The woke capitalism thread [Get woke, go broke]

[Nordwand]

Probably just as well that we can't see the second page, as that probably gives suggestions on how to bring the Wokeiverse into being.

 

[Dr Mantis Toboggan]

it's good, unless you understand finances

really? That last paragraph is total nonsense. Corporations don't usually get any investment dollars. They borrow money from banks and if they are in worse shape they issue bonds and if they are in really, really bad shape only then they get investment dollars by issuing new shares (which lowers the stock price even further)

If you really think it's true, show me which of these big woke corporations got investments (and how).

A massive portion of the equity in these companies is owned by ETFs and other similar funds, which then sell shares of the fund to investors--in other words a hedge fund or similar holding company will buy a massive number of shares of different companies, consolidate them into a fund, and sell shares of that fund to investors (usually individuals or pension funds), the idea being that it's an easy way for smaller investors to diversify their portfolio and invest in exposure to a wide variety of products (ETFs can be designed to mimick the performance of the market as a whole, a specifical sector like tech or energy, and you can even get ETFs for commodities, fixed income, a few companies are trying to roll out crypto ETFs, etc). Blackrock is one of the biggest if not the biggest ETF issuers, the other major issuers mostly have the same ESG agenda as Blackrock does. As a result, Blackrock and similar funds either directly own or manage a huge portion of the outstanding equity for virtually all publicly traded companies in the US.

So let's say Company X is listed in several Blackrock ETFs, maybe 40% of their publicly traded shares are managed by Blackrock, but they aren't playing along with the ESG agenda....Blackrock can decide to dump Company X from all ETFs they manage, meaning individuals who own shares in those ETFs will automatically be divested from them. That company's stock price will tank as a result.

 

[Pilgrim of the East]

A massive portion of the equity in these companies is owned by ETFs and other similar funds, which then sell shares of the fund to investors--in other words a hedge fund or similar holding company will buy a massive number of shares of different companies, consolidate them into a fund, and sell shares of that fund to investors (usually individuals or pension funds), the idea being that it's an easy way for smaller investors to diversify their portfolio and invest in exposure to a wide variety of products (ETFs can be designed to mimick the performance of the market as a whole, a specifical sector like tech or energy, and you can even get ETFs for commodities, fixed income, a few companies are trying to roll out crypto ETFs, etc). Blackrock is one of the biggest if not the biggest ETF issuers, the other major issuers mostly have the same ESG agenda as Blackrock does. As a result, Blackrock and similar funds either directly own or manage a huge portion of the outstanding equity for virtually all publicly traded companies in the US.

So let's say Company X is listed in several Blackrock ETFs, maybe 40% of their publicly traded shares are managed by Blackrock, but they aren't playing along with the ESG agenda....Blackrock can decide to dump Company X from all ETFs they manage, meaning individuals who own shares in those ETFs will automatically be divested from them. That company's stock price will tank as a result.

I'm pretty sure that majority of money invested in Blackrock ETFs are in the ones that are tied to the index (mostly S&P *** and MSCI World), that Blackrock can't really influence.

 

[Stoyan]

Get woke, ... get rich from brainwashed woke consumers?

 

[WanderingProtagonist]

Unfortunately there will be elections into House of Commons and surveys show that a lot of young people are going to vote for this globohomo party, bringing the western liberal progressive politics into more of a mainstream. I hate to say it, but the West is the nest of trends and young people here get easily manipulated with all of this.

I know I was too, but I snapped out of it, Glory to God

Still it frustrates me, I wonder how will my country look like 10 years from now on...

I wish I could just leave it at this point, but then again I have no idea where else to go to be honest with you.

 

[WanderingProtagonist]

Someone posted not too long ago that these corporations just don't give a hoot about being woke and that its combination the popularity of the woke, at least among left wing or liberals, and for many of these companies the sheer size of their market presence and dominance of markets and channels that will invariably keep these companies going. I don't think this is the right way to look at this.

What I think we may be miscalculating is the grip this woke has on our society.

America definitely has an obsession with money. But, greed and ego are nothing new to humans. I think its been demonstrably proven that cultish beliefs and radical ideology trumps the desire for money. We've seen this same effect in other countries throughout history. America for all its bling is no different. Because you can't argue with the numbers. The entertainment industry is in decline. Professional sports is losing fans. And, even major brands have seen declines. These declines are not trivial. Double digit declines year over year are the norm.

I think what we're misunderstanding is the dynamic of how wokeness invades institutions and takes them over. One of the most revealing documentaries of this century is without a doubt "Hunted Man - Brett Weinstein". You can see it on Youtube. I find myself re-watching this documentary and listen to Brett's podcast "Darkhorse Podcast" frequently. Quoting Brett from the documentary he said this is coming to the corporations.

