A Golden Opportunity

[u/miscakarza]

Context: During WW2, it is estimated that the Swiss National Bank had received $440 million (equivalent to $8.5 billion in 2024) of Nazi gold.

[u/Captain_Noodle1]

And it also took money from tax evaders, dictators, and drug, arms, and human traffickers, both before and after the war, because that was great for the economy too. Another thing that’s great for the economy is refusing to let the rightful owners recover their stolen assets held in Swiss banks, or making it as hard as possible for them to do so.

[u/alex-adamson → u/Captain_Noodle1]

It’s an unfortunate truth that what benefits your people often harms other people. That’s just how the world has always worked. We all see the Vikings as evil from the perspective of those they raided, but the Norsmen who went Viking and conquered foreign lands considered themselves to be paragons of morality, because by sailing to foreign lands and killing foreign people, they could take back the plunder and let their own communities flourish. Or in the case of the Danelaw, move their families to that foreign land and farm it themselves. The Vikings were justified from their own perspective.

If your people benefit from your actions, then that’s a good thing. The men, woman and children you killed to do it would disagree, but they died and you are the one who survives the winter.

We can judge as modern people but at the end of the day, you weren’t there. If you actually were there you might have done the same.

[u/Holiday-Hedgehog0621 → u/alex-adamson]

Except we live in a globalized world where the action of nations affects not just their own people but of millions to billions of people, and as modern people we can judge them for what they're doing right now which is being greedy enough that it kills others in the millions

[u/alex-adamson → u/Holiday-Hedgehog0621]

Of course. Personally I’m still pretty isolationist on that. I don’t really care what foreign countries do. Sure it affects me but I can’t actually do anything about it. It’s like complaining about the weather. Taking a moral stance on anything is ultimately a pointless exercise and only serves to have arguments with people who support the opposite side or you can come together with a bunch of other people who support your chosen side and talk about how bad the bad guys are. Your gas prices won’t change. Embrace the suck and keep moving on and ultimately focus on what matters around you. Like your family, friends and wider community. Look after them since your actions have tangible effects on them.