[belligeront]

I find the use of "this is a business" logic to dissuade political discussion about a company's own business practices to be extremely troubling. Yes, there can be a discussion about the proper way to have these conversations, but dismissing discussion of ethics with an attitude of "this is a business" has lead to some horrific outcomes throughout history.

I highly recommend listening to this podcast about IBM's role in Nazi Germany https://hbr.org/podcast/2019/11/lessons-from-ibm-in-nazi-ger...

TJ Watson (of IBM) had a similar "this is a business" outlook: “I’m an internationalist. I cooperate with all forms of government, regardless of whether I can subscribe to all of their principles or not.” IBM's machines were extremely important part of Nazi Germany's Holocaust efforts, and there is evidence that IBM was actively working with Nazi Germany after the invasion of Poland [1].

[1] https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/The-business-of-makin...

[thegrim33]

Anyone notice the last few days tons of people bringing up the IBM/Holocaust connection? I've seen maybe half a dozen people in different threads bring it up. It almost feels coordinated, like those are the marching orders that were given out somewhere: "If this topic comes up, compare it to IBM and the holocaust, make these points, etc."

[Starman_Jones]

Google is being accused of writing software that facilitates the intentional killing of civilians. Whether you agree or disagree, that's what the accusation is. In that context, for people who accept the accusations, IBM seems like an obvious choice for an analogous company. Do you have a better comparison?

[ycombinatrix]

because it's a wildly obvious connection to make? more apt comparison than BMW or Chase