Recently, Mark Zuckerberg decided to end Meta's "woke" policies of being nice to its employees and respectful of the truth. Marshall says this decision won't age well. These companies that have bent over backwards for Trump and MAGA are making a pretty risky gamble that Trump's plurality of the popular vote represents some sort of trend, rather than a last gasp of some culture war crap. Yes, the identity politics of the left got out of hand, but that message seems to have been actually received. Meanwhile, the GOP seems hellbent on doing some crazy shit.
Now, much of that won't wash, but even trying to do it will elicit a backlash. Again, if Trump does what he says he wants to do, he will wreck the Goldilocks Economy.
What's more, all this Real Murica bullshit evades the fact that the coastal elites are what make America great. It is, in fact, America's constant work at trying to become a better version of itself that makes us the dynamic power in the world. It's also why some of the most egregious examples of "woke" are likely going to go away.
The general gestalt of America - namely that we are a really nice people - isn't going away. With Trump "cruelty is the point" but that's why he's been largely unpopular, despite the partisan advantages he enjoys.
Companies that decide to be cruel to their employees - and that's at the heart of what a lot of these companies are doing - will find it hard to retain those employees. Car companies don't have LGBTQ people in their ads to be "woke", they do it to sell cars.
What's more, I certainly hope if Trump follows through on his vindictiveness and punishes his foes, that the backlash is immediate and sincere. Even more so, though, I hope that Democrats don't fall into the Merrick Garland trap in 2028, should they regain power in the face of oligarchic support for Republicans.
As these techbro libertarians pick a side, let's remember that when we hold the levers of power again.
No comments:
Post a Comment