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Certain there are others. Naomi Klein wrote about Ford paying to have its own Argentine employees murdered during the junta in the 70s, apparently to prevent un

Certain there are others. Naomi Klein wrote about Ford paying to have its own Argentine employees murdered during the junta in the 70s, apparently to prevent unionization.

stavros 2y ago
What the hell kind of corporate exec goes "well, I guess I have to get them murdered, there's shareholder value to protect"?
- wmf 2y ago
  The kind that rises to the top. Time to watch Michael Clayton again.
- krapp 2y ago
  The typical kind. Killing strikers and unionists used to be a standard mode of American capitalism. Luckily no American corporation would ever murder someone who threatened their financial interests, nowadays.
- ToucanLoucan 2y ago
  Are you aware of the history of labor organizing in the states...? Not meant as an attack, I'm genuinely wondering. Strike breakers routinely killed people, destroyed property, cars would have sticks of dynamite chucked into them, and famously the coal miners blew up a fucking bridge. I think people tend to think that modern politics is how all politics was done and... nah. Before we had more robust judicial, communication, and surveillance systems, if someone threatened your business and you were wealthy enough, having them killed and dumped in a bog was 100% on the fuckin table.
  - lesuorac 2y ago
    Even recent times aren't that great either. With eBay heavily implying they were going to murder a reviewer over bad reviews. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60073359/steiner-v-ebay-inc/?page=1 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60073359/steiner-v-ebay...
  - stavros 2y ago
    > Are you aware of the history of labor organizing in the states...? No, I'm not. It sounds like a very interesting read, though. I don't think those things tended to happen over here, beyond mafia-style illegal dealings.
    - pjc50 2y ago
      Americans get taught a weird fictionalized version of their own history where political violence ended at the Civil War, conveniently overlooking anything that might be awkward to explain in the present day. Little things like General MacArthur opening fire on veterans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army ; MOVE bombings; Tulsa massacre https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/12/tulsa-supreme-court-lawsuit https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/12/tuls... ; the general high levels of violence in the civil rights era; lynching, and so on. The Pinkerton detective agency has a long history of being the go-to contractors for corporate violence against labour organisers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_(detective_agency) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_(detective_agency)
      - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
        One of my favorite stories from the Civil Rights era is the fact that California created the template for modern gun control as a direct response to the Black Panthers policing the Police with open-carried guns (just like, standing there, armed, while police did their jobs in Black communities), and the white establishment at the time absolutely shit bricks at the notion of the negro having firepower and demanded it be regulated by none other than Governor Ronald Reagan.
- fuzztester 2y ago
  This kind of corporate exec, for example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40665489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40665489
fuzztester 2y ago
Also this, right in the USA: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Overpass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Overpass Mentioned here too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford
- pjc50 2y ago
  > In the aftermath, Ford Motor Company attempted to control the narrative by destroying news photographs onsite America's own micro Tianamen. Private sector, of course.
  - fuzztester 2y ago
    America's private sector is to its government as China's government is to its private sector. If you know what I mean ...

Certain there are others. Naomi Klein wrote about Ford paying to have its own Argentine employees murdered during the junta in the 70s, apparently to prevent unionization.

stavros 2y ago

What the hell kind of corporate exec goes "well, I guess I have to get them murdered, there's shareholder value to protect"?

wmf 2y ago
The kind that rises to the top. Time to watch Michael Clayton again.
krapp 2y ago
The typical kind. Killing strikers and unionists used to be a standard mode of American capitalism. Luckily no American corporation would ever murder someone who threatened their financial interests, nowadays.
ToucanLoucan 2y ago
Are you aware of the history of labor organizing in the states...? Not meant as an attack, I'm genuinely wondering. Strike breakers routinely killed people, destroyed property, cars would have sticks of dynamite chucked into them, and famously the coal miners blew up a fucking bridge. I think people tend to think that modern politics is how all politics was done and... nah. Before we had more robust judicial, communication, and surveillance systems, if someone threatened your business and you were wealthy enough, having them killed and dumped in a bog was 100% on the fuckin table.
- lesuorac 2y ago
  Even recent times aren't that great either. With eBay heavily implying they were going to murder a reviewer over bad reviews. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60073359/steiner-v-ebay-inc/?page=1 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60073359/steiner-v-ebay...
- stavros 2y ago
  > Are you aware of the history of labor organizing in the states...? No, I'm not. It sounds like a very interesting read, though. I don't think those things tended to happen over here, beyond mafia-style illegal dealings.
  - pjc50 2y ago
    Americans get taught a weird fictionalized version of their own history where political violence ended at the Civil War, conveniently overlooking anything that might be awkward to explain in the present day. Little things like General MacArthur opening fire on veterans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army ; MOVE bombings; Tulsa massacre https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/12/tulsa-supreme-court-lawsuit https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/12/tuls... ; the general high levels of violence in the civil rights era; lynching, and so on. The Pinkerton detective agency has a long history of being the go-to contractors for corporate violence against labour organisers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_(detective_agency) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_(detective_agency)
    - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
      One of my favorite stories from the Civil Rights era is the fact that California created the template for modern gun control as a direct response to the Black Panthers policing the Police with open-carried guns (just like, standing there, armed, while police did their jobs in Black communities), and the white establishment at the time absolutely shit bricks at the notion of the negro having firepower and demanded it be regulated by none other than Governor Ronald Reagan.
fuzztester 2y ago
This kind of corporate exec, for example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40665489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40665489

fuzztester 2y ago

Also this, right in the USA: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Overpass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Overpass Mentioned here too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

pjc50 2y ago
> In the aftermath, Ford Motor Company attempted to control the narrative by destroying news photographs onsite America's own micro Tianamen. Private sector, of course.
- fuzztester 2y ago
  America's private sector is to its government as China's government is to its private sector. If you know what I mean ...