A recent survey from The Trafalgar Group and Convention of States Action polled voters on whether companies should be politically involved. Participants were asked if they would “be more or less likely to do business with a company that stayed politically neutral and tolerated viewpoints of employees and customers across the board?”
Over 78 percent of voters said they would be more likely to do business with companies that stayed out of politics and didn’t engage in progressive, woke initiatives. The results indicate that almost 60 percent of voters said they would be “much more likely.” Only 10 percent of voters said they would be more likely to do business with companies that insert themselves into political causes, while 11 percent said they were unsure.
This survey proves that Americans want corporations to focus on providing quality products or services. Andrew Crapuchuttes, the CEO of RedBalloon, a service that connects employees with Job seekers, reiterated this conclusion claiming Americans oppose companies with political biases. “It used to be that Hollywood was the primary promoter of leftist ideology in America,” Crapuchuttes said. “But, the frontlines of the culture war have advanced into the workplace, and many companies believe they are the vanguard of the left and must push woke values on their employees and customers, even though most Americans disagree,” Crapuchuttes continued.
The Walt Disney Corporation might be the most prominent example of companies engaging in politics. Last year, Disney vehemently opposed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ bill to provide greater parental rights in the Florida public education system. Disney vowed to oppose and fight the bill with activism since it did not align with its woke worldview. However, this did not work as intended for the company as DeSantis swiftly moved to punish Disney for inserting itself into the political process. DeSantis vowed to end the special tax district that Disney had the privilege of governing for Disney World outside of Orlando, Florida. This would have significant financial repercussions. Last month, DeSantis unveiled plans for the legislation that would end the financial privileges:
“No bond or other instrument of indebtedness previously issued by the district or any district project financed by bonds or other instruments of indebtedness shall be affected by this act. The provisions of this act shall not affect existing contracts that the district entered into prior to the effective date of this act. The provisions of this act shall be liberally construed in favor of avoiding any events of default or breach under outstanding bonds or other instruments of indebtedness or the district’s existing and legally valid contracts.”
Until recently, the main focus of a business was to achieve an entirely objective goal: reach profitability or provide returns for the shareholders (if it is a publicly-traded company). For one reason or another, companies have decided that this is insufficient, and woke virtue signaling should be incorporated into business decisions. In many cases, it leads to a deterioration of business performance, as demonstrated by Disney. Aside from fighting political battles with the state of Florida, the company has seen its stock price plummet and dismal performance from its entertainment offerings that have political messaging. Go woke, go broke!
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