By draping itself in the finery of political activism, the corporatist class consolidates political power, corrupts democracy and distracts from its real functions.
Mr. Greenwald, some corporations and even small businesses in parts of Canada are now forcing employees to download GPS software so the employer can track every movement of those employees. They are fired when they refuse to comply. One fired employee is going to court to fight it, but she is on her own. We are heading for a very scary time and as you note it is not merely in one country. They pretend to be woke, but it is mostly minorities who are at the receiving end of this.
Its ironic that those cheering loudest for corporations to assume state powers are also those who constantly decry everything they don't like as "fascism". An old quote comes to mind:
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." Benito Mussolini
The British spy agencies are so bad that they pushed through a law that gives total immunity to their agents to commit crimes - including murder, torture and sexual assaults!! At least the CIA has the humility to pretend they are subject to the law.
1. Businesses do this as a form of Woke Insurance. Companies publicly and financially support social liberal policy (racial justice, climate change, gay marriage) to buy allies against economic policies(healthcare, education, paid leave, unionization, etc.) which might make it harder for them to make money.
2. Further along the lines of 1: You can decry racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and Lord knows what else, and be greeted with hosannas by elites and gatekeepers.
You can query how many LGTBQXYZPDQ can dance on the head of a pin and get tenure, you can freely denounce an opponent as "literal Hitler" because s/he insists that there are only 24 genders, when everyone knows that there are 26 genders plus genders not yet discovered, and you will get gushing articles about you published in glossy magazines.
The elites will discuss all these things freely, with anyone who can be made to listen.
The elites will not discuss class, or anything else that questions how the pie gets sliced.
When the Washington Post went from calling for John Brennan's prosecution to hailing him as a hero, something fundamental changed. Clearly the Left has realized its only path to maintaining power is the Woke corporate media/entertainment complex. Logic and reason are no longer welcome, as those two concepts carry no emotional weight.
It cracks me up that the Woke crowd think they're somehow bending Big Business to their knee: Wall Street is catering to the Woke for the same reason Wall Street aims its advertising dollars at the "all important" 18-34 demographic: Not because they have more disposable income (they don't), but because they're susceptible to advertising.
Wall Street now is bleating out "woke" tweets and p.r. pieces and issuing communiques and such because the Woke crowd actually believes that nonsense - as Glenn points out.
Coca-Cola required ID in 2020 shareholder meeting, but slams Georgia for voter ID law. Republican should launch a large scale campaign boycotting all those hypocrite big corporations. Republican should learn from CCP (sad they have to learn from CCP), using their economic force to make sure those hypocritic big corporations stop talking nonsense anymore.
Glenn has provided some compelling evidence that "woke" culture is so easily manipulated - since it only looks at form, rather than substance - the Oligarchy has figured out that all it needs to do is "wave the rainbow flag" (or mouth the proper platitudes) and they will be forgiven literally every meaningful moral or legal transgression. If I were them, I'd do it too! Such a bargain. It is the ultimate triumph of form over substance.
If the CIA had only known this back in the 70s, they could have avoided all that fuss with the Church Commission.
Ridicule is our best possible defense against this sort of absurdity. Thanks, Glenn. Its why I'm here.
On a whiny note...I’m so sick of getting emails from companies proclaiming their woke ‘cause of the moment’. I can barely keep up with my work and personal emails and they use my private information to declare their wokeness? I consider it a breach of privacy to use my email for these woke stands. I have deleted apps and stopped subscriptions over it. All I can do is vote with my wallet and take my eyeballs away from them. Not much of a stand but I’m busy trying to make a living!
As a conservative, Glenn helped me discover some of my blind spots, which I had to honestly acknowledge. I do hope that he is similarly getting through to Liberals who have unknowingly crossed the road into supporting this brutal corporate and big tech Leftism.
If you surrender everything to the government and give it total power to plan the whole economy, this will not guarantee your economic security, but it will guarantee the descent of the entire nation to a level of miserable poverty--as the practical results of every totalitarian economy, communist or fascist, have demonstrated.
Having worked in Silicon Valley, the root of this is "Employee Resource Groups". I think they were intended to be "clubs" for networking and commiserating, but have turned into a different beast. There are people that I am pretty sure do more work for their resource group than their actual job. It seems like a vehicle to try to pacify the woke within companies, but not sure it's working. It turns company meetings into virtual signaling events.
The strange part is that these groups seem most hell bent on having some sort of visual representation at the exec level. At the same time they don't pay any attention to the lower class workers within the company, usually contractors.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next economic downturn. Usually there is less room for non-productive work, and focus is on cost...which sends jobs to less diverse areas in Asia and Eastern Europe
The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time.
