The Rhodes Center Podcast: Nazi Billionaires, Capitalist Ethics, and Other Notable Contradictions

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Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs

Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs

11 місяців тому

On this episode Mark Blyth talks with this year’s invited speaker at the Rhodes Center’s annual 'Ethics of Capitalism’ lecture series, journalist D​​avid de Jong.
David’s groundbreaking book “Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties”, looks at the individuals and companies that accumulated unimaginable wealth under the Third Reich. Through his incredible investigative work, he exposes how these companies - including iconic German businesses like Volkswagen, BMW, and Allianz - thrived under the Nazi regime. He also looks at how, despite their dark history, most have never fully reconciled with their past - and how the families that founded such enterprises have only grown more wealthy in the decades since.
David and Mark discuss this dark history, and explore the questions it poses about the nature of capitalism: how can businesses operate responsibly in a world where it’s so easy to profit off the suffering of others? And what do private companies owe the rest of us, above their bottom line?
Learn more about and purchase “Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties”

КОМЕНТАРІ: 68
@juandoe2696
@juandoe2696 11 місяців тому
This reminds me of the history of reconstruction in the US following the civil war regarding African Americans... 1.try to do the right thing, 2. quickly get tired and revert to the status quo and then 3. try to forget and carry on. The US in trying to reconstruct a democratic Germany in its image seems to have given this playbook to Germans to do the same after WW2 following the war. The ethics of capitalism easy as 1...2...3.
@kenbomar375
@kenbomar375 11 місяців тому
When respondents begin their statements with attributions for pre WWII conflicts and wars to America, they demonstrate an egocentrism that drives a narcissistic world view that declares America the supreme country of all time. This is the fault of our educational system over emphasizing US History to the detriment of world history. Look, I love my country but we are not the best model of governance or economics. We are not the Second Coming of Christ. My European friends laugh at our ignorance of world affairs, paths, and trajectories. Aristocracies that birthed from feudal governments caused WWI and stoked the flames for WWII. The US is currently building feudal kingdoms through unbridling capitalistic money traders. It has been in this business since Ronald Reagan enacted de-taxing the wealthy and deregulating stock markets. By demonizing helping the poor and forging a false identity with evangelical leaders, the wealthy began pirating companies and shutting down municipal economies all with “God’s blessing.” If left unchecked by ignoring Teddy Roosevelt’s antitrust laws the US will become a third-world country and a retreat for criminals.
@java4653
@java4653 10 місяців тому
The Republican Party had few civil rights members. The majority, including Lincoln, expected black Americans to leave the country. Lincoln even proposed it to black leaders to get their support. Republicans were racist because America was racist. 60 years later and they are embracing the second KKK. Lots of fake Prager U/ Ben Shapiro history that exists. It's the second Southern Strategy.
@EdwardPike
@EdwardPike 11 місяців тому
I studied this under Bernard Bellon, hist prof at Ga Tech. He did the primary research on slave labor for Krupps, others in the 1980s. Died young in the early 90s, apparently of Lou Gehrigs.
@numbersix8919
@numbersix8919 11 місяців тому
Thanks Mark! This David de Jong is just what I needed -- my whole life.
@BobQuigley
@BobQuigley 11 місяців тому
America's equivalent today is the Congressional Military Industrial Complex and it's owners operators the Corporate Warfare Queens who never lose a contract. Using tax dollars these same contractors fund politicians campaigns. Today we're spending more on individual weapons systems than what we spend all State Department, diplomacy. Madison warned no democracy can survive a permanently standing army'. Right up to WW2 we always dropped military spending after conflicts. Today no amount poured into this bottomless pit is enough. Producing wildly expensive overly complicated weapons systems oftentimes they never perform as expected.
@steve-real
@steve-real 11 місяців тому
Ukraine loves all our products. And American arms never stole from Jewish families or used slave labor. I think your analysis is just plain wrong.
@ewmbr1164
@ewmbr1164 11 місяців тому
Looking at certain US billionaires, their practices and political proclivities ("...free enterprise cannot be maintained in a democracy" - isn't that what you are after, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk?) come to mind...
@java4653
@java4653 10 місяців тому
And they are allowed to control huge amounts of personal data: Thiel has a security clearance.
@nancyhirsch7768
@nancyhirsch7768 11 місяців тому
Great conversation and one that could be replicated here in the US on so many levels.
@josephjackson5088
@josephjackson5088 11 місяців тому
So the one and only ethic of business is greed. It was said in a Hollywood movie that greed is good so it must be true, right?
@mtn1793
@mtn1793 11 місяців тому
So this is how so called civilization marches of the Cliff of human extinction. Back room deals and sweeping dirt under the rug. The irresponsibility is staggering.
@Confucius_76
@Confucius_76 11 місяців тому
calm down dear, nobody is going extinct
@mtn1793
@mtn1793 11 місяців тому