The woke does not care about money or the bottom line or shareholder interests. Coke, United Airlines, MLB, NFL, Gillette etc are vessels for their ideology and nothing more. And once you get one of these woke people into an institution its only a matter of time until they take it down. Again, watch the documentary I referenced above to see how this unfolds.

The CEO of United Airlines is no different than the CEO of Coke-a-Cola. Both of these men no longer control their companies. They're walking on egg shells just like the rest of us. It only takes one slip up and they are toast. Cancelled. I doubt they even care about any of this stuff, but, to keep their jobs they must. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if they secretly wish this whole woke thing would go away.

Recently, we've seen the introduction of the "chief diversity officer". Ever wonder what that worthless degree in queer or women's or LatinoX or African American...studies degree can get you? A slot for CDO. These people are trained militants. They're called change agents. And if it was bad enough to have just one or a handful of these people working for a corporation, now, they have representation in the C-Suite and boardroom. That's all they need. Title means nothing. A lowly admin clerk needs only to accuse a CEO of an ist, ism or phobia and she'll have him cancelled. A CDO that does in fact have a title and authority cares even less about the CEO or Chairman of the Board. She has a variety of subversive techniques to keep those types in check.

This is what we're witnessing.

Every time I read articles like this all the way to the end, I go about my day with a feeling a certain way I

Amazon is considerably woke but am not seeing anything stopping its growth in the near future.

Having some friends working there, I have heard some harrowing stories about the overworked woke culture there, countless low to mid level job firings and multiple unnecessary 'diversity' programs.

I have wondered this for sometime now. How can Amazon be stopped?

It has become a giant behemoth of a company. It might succumb to wokeness from within eventually, but for now it is growing fast. I know some other Ecommerce sites are popping up and some are already doing good but I have not seen one that is growing as fast as Amazon did or towards it's scale. Amazon is also spreading very quickly in many countries of the world. AliExpress/AliBaba thwart it in East Asia and in providing cheaper value products to international markets including the US but that is where the buck stops for AliExpress/AliBaba.

I would love to see another e-commerce business that has a model better than Amazon's and one that takes Amazon down.

Amazon's key business model is that it has a 1. huge amount of products 2. very quick delivery time 3. Competitive prices.

This a great trifecta for Ecommerce. Also, since, Amazon is quite large, it can even afford to take price hits on free refunds, replacing missing items for free etc. It can also keep on acquiring new product supply chains. That is also why it can take hits on having a toxic woke culture and hiring a big percentage of diversity hires.

Lastly, just as TooFineAPoint has said above, Amazon is quite powerful and can easily manipulate government regulations and title whatever nefarious profit scheme that it comes up with as 'Save or justice for bla bla'.

It is a vicious business model.

I always thought Ebay was Amazon's rival.

 

[Stoyan]

 

[Oompoppamowmow]

I wonder what Reddit will do for their NFL page. Right now it’s a Ukraine logo what happens when the rainbow month is coming up?

 

[BlackLeftLeft]

Here's Mars Inc. pathetically trying to cater to the degenerate Alphabet mafia by taking the rainbow colors away from Skittles.




What's next, BDSM&Ms? SnickerDickers? TwixDix? Who's trying to think about gay sex when they just want a quick sugar rush.

 

[Tom Slick]

This video on woke capital from Imperium Press offers four explanations about why it's become almost obligatory for corporations to be woke. I thought it was very informative.

 

[Cr33pin]

Start this video at around 2:45 and there is a interview with one of the owners about the controversy


The apology is to member's of the LGBTQ2SP+ and BIPOC communities..

 

[budoslavic]

CEOs Start To Push Back Against 'Woke' Employee Bullying​

In an indication that corporate progressivism may be reaching its high water mark, CEOs are starting for the first time to push back against activist employees, in some cases going so far as to fire them rather than steer their companies into the mire of "woke" politics.

Last week, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell became the latest executive to say he has had enough. He invited employees who felt "triggered" by controversial ideas to accept a severance package and leave the company.

Kraken, a crypto currency technology company, wrote in its new mission statement that it "will never ask that our employees adopt any specific political ideology as a requirement for our workplace...We recognize that hurt feelings are inevitable in a global organization that is optimizing for team outcomes above individual sentiment. The ideal Krakenite is thick-skinned and well intentioned."

Powell told "Fox & Friends" that of the company’s 3,000 employees, about 30 have chosen to accept the four-month severance pay and leave, citing their need to express political or social beliefs in the workplace. Comments from the remaining 99 percent of Kraken employees regarding the policy to keep politics out of the workplace were "overwhelmingly positive," he said. "I think everyone is ready to get back to work and stop being distracted."

