IBM Culpability Essay

IBM has been associated with unethical business perspectives ever since its involvement in the Holocaust, but is IBM, International Business Machine, really responsible for the Nazi’s genocide of the Jews? I’d have to say on a scale from one to ten, IBM is only ranking a mere three in culpability. It is true; IBM should have looked into what the Third Reich was doing with their technology--if for nothing else, at least for protection of their patent—but, even so, they never formally reconciled to the extermination of the Jewish race as the Nazis had. It is clear they had an affiliation to Nazi Germany, but their relationship with the subsequently discovered nefarious nation was strictly “business as usual”, just like many other companies world wide. What business wouldn’t have done the same thing in IBM’s shoes? Though IBM is responsible for themselves, just as any other person or organization, does that really constitute handing a substantial blame to them for the holocaust?

Aside from the fact that there has “not been a single sentence written by IBM personnel that has been discovered in any documents questioning the morality of automating the Third Reich, even when headlines proclaimed the mass murder of Jews”, even if they had known of the repugnant acts of the Nazis in power, IBM shouldn’t be responsible for how a client uses their product, regardless of ethical and moral attachments. I assume there is a certain degree of responsibility a business has for their product or service. Businesses must examine and investigate the use of their product in many instances—assuring no damage is acquired to their product during a lease situation or confirming their patent isn’t being violated—but this is only to assure their own monetary gain and maintain or raise their financial stability, nothing more. IBM has no reason to look into how their product is being used; whether malevolently or hospitably, their culpability can’t be derived from the product alone. For example, when a car company leases their car to an individual and that individual is a very malevolent reprobate and uses the vehicle for a drive by, does that consummate that the car company is running an unethical business?

“Business as usual”; a phrase that is commonplace among businesses internationally. IBM clearly wanted to make money, just as any other business does. The sole purpose of a business is to make money. And to think they had some preference of what the Nazis were going to do with their technology is foolish. IBM leased the Germany their machines to make more money off them. “There was no universal punch card at that time”, which means IBM made specific punch cards for Germany. Every different kind of card and the more cards Germany wanted meant more monetary gain. They even produced a factory in Endicott to be able to sell more, faster. Demand was high, and IBM was the one who wanted to supply it all, exclusively. If they hadn’t met the German’s demand for their technology and punch cards, you bet Germany would’ve made arrangements with opposing companies.



As I have previously stated, what business wouldn’t have done the same thing were they in IBM’s shoes? Even Mr. Black said “many American businesses did what IBM did.” Businesses “refused to walk away from the extraordinary profits obtainable from trading with a pariah state such as Nazi Germany.” I candidly believe that any business would have supplied Nazi Germany was equipment or arms or punch cards and machines; it doesn’t matter what they sold. What matters to businesses is money, and there’s nothing other reason to be a business aside from monetary gain. “Mr. Black’s case is long and heavily documented, and yet he does not demonstrate that IBM bears some unique or decisive responsibility for the evil that was done.”

We’ve established that IBM is a business, but there is nothing that says anywhere that a business is restricted by morality. IBM is not culpable for the actions of Nazi Germany. I sustain the belief that any business would have done what IBM has, and, aside from the international war situation, it doesn’t differ from any other business. And for someone to say IBM wanted to kill Jews and reconcile with the Nazi belief without empirical evidence is preposterous. It was a choice for IBM to sell to Nazi Germany during WWII, but it was a seemingly good choice at the time for IBM. “The passage of time makes that choice a good deal clearer not than it was when Watson had to make it.”

Science vs. Religion

Ohhhhh science how i love you, in everyway a person could possiblely love an idea. I almost love you as much as overthroughing the government, but i'm not sure thats possible. Since, overthroughing the government is like extacy, which i haven't tried(just making a reference to something). Science and religion have been in conflict with one another for a long time throughout history. I think most of this is because of the damn catholics. I say it once and i'll say it again, leave it to the fucking catholics to ruin and disgrace the absolute geniuses of this world. I'm so sincere, cracka, so sincere...mannnnnn cracka, i cut you up, I cut YOU UP AND STUFF YOU UNDER MY MATRESS LIKE DRUG MONEY CRACKA! Don't tred on me.