@@Confucius_76 Says the smug comfortable lemming.
@Confucius_76
@Confucius_76 11 місяців тому
@mtn1793 damn it how did you know that!? I try to keep a low profile
@Bergahorn-iy1lx
@Bergahorn-iy1lx 11 місяців тому
Great podcast, could have been longer with more details.
@mmmhorsesteaks
@mmmhorsesteaks 11 місяців тому
Isn't the point it would have been mismanagement, under capitalism, had they not taken advantage of forced labor and so on?
@ellengran6814
@ellengran6814 11 місяців тому
Thats crony capitalism = corporate government = kind of feudalism. I would say it's also comparable to a brain with no communication between left and right.
@didyeaye2481
@didyeaye2481 11 місяців тому
Exactly.
@TrickOrRetreat
@TrickOrRetreat 11 місяців тому
Valid point indeed.
@stephendaley266
@stephendaley266 11 місяців тому
The final stage of Capitalism is always fascism and slave labor. Viva la revolution!
@stavroskarageorgis4804
@stavroskarageorgis4804 11 місяців тому
Of course, "prisoner" leasing they learned from, shocker, post-Reconstruction Dixie!
@firefox5926
@firefox5926 11 місяців тому
34:05 lol its funny how capitlisms reminds me of the grey goo solution to the fermi paradox
@ellengran6814
@ellengran6814 11 місяців тому
Old poor people in US working for Amazon or other Big Businesses....are they forced labour, volenteers or (debt)slaves ? Same question Ivwould say could becasked in regard to all the refugees caused by wars .
@sprobablycancr4457
@sprobablycancr4457 11 місяців тому
"Partners"
@TrickOrRetreat
@TrickOrRetreat 11 місяців тому
Or one man contractors. That way you have no worker rights, and they can treat you like a hostile business partner.
@matthewstone1362
@matthewstone1362 11 місяців тому
They also suppress the wages of the indigenous population aswell as creating a rich seam of division in the population. People shouting at their foreign neighbour while those in power drag in debt from the future (pick your pockets). Ignorance is truely dangerous.
@stephendaley266
@stephendaley266 11 місяців тому
As a philosopher once said: "You're a slave to the money, then you die."
@TrickOrRetreat
@TrickOrRetreat 11 місяців тому
@@stephendaley266 You live, and keep your head down and die, if your lucky. Adrian Edmondson
@autohmae
@autohmae 11 місяців тому
As a fellow Dutchy, I think it's good this book was made, but maybe it would have been even better if it was written by a German.
@bill8985
@bill8985 11 місяців тому
Waarom?
@clumsydad7158
@clumsydad7158 11 місяців тому
money loves money, there are no capitalist ethics ... don't be facetious, all ethics are exogenous to barely hold society together
@evanmcarthur3067
@evanmcarthur3067 11 місяців тому
Sterling Archer, has a mother named Mallory Archer. In the show, Mallory apologizes for not being around much when Sterling was growing up because she was busy hunting Nazis. 😂😢😅
@polyglot8
@polyglot8 10 місяців тому
Now I know where the Sackler family got its playbook.
@kikolatulipe
@kikolatulipe 11 місяців тому
I guess the billionaires from Britain who amazed their fortunes During the colonialism era are all clean with impressive ethics !
@stuartwray6175
@stuartwray6175 10 місяців тому
'amazed their fortunes'
@raquetdude
@raquetdude 11 місяців тому
Look up Elons most recent comments on Jews today… very odd
@Confucius_76
@Confucius_76 11 місяців тому
He criticized George Soros? That's not commenting on ALL Jews
@_derpderp
@_derpderp 7 місяців тому
Maybe, maybe not. However, for millions of Americans, Musk is a stand-in for a particular imagined ideal “Americanism” just as Soros is name-dropped as a dog-whistle to conjure whatever is existentially opposed to that Americanism ideal. Folks have been trained to bristle by AM radio since the ‘90’s at least. Then it was Fox doing the whistling now Twitter(X).
@danielkanewske8473
@danielkanewske8473 7 місяців тому
I have never understood why Bremer implemented such a harsh and destructive de-baathification of Iraq but now it makes sense, he wanted his own version of denazification.
@nikkobriteramos314
@nikkobriteramos314 11 місяців тому
#nikkobriteramos
@mehranjangh
@mehranjangh 11 місяців тому
Why do they think that democracy was an ideal in 1930s Germany? Would not a patriotic German of that era see democracy as the bane of their country and getting rid of it a patriotic duty? This is the problem with most journalists, they fail to realize that the values that they hold sacred are not necessarily shared by others in other places and periods and that is why the west is fundametally unable to enter meaningful dialogue with other civilizations.
@arnowillekes7979
@arnowillekes7979 11 місяців тому
Musk thinking of putting his billions into Tucker Carlson’s could be just as bad a decision as him trying to ‘manage’ Twitter but it could also become the main reason for full-on US fascism…with or without Trump?
@alfred-vz8ti
@alfred-vz8ti 11 місяців тому
ethics are social laws and need enforcement mechanisms, all animals press up against constraints. constraints can be internalized, many parents struggle to civilize their children, with varying success. but commerce is a war, and must be physically policed. it isn't, much, in the usa. moving your business, done in usa, to ireland to escape taxes is considered smart in usa. well, it is. the crime is in writing laws to allow this. the stupidity of the people in allowing the politicians to accommodate this practice suggests a society ripe for destruction. human society, that is, we are looking at extinction due to inadequate intelligence.
@marybusch6182
@marybusch6182 11 місяців тому
Temptation works.
@lowersaxon
@lowersaxon 10 місяців тому
?
@stuartwray6175
@stuartwray6175 10 місяців тому
Who, what, where.
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