From the shoes you wear to the ice cream you eat, politics has found a way to sneak into some of the most mundane aspects of our lives. The new trend of “Woke Capital,” where firms are actively promoting social justice causes, has had many free-marketers scratching their heads at how corporate America has hopped on board this wave of Progressivism.
Ben & Jerry’s has made it a point to virtue signal about the latest leftist hobby horses. It made sure to showcase its progressive credentials through its launch of a resistance-themed ice cream flavor and even went as far as to endorse AOC’s New Green New Deal, and voice support for BLM, and rioting.
Woke Capital was also on full display when Nike decided to pull its Betsy Ross flag line of shoes thanks to pressure from former NFL player Colin Kaepernick who viewed the Betsy Ross flag as an image of racism.
After decades of NASSCAR drivers literally turning left for hours every race day, the governing body has become the latest to take a left turn themselves by banning the confederate flag to bowing to BLM and Antifa.
A similar trend of political activism gone corporate has popped up when dealing with wedge issues such as gun rights. Companies such as Salesforce stopped doing business with organizations that sell semi-automatic rifles and firearms accessories. Dicks Sporting Goods stopped selling guns to customers under 21 and eventually eliminated guns from their stores.
Walmart, the biggest retail store in America will no longer sell so-called assault-rifle ammunition, handgun ammunition, or handguns. In addition they have “politely” asked customers to no longer open carry in the store. They were joined by CVS, Walgreens, Wegmans and Kroger.
Ever since Dick’s Sporting Goods and banks such as Citigroup made business decisions in line with the mainstream media’s push for gun control, some opponents of gun control have debated whether private companies pose a bigger threat to gun rights than government does.
It’s not just gun owners who are experiencing limited shopping choices. Gun rights lobbies like the National Rifle Association have faced opposition from corporate America. Rental car companies like Avis and software companies like Symantec have severed their affiliate programs with the NRA in the wake of the Parkland shooting hysteria.
Most people don’t recognize the implicit threats of state force but Corporations do and they are falling all over themselves to beat the left to the punch when it comes to disassociating with politically maligned groups like gun owners, conservatives and Christians.
And for those who haven’t been bitten by the “woke bug” the left is more than happy to drop veiled threats to destroy their livelihood.
These “woke” corporations provide cover for control-freak politicians and left-wing loons. Instead of having to pass laws for which they can be held accountable during election season, they can just pressure and dare I say, even extort corporations into carrying out their agenda. No controversial laws or regulations necessary — at least for the time being.
What we now see is a corporate leadership that is culturally receptive to social justice culture and a more apathetic consumer base that does not care about the politics of these companies enough to actually revolt against them via the pocketbook.
No matter what the naysayers claim, political correctness and state-linguistic complex are tools of the political establishment in its campaign to legitimize political universalism. Once businesses embrace state-linguistic complex hook, line and sinker, this same behavior will then permeate to other parts of society. The political realm will eventually be one of the last sectors to embrace these trends. This has become apparent with the Democrat controlled Congress, which has busied itself proposing and introducing a slew of gun control bills ranging from universal gun registration to red flag gun confiscation schemes.
Source: Are Gun Rights the Next Target of Corporate Censorship, SGT Report; Government Won’t Save Us From “Woke” Corporations, Mises Institute