-Ayn Rand
Mr. Greenwald, some corporations and even small businesses in parts of Canada are now forcing employees to download GPS software so the employer can track every movement of those employees. They are fired when they refuse to comply. One fired employee is going to court to fight it, but she is on her own. We are heading for a very scary time and as you note it is not merely in one country. They pretend to be woke, but it is mostly minorities who are at the receiving end of this.
Its ironic that those cheering loudest for corporations to assume state powers are also those who constantly decry everything they don't like as "fascism". An old quote comes to mind:
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." Benito Mussolini
The British spy agencies are so bad that they pushed through a law that gives total immunity to their agents to commit crimes - including murder, torture and sexual assaults!! At least the CIA has the humility to pretend they are subject to the law.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/04/mi5-sought-immunity-for-agents-criminal-acts-tribunal-told
Some thoughts:
1. Businesses do this as a form of Woke Insurance. Companies publicly and financially support social liberal policy (racial justice, climate change, gay marriage) to buy allies against economic policies(healthcare, education, paid leave, unionization, etc.) which might make it harder for them to make money.
2. Further along the lines of 1: You can decry racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and Lord knows what else, and be greeted with hosannas by elites and gatekeepers.
You can query how many LGTBQXYZPDQ can dance on the head of a pin and get tenure, you can freely denounce an opponent as "literal Hitler" because s/he insists that there are only 24 genders, when everyone knows that there are 26 genders plus genders not yet discovered, and you will get gushing articles about you published in glossy magazines.
The elites will discuss all these things freely, with anyone who can be made to listen.
The elites will not discuss class, or anything else that questions how the pie gets sliced.
When the Washington Post went from calling for John Brennan's prosecution to hailing him as a hero, something fundamental changed. Clearly the Left has realized its only path to maintaining power is the Woke corporate media/entertainment complex. Logic and reason are no longer welcome, as those two concepts carry no emotional weight.
It cracks me up that the Woke crowd think they're somehow bending Big Business to their knee: Wall Street is catering to the Woke for the same reason Wall Street aims its advertising dollars at the "all important" 18-34 demographic: Not because they have more disposable income (they don't), but because they're susceptible to advertising.
Wall Street now is bleating out "woke" tweets and p.r. pieces and issuing communiques and such because the Woke crowd actually believes that nonsense - as Glenn points out.
Woke imperialism, intersectional surveillance state, diverse oligarchy, inclusive corporatism...
Coca-Cola required ID in 2020 shareholder meeting, but slams Georgia for voter ID law. Republican should launch a large scale campaign boycotting all those hypocrite big corporations. Republican should learn from CCP (sad they have to learn from CCP), using their economic force to make sure those hypocritic big corporations stop talking nonsense anymore.
Glenn has provided some compelling evidence that "woke" culture is so easily manipulated - since it only looks at form, rather than substance - the Oligarchy has figured out that all it needs to do is "wave the rainbow flag" (or mouth the proper platitudes) and they will be forgiven literally every meaningful moral or legal transgression. If I were them, I'd do it too! Such a bargain. It is the ultimate triumph of form over substance.
If the CIA had only known this back in the 70s, they could have avoided all that fuss with the Church Commission.
Ridicule is our best possible defense against this sort of absurdity. Thanks, Glenn. Its why I'm here.
Woke-washing
I never liked corporations even when I was a Bush guy. Now, it's kind of fun looking for alternatives. Coke is out of my life. My teeth are grateful.
On a whiny note...I’m so sick of getting emails from companies proclaiming their woke ‘cause of the moment’. I can barely keep up with my work and personal emails and they use my private information to declare their wokeness? I consider it a breach of privacy to use my email for these woke stands. I have deleted apps and stopped subscriptions over it. All I can do is vote with my wallet and take my eyeballs away from them. Not much of a stand but I’m busy trying to make a living!
Keep speaking truth to power Glenn! Thank you for your work!
As a conservative, Glenn helped me discover some of my blind spots, which I had to honestly acknowledge. I do hope that he is similarly getting through to Liberals who have unknowingly crossed the road into supporting this brutal corporate and big tech Leftism.
If you surrender everything to the government and give it total power to plan the whole economy, this will not guarantee your economic security, but it will guarantee the descent of the entire nation to a level of miserable poverty--as the practical results of every totalitarian economy, communist or fascist, have demonstrated.
-Ayn Rand
Having worked in Silicon Valley, the root of this is "Employee Resource Groups". I think they were intended to be "clubs" for networking and commiserating, but have turned into a different beast. There are people that I am pretty sure do more work for their resource group than their actual job. It seems like a vehicle to try to pacify the woke within companies, but not sure it's working. It turns company meetings into virtual signaling events.
The strange part is that these groups seem most hell bent on having some sort of visual representation at the exec level. At the same time they don't pay any attention to the lower class workers within the company, usually contractors.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next economic downturn. Usually there is less room for non-productive work, and focus is on cost...which sends jobs to less diverse areas in Asia and Eastern Europe