American Consequences - November 2020

CORPORATE CULTUREWARS

He stated if anyone within the corporation took issue with not talking about politics or having a debate around the water cooler (or online Slack, which is the 2020 water cooler these days), they could take a severance... a much better option than many hidden conservatives or libertarians had while they were being name-called and attacked at Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Of the more than 1,100 Coinbase employees, about 60 took the buyout option. something... After all, we have consistently learned this year that “silence is violence.” The Atlantic wondered if Coinbase could eliminate ostracizing its employees and customers, then maybe it would be wise for other Bay Area influencers to follow in Armstrong’s footsteps. After all, is it not a good thing for employees Perhaps companies are afraid to not say to get along and not despise their fellow colleagues in these toxic times we live in? Fifty years ago, Los Angeles had the first-ever approved Pride Parade in the entire world. It was a major milestone for the gay movement, which had previously held marches but never official parades. Now companies around the world (although not in dictatorial regimes like North Korea or Iran) are proud (pun intended) to sponsor such events. Members of the LGBTQ+ community, like openly gay actor Keiynan Lonsdale and transgender star Laverne Cox, are being featured in ads and at

awards shows. We no longer live in an era of the American minority being punished for the way they choose to live their lives – a step in the right direction. For almost three decades, major corporations like American Airlines and Disney would sponsor events for the gay population and even provide discounts and deals for them to vacation. Some have speculated this was due to the demographic being big spenders and more inclined to be “world travelers with a taste of the finer things or culture,” a thought that now, in today’s world of social-justice warriors, would make those same companies cringe and tweet in disgust at the assumption of group behavior. Perhaps companies are afraid to not say something... After all, we have consistently learned this year that “silence is violence.” And a 2017 study showed that there is a majority of the buying demographic who want to know where a company stands on the issues they care about. Oftentimes those companies go too far in their stretch to stay relevant in the woke culture of 2020. Take for example Nabisco – the company that sells America’s tasty snack that children and adults everywhere like to separate and dip in milk decided to wade into pronoun commentary. It went so far as to tell its Twitter followers to check out their Instagram story for a how-to guide on referring to people by their proper pronouns. Due to the growing strength of a loud (albeit seemingly small) group of social-justice

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November 2020

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