I hate the catholics for what they've done, although most of what they represent has positive morals, some of which i don't even believe in, I don't believe power should be placed in the hands of someone thinking they can talk to god and whom thinks completely illogical and irrational. Power over so many people too. All these believers around the world who think that the pope, who has recently died, is someone that can talk to god. What a fucking nut, and no i don't give a shit if the fool has died. He's completed much in his life, and he tried to repair what his predicessors had done. We all know nothing can change the past.

Science is appriceating god and all of it's work. What do people do when they look up to something or one that is superior to them? They study them, hoping to understand how they work and think. That's respect my friends; there's nothing more respectful than spending your life enjoying and studying someone's work. Scientists are culture creatives; they advance humanity. They show us new ways of looking at everything. Science is the study of the world around us. How in any way does that contradict the word of god? It's almost hard to believe that people who try to understand reality are looked down upon as heretics, impure, and having their mind set on the wrong things. Troubling questions. I think the main reason there's been so much conflict between religions, mostly christianity, and science is from it's mythology, not it's past. I mean it's past says things like so and so did this and caused this to happen during this time period. Science and the recvering of documents would prove them as true if it was true, which in most cases that's how it is. Christianity only has problems with science when it comes down to characters who've declared things that aren't physically possible, raising the water around them to cross. We know no one can do that. Why could someone do it back then? There's no plausible reasoning. When science disagrees with that it doesn't mean science disagrees with everything that the religion says. The ethics of most religions are brilliant. The morals and the values taught by most religions are very sincere, good hearted, and helpful for pursuing a good life. Someone who believes in science as a truth does not necessarily have bad ethics. I, for one, am not a religious person, anymore, and I think i have damn good ethics. It's the same thing as saying someone that's religious has good ethics, because we know that by all means that's not true. Around here, where i live, it seems that there're more people who claim a religion and are brutal assholes than there are people who don't believe in god and are assholes. I know a few people who are athiest, they believe there's no god at all, and they seem to be pretty good hearted people. They feel guilt, pain, and troubled for doing the things they do, just like any other person would, even a religious person.

I've recently converted to something new to me. Something i've never even thought about really; having no personal god. For a long time I've been questioning if Christianity is true. I've always been a believer in god, although for some time i've been agnostic.

Inhumane Humanity

Humanity as a whole is pathetically inhumane in many ways, and not only to humans. It’s human nature for this to occur. I was reading of how in order for people to be able to do such horrible things to other people and animals they must look at themselves as superior to them. There will always be the masters and slaves as long as there’s a society. I have evidence for saying this. Evidence such as our food industry with any sort of meat, testing on live animals with products of all types, every war in history, and slave ownership in the early colonies. We can make up excuses and “reasons” for doing the cruel acts, but it doesn’t stop the torture accomplished by the whole of society. There are all kinds of reasons we make up to allow and silently support these atrocities’ occurrences. Anything from scientific to faith based reasoning, and still they all are not really good enough for what is actually happening to the victims. As long as there is a reason, logical or not, there will continue to be inhumane acts. The longer inhumane acts continue the more commonplace it becomes. Humanity as whole has forgotten or some how blocked out the reality of the situation, and traded the benefits for the means by which they come.

Yet I believe on the individual scale, at least for the majority of us, that we are not inhumane. Maybe we were taught to be cruel by society where it all was born. For example, if a father were to ask his son to kill an animal, the son’s first reaction would not be acceptance but refusal, for why would anyone want to hurt an innocent creature. Give it time, and the boy would be slaughtering innocent animals without hesitation. The politicians and celebrities have tricked us and our children’s children. They have tricked us out of our lives, beliefs, and futures because we were not born stupid, but we were taught it by “the law of the land.” We’re born with a pure heart and poison it with lies fed to us by the actions of others. “Truth is replaced with silence, and silence is a lie.”

