Macbeth connection- Ethan Pinkes

By: The same themes of hunger for power and the lying and scheming to achieve that power that are present in Macbeth can also be seen in the HardNOx episode of the Netflix original series Dirty Money. This series examines six cases of corporate avarice, fraud, and corruption on a global economic scale. In HardNOx, the first episode, the director, Alex Gibney, investigates the Volkswagen emissions scandal regarding their "clean" diesel cars. In 2014 a non-profit group, the International Council on Clean Transportation,  released a report that showed, without identifying the cars as Volkswagen, that actual emissions of the vehicles they tested were, on average, 40 times dirtier then the manufacturer said they were. This is significant because when these cars were tested while stationary, at emissions testing centers, they always met the limits that the manufacturer said they would meet: the cars were designed to cheat the system and allowed VW to sell cheaper cars that they could claim were environmentally friendly. Shortly after this report was issued Volkswagen was notified that regulators (EPA, California Air Resources Board) were now aware of the discrepancy and had begun investigations. Volkswagen spent the next year claiming there was an issue with the testing machinery of these regulatory agencies They were, in effect, misleading the regulatory agencies so that they could sell more cars and make their cheating system more effective. Email documents showed that executives knew this cheating was going on and made a conscious decision to keep doing it to fulfill their goal of becoming the largest car company in the world. In an additional effort to hoodwink the public, Volkswagen attempted to hire scientists to develop studies that would show that diesel exhaust, specifically nitrogen oxide or NOx, was good for humans. They initially proposed running these tests on human subjects, but since Volkswagen (founded by Hitler) has an uncomfortable past regarding the gassing of human subjects, they decided to run these tests on primates instead. NOx is a pernicious pollutant to humans and can cause premature death, asthma, cancer and other respiratory diseases. One journalist stated that, in Germany alone, emissions from VW diesel cars would cause 10,000 premature deaths per year. Volkswagen cheated the system and kept going down that path despite the fact that regulators alerted the company that they knew what was going on. This "defeat device" that VW used is an example of executives doing whatever they can, even if it is unethical and illegal, to increase their profits and power.

The main character in Shakespeare's Macbeth engages in a similar descent into a web of lies for similar motives: to advance his own self-interest and consolidate more power. Macbeth, acting on the prophecy he receives from three witches in a field, goes down a path of murder, covered up with lies, starting with the reigning king. He is told he will be king and, to bring this about, conspires with his wife to murder Duncan. To cover up this murder he kills two guards that he falsely claims were Duncan's murderers. Learning from the prophecy that his friend Banquo will be the father of many kings, Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo and his son Fleance so that Macbeth will have a legacy and thus more power. At this point in the play Macbeth is now planning to kill Macduff's family because Macduff has fled to England to assist in an invasion of Scotland with Malcom, Duncan's son.

The corporate culture at VW was one based around gaining more money and power in the car community. VW even went to criminal lengths to achieve those goals and once regulators and investigators were on to them they continued to be deceptive to try to evade consequences. Macbeth, similar to the executives in the VW scandal, finds the power addictive and once he kills Duncan and gets the snowball rolling he can't stop. So far VW ended up paying 25 billion dollars in fines and had to buy back 11 million cars and some executives went to jail. It will be interesting to see if Macbeth has to suffer the consequences of his actions.