"Suddenly, nobody has any interest in this anymore, and companies are responding accordingly and starting to drop ‘woke,’" said Scott Shepard, director at the National Center for Public Policy Research.

"I don’t think this is the end of woke, I don’t even think it’s the beginning of the end, but to borrow from Mr. Churchill, I do think it might be the end of the beginning."

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space exploration company, joined the chorus on June 16. After several employees publicized a letter denouncing Musk’s campaign to acquire Twitter and steer the social media platform away from censorship, SpaceX responded by firing them.

The employees publicly criticized Musk’s efforts as "a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment" for SpaceX. After firing those responsible, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell emailed employees that the efforts against Musk’s Twitter acquisition "made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views. We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism."

The Athletic, a sports news website owned by The New York Times, an increasingly progressive leftist newspaper, told its staff this week to stick to sports and drop the political activism.

"We don’t want to stop people from having a voice and expressing themselves," stated a directive from Paul Fichtenbaum, the publication’s chief content officer.

"We just need to keep it from tipping over into the political space."

Some employees disagreed. A staffer quickly responded in protest, saying, "What about Black Lives Matter? Is that a social cause? Who will write about athlete protests? What about trans athletes in sports?"

Political activism can take a toll on companies, both internally and externally. Disney CEO Bob Chapek has proven to be a cautionary tale for corporate leaders. In March, he bowed to activist employees and announced that the family entertainment company would fight to support sex education for children in elementary school, while his company revealed its intention to sexualize kids’ movies and shows. This action sparked a backlash from conservative employees and led to parents canceling subscriptions and theme park visits.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to Disney’s harsh criticism of a state law banning sex-ed in kindergarten through third grade by revoking the tax-advantaged status of the company’s theme park in Orlando. And shareholders watched in alarm as Disney stock fell from $130 per share in March to $95 today, a 27 percent drop well in excess of the 18 percent decline in the S&P 500 over the same period.

Citibank’s pro-abortion and anti-gun advocacy also got the attention of state lawmakers. Texas passed legislation in June, 2021, barring banks that discriminate against fossil fuel companies or gun makers from underwriting state bonds. And Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain threatened Citibank with similar treatment in March over its policy of paying travel expenses for employees who go out of state to circumvent Texas’ anti-abortion laws. Texas is the second largest issuer of municipal bonds in the United States. Other states such as West Virginia have passed similar laws.

In response to employee protests over controversial programs, such as comedian Dave Chappelle’s stand-up comedy show "The Closer," Netflix told employees in May that it would no longer tolerate efforts to censor content that staff find objectionable.

"We support the artistic expression of the creators we choose to work with; we program for a diversity of audiences and tastes; and we let viewers decide what’s appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices," the company stated.

"If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you." Netflix took this action after it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of this year and projected that it would lose 2 million more in the second quarter.

"It turns out that alienating the majority of your customer base is terrible for business," Shepard said.

"You can sort of get away with that when the market is reaching new highs and interest rates are nothing, so you can borrow and make up for the lack of profits." But in today’s environment, with markets tumbling, interest rates rising, and a potential recession looming, "suddenly the luxury of alienating your customer base doesn’t exist anymore."

In addition to efforts at SpaceX to refocus employees toward company business, Elon Musk is also working to revamp his target acquisition, Twitter, into a more inclusive platform. This week, he communicated to employees that the platform must be open to all political points of view and that conversations that represent legal free speech, however offensive, should be permitted on Twitter. He is expected, if the sale of the company goes through, to fire many of the progressive pro-censorship executives.

Many organizations, even the most progressive ones, are finding that taking up divisive racial and gender agendas is causing employees to turn on each other. Politico reported in November, 2020, that "following a botched diversity meeting, a highly critical employee survey and the resignations of two top diversity and inclusion officials, the 600,000-member National Audubon Society is confronting allegations that it maintains a culture of retaliation, fear, and antagonism toward women and people of color, according to interviews with 13 current and former staff members."

Left-wing newspaper The Intercept lamented that the election of President Joe Biden was supposed to mark the start of a golden era for the progressive moment. Instead, "Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and other reproductive health organizations had been locked in knock-down, drag-out fights between competing factions of their organizations … It’s also true of the progressive advocacy space across the board, which has, more or less, effectively ceased to function."

The Washington Post, another left-wing newspaper, was compelled to fire reporter Felicia Sonmez in early June for incessant public attacks on a fellow staff writer and on the paper itself, charging them with racism and sexism. In response to Sonmez’s critical tweets, Executive Editor Sally Buzbee initially issued an advisory to all staff that "we do not tolerate colleagues attacking colleagues either face to face or online." When that failed to rein Sonmez in, the Post fired her for "insubordination, maligning your coworkers online and violating the Post’s standards on workplace collegiality and inclusivity."