Material Matters

Ohioan Dreamscape
Sometimes I wonder how some people can live the life they do and be content with their ways. Living a life based around what they see on T.V., what sports they're in to, what clothes they wear, and whats "in"; and still continuing with some contentment or just satisfaction with the way things are going. And i wonder still, do they stop to think how they feel or what they are becomming, or do they just never glance back to really focus on what they are, want to become, where they are, where they want to be? Can people be satisfied without wanting to know what else is outside our world? The substance of life is more than what we can see, taste, smell, hear, and touch. There are thoughts that can only be questioned and not answered, but is that any reason to forget about them? For if unanswerable questions are forgotten, what is really important can't have light shown upon it.
Lets pretend that the world is a place of importance and wonder, unconcieveable mystery, and that we're all really confused about should be important and what should not. That we're all just thrown into the air not knowing when we fall or what we will fall to. The only real options are distractions or questions. The only explination for our distraction is to avoid the question of what truly is important or what matters. Mystery isn't something that sits well in the minds of the people living in it. We can only question more to strike answers of questions with only questions to answer them as well, but we can forget so easily the questions with distraction. Waving a hand of sights in front of your eyes shifts the focus of thoughts undoubtingly. Questions are blocked from attention by tangible objects, and objects we focus on won't help us to discover the most important undenible truths. Nevertheless ignorance is salvation in the eyes of the questioner.
No one is always selfless, but concentration and ambition promote seeking. So it may boil down to yet another question, maybe the most important question of them all, why seek something if it means giving up everything else?

Online Businesses

Ohioan Dreamscape
Online Businesses are sculpting our culture in new ways. Not all the changes are better, yet some are. Monopolizing is becoming a huge problem. For example if Amazon.com becomes the only book store by putting local brick and mortar book stores out of business, there's going to be giant impacts on the economy by eliminating small businesses, as well as large businesses that can't complete with their online cousins. This could mean our communities won't have nearly as much money or support from the local public. Our schools could go down as well as any other local related economic entity. Monopolizing won't just be something in the physical world, but the online world, which is even bigger. The world wide web is the biggest market in the world and is not only effecting us, the united states, but also effecting any country in the world. Which means that if any company expands on the world wide web they're expanding on the global front. This makes it more likely for a corporation to become an even bigger corporation, and it makes them more likely to exploit poor countries. But what am I saying... They already do, and there's pretty much nothing we can do about it besides stand back and let the fire run out of fuel.
Regardless, the government doesn't need to be taxing us on online purchases. If the started sticking their noses into the web more, we'd all be sucked up, we'd be waiting to be taken advantage of. Ehhh... The internet pie is like Courtney Love, there's plenty to go around. Am I right?... Anyhow, businesses are going to have to integrate, which includes learning how and where and when to advertise--I hate advertisements--, and to whom.
Brings me to my next topic of interest. Have you seen the profiling they're doing on us customers. Seems like every store I go in to now and days asks me if I have their card. Krogers, CVS, the list can go on and on. This only means our children and their children and, heck, even we are going to be challenged more and more. Businesses are going to begin to appeal to everyone personally. That's truly a scary thought, signing online and having pop ups say things based on customer profiling, "Hello Orion, we've noticed you recently bought some preparation H, and we thought maybe we could recommend some other products, or maybe even a proctologist." Honestly, please, I don't need you sticking your nose in places it doesn't belong online businesses, especially up my ass... I'm not in to that kinda stuff, I'd like to consider myself a straight respectable guy. Sign online the next day, BAM more pop ups, "Orion we here you'd like to think of yourself as a respectable kinda guy, and we'd like to recommend this clothing line and these boxers and this cell phone and this coffee and this gun for you to commit suicide when you realize these pop ups will never end."
So as much as I love the online community and just the global network we refer to as the internet, which I really do, I think some shit needs to be fixed and some struggles of power need to be settled. Shit we're the people, and we can make it happen. Businesses flood our inboxes with email, LETS SHOW THEM THE REAL MEANING OF SPAM, TROJAN STYLE. Lock and Stop, that bullshit, from continuing. I've read a few promising respectable intelligent speakers speak on the issue of spam. Some say if we don't fix the problem, it could honestly be them end of the internet; OH MY GOD, I couldn't handle that. I'd have to kill some people if that went down. So spammers... You see what hell you're putting us all through? Do you see that those annoying messages that we must delete really do to us? They make our stomachs turn in weird new ways that no stomach should be forced to turn in, and let me tell you, that 15 seconds it takes to delete those junk emails could have been used to save the rainforest, overthrow the government, or even gamble on the WWW.

