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Strange how it's a subject for discussion. It's like during WWII consider paying to operator of gas chamber in Aushwitz.

aspenmayer 2y ago
It’s not that strange. During World War 2, many American companies created subsidiaries to allow collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Companies like Associated Press, Chase Bank, IBM, Coca-Cola, Ford. Those companies that couldn’t do so openly like Coca-Cola just created wartime units like Fanta which were later reincorporated under the parent company after the war. Some companies even received postwar reparations from the government for corporate losses while simultaneously being allowed to profit from wartime business with the enemy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaboration_with_Nazi_Germany_and_Fascist_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaboration_with_Nazi_German... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_collaboration_with_Nazi_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_collaboration_with_Na...
- Nginx487 2y ago
  I don't say it didn't happen before. I know about these occasions and I find it sick how Americans put personal gain ahead of survival of their nation (yes, both in WWII and now stakes were that high). Those from the West who don't like the truth I'm saying - I am actually Russian, know my country better than you, and I DESPISE every American who supports our regime or just ready to deal with it like with some civilised entity. Fascist dictatorship you deal with has nothing but hatred towards your state and your nation. Every dollar you pay them will come back will to you in form of terror attacks and deaths of your people, directly of through proxy conflicts. I'm sure during WWII there were anti-Nazi Germans who felt the same for example towards IBM, who had lucrative contracts with the system of concentration camps of Third Reich.
  - aspenmayer 2y ago
    Ironically, the Nazi gas chambers were inspired by American ones which used Zyklon B as a delousing agent, as I discuss further in my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40381708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40381708 Perhaps I’m cynical or pragmatic or simply a realist, but part of me thinks that the US and its businesses by proxy are able and willing to do business with hostile regimes to gain exposure to markets, capital, and personnel for intelligence purposes. Wartime makes for strange bedfellows, for example, the collaboration between the US government and the Italian mafia during WW2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborations_between_the_United_States_government_and_Italian_Mafia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborations_between_the_Uni...

aspenmayer 2y ago

It’s not that strange. During World War 2, many American companies created subsidiaries to allow collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Companies like Associated Press, Chase Bank, IBM, Coca-Cola, Ford. Those companies that couldn’t do so openly like Coca-Cola just created wartime units like Fanta which were later reincorporated under the parent company after the war. Some companies even received postwar reparations from the government for corporate losses while simultaneously being allowed to profit from wartime business with the enemy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaboration_with_Nazi_Germany_and_Fascist_Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaboration_with_Nazi_German... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_collaboration_with_Nazi_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_collaboration_with_Na...

Nginx487 2y ago
I don't say it didn't happen before. I know about these occasions and I find it sick how Americans put personal gain ahead of survival of their nation (yes, both in WWII and now stakes were that high). Those from the West who don't like the truth I'm saying - I am actually Russian, know my country better than you, and I DESPISE every American who supports our regime or just ready to deal with it like with some civilised entity. Fascist dictatorship you deal with has nothing but hatred towards your state and your nation. Every dollar you pay them will come back will to you in form of terror attacks and deaths of your people, directly of through proxy conflicts. I'm sure during WWII there were anti-Nazi Germans who felt the same for example towards IBM, who had lucrative contracts with the system of concentration camps of Third Reich.
- aspenmayer 2y ago
  Ironically, the Nazi gas chambers were inspired by American ones which used Zyklon B as a delousing agent, as I discuss further in my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40381708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40381708 Perhaps I’m cynical or pragmatic or simply a realist, but part of me thinks that the US and its businesses by proxy are able and willing to do business with hostile regimes to gain exposure to markets, capital, and personnel for intelligence purposes. Wartime makes for strange bedfellows, for example, the collaboration between the US government and the Italian mafia during WW2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborations_between_the_United_States_government_and_Italian_Mafia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborations_between_the_Uni...