's usually a clearer intention to level the playing field. I'm not saying that it always accomplishes that though.

If you're looking for an example where socialism does work to the public's benefit, there are plenty of cases throughout the First World. Admittedly, America seems to do a shoddier job of it than a lot of its peers, but our interstate highway system is one of our better "socialist" projects.

 

Norway would disagree.

The most successful countries (including a few with higher standards of living than us) are a mix of socialism and capitalism.

It's not an all or nothing arrangement.

 

Eisenhower must be a socialist too.

 

It is very difficult to be successful when you are an oil exporter.

 

America exports a lot of oil as well.

Norway has several advantages that we don't have, but then again, America has several that Norway doesn't.

I'm not saying what works for Norway works for us, but they are proof that, under certain conditions, socialism works. Norway also happens to be very competitive in a lot of its markets. They also have one of the most highly skilled labor forces as a result of socialized education.

So, it's not like socialism and capitalism are incompatible.

America itself is a mixed economy, not a purely capitalistic one.