The War on ‘Woke Capitalism’

I do feel a shift in the way people talk about things. There used to be a lot of class-based commentary. Stuff like Walmart abusing workers, CEO pay, Chinese sweatshops, fight for $15. I can't remember the last time I heard about Walmart underpaying their workers and placing them on welfare so the taxpayers can subsidize their low prices. Did this all get fixed?

It seems like it's all gone now. It's all now about identity politics. It's okay to work your employees to death and have them piss in buckets so they can pick 1,000 Prime orders per hour as long as you say the right things. How much does a Black Lives Matter tweet cost? How much does it cost to throw up a couple of rainbow flags? It's a pittance. But by doing this you can look progressive without actually doing anything progressive. "Sorry, we can't pay you a living wage but we will respect your pronouns!"

These things are very good but I feel something has been lost. If forced to choose I'd much rather have a world where unskilled workers don't have to live hand to mouth than one where we get ruthless free markets with rainbow flags. Every time I see a self-proclaimed progressive talk about the inviolable right of private companies to do whatever the hell they want I throw up a little in my mouth. Private companies should have no rights, only privileges.

Full text: https://archive.is/0Vn2l

This article is a dishonest portrayal of the issue. Pushback against ESG is primarily motivated by D&I initiatives and indoctrination seminars which explicitly and overtly require discrimination against straight white males. But the topic is such a sacred cow that I'm not sure if the author has actually thought critically about the issue, not that an honest portrayal would have even made it past editors.

When headlines report record low faith in media, this is why. Opposition to woke politics is almost never given an accurate and fair analysis.

Intelligent critique is good for almost everything. But the critiques offered seem like it's just USA Republicans doing some scare-mongering and moral panicing to raise funds.

I guess there's a few europeans making critiques, but there's a distinctly American bias in the companies assumed to be "woke" (Disney, Ben & Jerry's, Meta), and even the graphics are labeled with "Republicans have rapidly lost faith in big companies".

Ironically, Vivek Ramaswamy, a conservative entrepreneur and author, is quoted as saying '“a small group of effective corporate elites” begins to “decide what’s right for society at large”'. The irony here is that Republicans are the minority party by voter count, and only hold any power in the USA because of anti-democratic practices like the US Senate, Electoral College, etc. Yes, it's better to let a small group of conservative political elites decide right now, because the market has turned against conservative goals. Says the party of the free market. Irony in its most ferrous form.