Final thoughts on this subject, Don't be stupid, don't respond to chain letters (companies use that to get email addresses), don't download attachments, (viruses, duhhhhhhhh) and most of all, don't sign up or check any boxes on any damn websites, as long as you have the option (I don't know about you, but I don't need a fucken news letter from some stupid website, updating me on their new line of underwear or cars or anything for that matter).
And stay smart, Stay protected(not only applying to internet use), and remember, only you can prevent spam.

Emissions Missions

Ohioan Dreamscape
Our country is rather selfish in its decisions over gas usage and emissions due to burning them. Our lack of concern for the worlds health should be looked at closer than it is, for soon enough it will be sitting with us at our dinner tables, the subject of your local news paper's front page, and the worlds eyes will be on us. You must read just one of any of these:

http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4325457.stm/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4275729.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4269723.stm/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4267245.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4259569.stm

BUSH RESISTS PRESSURE on KYOTO!

I just want people to know that our country is not doing the right thing. As a world power we have responsibility to the entire world, and as the worlds biggest world power we have the most responsibility to the world, yet we, the people of US, allow our government to stay out of the international talks and take no action. I think it's a matter of ignorance to the issue for americans. I haven't heard many people discuss it ever. The news only reaches the people who watch it, and you can't tell me your children watch the news. Your children are the ones who are going to be effected the most by global warming and pollution.

Can't we all agree on that? The future is what is in the most danger.
Sometimes we must suspend liberty to save liberty. That applies to so much.

I've heard some crazy facts, such as, most coral reefs will be gone in a decade; its already lost. (there's nothing we can do about it now).
Our children will never go scuba diving; they'll never know the beauty of the ocean's coral. That blows my mind to think they'll only here about it in Biology class or read it in some text book.

This isn't just about our lives. This is the time to change, to make a difference in the world. If you know you aren't doing your part in contribution and feel guilty for not changing, remember that every second is another second to turn everything around. If every person, not even every person, if some people have the guts to speak to people and let them know of the future and our planet's death, we'll be able to make a difference. I do not believe one person can make a significant difference. Call me a pessimist, I do not care. The way to preserve what we have is to let it be known and to take action. Lobby, write letters, tell your neighbors, tell your schools, tell your parents, tell anyone or thing that has a voice. Please don't forget this tomorrow.
Please, if you would like me to talk to anyone for you or you would like to talk to me, email me:

PLEASE EMAIL ME NOW

Racing from Rights

Ohioan Dreamscape

I was discussing with a close friend about when we're confronted with racism. She is all about speaking up for the right thing. What we believe is the right thing. When I see stereo typical hicks yelling at some foreign kid down the hallway, "GET OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!", and, "You damn nigger, why don't you leave", just because he/she has a different color of skin, I can't help but think those stereo typical hicks should be punished for what they've done. They made someone feel unwanted, when in all actuality they have the same right as any other kid to be in this school, but just because that kid has different skin color they "dislike them."(Well at least act as if they do). I told her that it’s not worth getting in any trouble over a few ignorant people. I don't want to be pestered or bullied for standing up for someone I don't even know. She disagreed and said she would have bitched at them for it, and that she would care if they started being violent. I said that telling them that they're wrong in calling someone a nigger or even referring to someone as a nigger isn't going to change that person, as if they would just look at you with sorry eyes and say, "I understand, I was wrong in doing that, I'll go apologize."

Sadly, media and the way people have been taught from family and friends has lead these people to believe--in many cases--that blacks or Hispanic people are not as important or not as worthy to live as whites. For some of these people, they've grown up racist because their father was. They don't look at it like us non-negatively racist people do. We compare from our morals, values, and standards which aren't the racist's people's beliefs. I believe that it's wrong in telling a black to get out of our country for many reasons, ex. It wasn't ours in the first place, but how is that any different than someone that lived in the civil war days, whose father owned slaves, and never even questioned it as being wrong--it was a way of life for them; it was life for them--.
Half of me believes these racist people should be shot or forced to believe otherwise, but the other thinks its life to them, that's what they know from being taught by someone.
My English teacher had brought up, how in politics, some politicians accept religion or faith as a good enough reasoning for someone or thing to be tolerated or not. For example, should the constitution include under god in it or not, or Arab women having to wear veils and not vote nor have the right to make important life long decisions (ex. children ect.)

How can someone know they are doing wrong if no one tells them?