Are you not getting emails about systemic racism from Best Buy, Pampers and the Hard Rock Cafe? Have the CEOs of Target and HP failed to respond to the latest racial controversy in Memphis?
What is going on with corporations anyway demands Axios.
Companies that were once very vocal on human rights and societal issues have held statements close to the vest or stayed completely silent following the recent streak of tragedies in America.
Why it matters: This is a major shift in the way leaders communicate during heightened moments of tragedy and crisis. Most have now opted for internal correspondence in place of public pledges — and some are saying nothing at all.
Actually, the major shift was having corporations take very vocal partisan positions on political matters entirely outside their purview. This would be a return to sanity, normalcy, and decency.
In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, executives from Dell Technologies, Merck and Ford made statements slamming police brutality.
However, when asked how the leaders were responding to the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols, reps from all three companies declined to comment.
The CEO Action Network — which consists of 2,400 CEOs who publicly “pledged to create more inclusive cultures while not being afraid of having difficult conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion” — is also a “no comment.”
2020 was a hell-year and a perfect storm of cultural madness. We’re not out of it yet, but some of the fever has broken. And impassioned fanaticism, the lifeblood of the Left, really can’t be sustained by most normal people for any length of time. That’s one thing the Left doesn’t understand.
Corporate America especially goes through trends. The racial madness might be getting a reboot, but for now companies are dealing with other challenges.
Fatigue. “There’s a sensitivity to not making a statement every time something happens,” Paul Washington, executive director of the ESG Center at the Conference Board told Emily. Companies don’t want to get into the routine for fear of being asked, ‘Why did you say something about that, but not this?’
Also, Gov. DeSantis made an example out of Disney in a way that made it clear that there’s a price to pay. Other Republicans have been sending backlash signals as well. In a challenging economy, even the big FAANG gang feels less confident about waging a culture war. Never mind companies that are federal contractors and facing the possibility of a DeSantis administration that operates by the same rules as Florida. Even if that doesn’t happen, some state GOP leaders have been punishing corporations.
ESG pushback. Recent pushback from activist investors and legislators at the state and federal levels have caused businesses to become more skittish on ESG initiatives.
Also, a lot of the fervor has been diverted into ESG investments which corporations feel more comfortable with.
But finally…
Plus, many tech companies have gutted their DEI departments in response to economic strains.
Woke and broke.
Stakeholder capitalism will make shareholders obsolete. Governments will partner with corporations for the “greater health and happiness” of the global citizenry.
We need an alternative economy. Dinesh D’Souza commented recently about the need to begin with a list of patriotic American businesses to replace Amazon, Walmart, etc. ad nauseam. I would rather pay more now than eat bugs later.
Excellent points, impassioned fanaticism is indeed hard to sustain.
If I remember, the Commies came close to mounting a revolution around the end of the Russo-Japanese War, maybe somewhere in the 1906-1908 range. When it failed, they had to go to ground and wait, until the disastrous fiasco and defeat of Russia in WW1 made the revolution possible.
Corporations will back off strategically but they aren’t leaders in the field. They get their recruits from the ideological boot camps that are higher education.
The purple tranny M&M who self identifies as a Skittle. That’s funny.
I have two big bags of M&Ms but no purple ones. I’m not buying any more. Now I can’t even eat candy without trannies literally being shoved down my throat. I don’t understand this sudden push to normalize trannies by subjecting us to them at every turn. Why the sudden fascination with those freaks? First it was the alphabet people which is bad enough but trannies are beyond the pale.
They’re probably trying to set us up to normalize pedophiles.
Jeff, I read they eliminated the gay and transgender M&M’s but you still have to wonder who is chocolate and who is peanut! (Maybe you’re not old enough to remember the ads from yesteryear- that seem so innocent now).
We cannot have you denied when you crave candy!
Well, that’s good news! I love my peanut butter, caramel, crunchy cookie and one other variety I can’t remember M&Ms!
I’m 58 so I do remember those commercials. My girlfriend likes the peanut ones so I bought a bag. I mix them with the caramel ones so I can eat them too, and she doesn’t complain. She likes them that way too. It’s nice to get along. 🙂
As all Leftists know change works its way in from the fringes. If your only issue is too much too fast then you’ve already conceded the initiative. Then it’s just a matter of what’s settled like the science.