<
https://theconversation.com/critics-of-woke-capitalism-want-to-return-to-a-time-when-money-was-the-only-value-but-it-never-existed-219392>
"
Review: Virtue Capitalists: The Rise and Fall of the Professional Class in
the Anglophone World – Hannah Forsyth (Cambridge University Press)
“Corporate virtue signalling” is a phrase of our time. Bud Light was accused of
it when it hired TikTok personality and trans woman Dylan Mulvaney to promote
low-cal beer.
Disney was labelled a virtue signaller for its opposition to the US state of
Florida outlawing discussions of gender fluidity and sexual orientation in
schools.
When multi-trillion-dollar investment company Black Rock promoted
environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, it too was branded a
virtue-signaller.
These are only a few of the many high-profile examples of corporations who have
made headlines for publicly supporting progressive social and environmental
political positions.
The loudest critics of virtue signalling come from the more vocal end of
right-wing politics. Many conservative pundits angrily denounce the “woke” for
failing to follow what they see as the real purpose of capitalism.
“Go woke, go broke,” they vent, insisting there is no place in the competitive
world of market rivalry for taking sides on social and political issues.
Anti-woke critics want to make corporations great again: let’s get back to the
old days, where making profits was the only thing harried managers had to worry
about! Wheeling out Milton Friedman’s hackneyed 1970 dictum, they censure
today’s managers for failing to meet “the social responsibility of business […]
to increase its profits”.
If you buy into this rhetoric you might believe that, prior to the 2020s,
business leaders were unencumbered by ethical or political concerns.
The problem is the anti-woke mob are nostalgic for a past that never existed.
This is borne out in the pages of Hannah Forsyth’s history
Virtue Capitalists:
The Rise and Fall of the Professional Class in the Anglophone World,
1870-2008."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