Companies are learning that they are often hurting their own brands and losing customers by taking up highly controversial political positions. And like Chapek, many CEOs are finding themselves unprepared for the harsh world of social-justice politics.

The executives of Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, Microsoft, Levi’s, and Major League Baseball chose to protest voter-ID laws in Georgia, with MLB even removing its all-star games from Atlanta. Delta CEO Ed Bastian first supported the law, then turned against it in response to left-wing threats to boycott the airline.

But few companies followed Disney into the fight over child sex education, and so far, few companies have waded into the abortion debate, despite indications that the Supreme Court could decide to overturn Roe v Wade, passing decisions on abortion law back to state legislatures.

CEOs Start To Push Back Against 'Woke' Employee Bullying | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

 

[Stoyan]

 

[Stoyan]

 

[Cr33pin]

'Just closed my Halifax account. They can stick their pronouns up their/his/her a**e. ': Bank suffers exodus of customers after social media manager told them to LEAVE if they don't like staff sharing pronouns on badges​

• Halifax is losing customers after social media team told them to leave if they don't like pronouns on badges
• Bank posted a badge of employee called Gemma which read 'she/her/hers' and added: 'Pronouns matter'
• Customers replied to accuse the bank of 'pathetic virtue signalling' and 'alienating' many customers
• Within minutes Andy M, a member of the social media team, said 'You're welcome to close your account'

Halifax suffers exodus of customers after staff pronoun policy

The bank announced on Twitter earlier this week that it would allow staff to display their pronouns their name badges. The move provoked fury from customers.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[MartyMcFly]

'Just closed my Halifax account. They can stick their pronouns up their/his/her a**e. ': Bank suffers exodus of customers after social media manager told them to LEAVE if they don't like staff sharing pronouns on badges​

• Halifax is losing customers after social media team told them to leave if they don't like pronouns on badges
• Bank posted a badge of employee called Gemma which read 'she/her/hers' and added: 'Pronouns matter'
• Customers replied to accuse the bank of 'pathetic virtue signalling' and 'alienating' many customers
• Within minutes Andy M, a member of the social media team, said 'You're welcome to close your account'

Halifax suffers exodus of customers after staff pronoun policy

The bank announced on Twitter earlier this week that it would allow staff to display their pronouns their name badges. The move provoked fury from customers.

www.dailymail.co.uk

What is weird about the pronouns thing is that few people address people by their pronouns. If talking to someone, one might say 'hey, you...' but not many would say 'hey him...'

 

[TooFineAPoint]

Start this video at around 2:45 and there is a interview with one of the owners about the controversy


The apology is to member's of the LGBTQ2SP+ and BIPOC communities..

I've never heard of this coffee shop so when I started reading I assumed either US or Australia.

Then when I was about 4/5 done the post I instead thought... hmmm, this sounds a lot like BC (Canada) leftists. Sure enough.

If you guys want an idea of what it's like here, from grown men who are so internally cucked that being in the same room as them is sheer hell, here you go.

 

[Cynllo]

'Just closed my Halifax account. They can stick their pronouns up their/his/her a**e. ': Bank suffers exodus of customers after social media manager told them to LEAVE if they don't like staff sharing pronouns on badges​

• Halifax is losing customers after social media team told them to leave if they don't like pronouns on badges
• Bank posted a badge of employee called Gemma which read 'she/her/hers' and added: 'Pronouns matter'
• Customers replied to accuse the bank of 'pathetic virtue signalling' and 'alienating' many customers
• Within minutes Andy M, a member of the social media team, said 'You're welcome to close your account'

Halifax suffers exodus of customers after staff pronoun policy

The bank announced on Twitter earlier this week that it would allow staff to display their pronouns their name badges. The move provoked fury from customers.

www.dailymail.co.uk

about 15-20 years ago they has a series of viral adverts. The star is not happy with promoting sodomy.

 

[Cynllo]

With the recession now offical, you'd have to think the go broke part of going woke will finally be coming home to roost.

 

[balybary]

Over three days, Minions: The Rise of Gru, the fifth title in the Despicable Me franchise and a prequel, is expected to gross $109.5 million.

Over three weeks, Lightyear, the fifth title in the Toy Story franchise and a prequel, has grossed just $106.7 million.

So, in three days, Minions will have grossed more than Lightyear has in three weeks.
So what’s the difference between the two?

Well, Minions (which will make a fortune) cost $85 million to produce. Lightyear (which will lose a fortune) cost $200 million.

On top of that the Toy Story franchise was more iconic, beloved, and seen by the public as a cut above the Despicable Me franchise.