• cm0002@lemmy.worldOP
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    13 days ago

    The Confederacy’s main goal was to keep the right to own slaves (Ofc now racist MAGAts will claim it was about “sTaTEs RiGhTs”) because slave labor was (and still is, unfortunately) the cheapest labor around and having a drive to get the cheapest most exploited labor you can is what happens with capitalism.

    Nazi Germany’s rise was fueled by widespread misery and discontent among the German populace because of Capitalism-based ‘war reparations’ like the burdensome payments mandated by the Treaty of Versailles, which crippled the economy and fueled resentment that the Nazis could exploit. Had it not been for capitalism, there might have been little desire to ruthlessly pursue monetary compensation like that and WWII might not have ever happened.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      The Confederacy’s main goal was to keep the right to own slaves (Ofc now racist MAGAts will claim it was about “sTaTEs RiGhTs”) because slave labor was (and still is, unfortunately) the cheapest labor around and having a drive to get the cheapest most exploited labor you can is what happens with capitalism.

      This may come as a shock, but slave labor predates capitalism, and the capitalist development of the Northern states quite explicitly undermined the viability of slave labor (hence the rebellion).

      Nazi Germany’s rise was fueled by widespread misery and discontent among the German populace because of Capitalism-based ‘war reparations’ like the burdensome payments mandated by the Treaty of Versailles, which crippled the economy and fueled resentment that the Nazis could exploit.

      No. This is a common misconception - the economic effects of the Treaty of Versailles were minimal on Germany, with even the famed short period of hyperinflation coming from an attempt by the German government to wiggle out of paying in a legalistic sense (it, obviously, did not work). The Nazis rose because they exploited the sense of nationalist grievance which the monarchist right had cultivated in response to losing WW1 and losing their precious monarchy with it. The German economy was not in particularly dire straits compared to other European nations of the time - but only Germany was nursing wounded pride over their ‘glorious’ empire being cut to ribbons.

      Had it not been for capitalism, there might have been little desire to ruthlessly pursue monetary compensation like that and WWII might not have ever happened.

      … capitalism is certainly not the cause for the Entente demanding war reparations, man.

      • cm0002@lemmy.worldOP
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        13 days ago

        Nazi Germany’s rise was spurred by multiple things lole wounded national pride, resentment over the loss of their monarchy, and a general feeling of “betrayal” following World War I. But calling the Treaty of Versailles’ economic impact minimal is a great understatement. The burdensome capitalism-based war reparations and Germany’s reliance on foreign loans created cycles of hyperinflation, unemployment, and economic instability, which were in turn exploited by Nazi propaganda promising revival and strength (heh side note, sound familiar? Hmm). While the reasons for their rise are complex between nationalism, political upheaval, and social tension, the economic hardship def played a significant role in amplifying that discontent. It’s entirely possible that WWII could have still occurred without like a factor or 2, which is why I said it might not have happened without the relentless focus on extracting monetary compensation for the war

        As far as slaves, yes that’s true, it did exist before. But Capitalism definitely continued to drive it longer than when it would have come to a natural end

        • marcos@lemmy.world
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          12 days ago

          Capitalism was the one main force pushing for the end of slavery at the Contemporaneous Age. It’s basically the reason most of the world doesn’t have it anymore.

          (And yeah, I mean modern Capitalism, that appeared after the Industrial Revolution.)

          • orrk@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            Capitalism was the one main force pushing for the end of slavery at the Contemporaneous Age. It’s basically the reason most of the world doesn’t have it anymore.

            nope, ironically it wasn’t the capitalist institutions, but rather religious institutions that called for an end to slavery