The poisoning of post-America's business realm is not a momentary blip

Duke University business professor Aaron K. Chatterji had an op-ed in today's New York Times that lays it out. He hews to a pretty objective observation of what's going on, but he quit clearly concludes that the increasing tendency of corporations to weigh in on the cultural controversies of the day is further fracturing our brittle and broken society:

. . . the real story will be the long game. C.E.O. activism represents a historic shift in the way corporations intersect with national politics. Rather than chief executives shaping political discourse, however, our toxic political environment is dictating corporate strategy. Instead of being cast as practical technocrats who could unite us, chief executives will be swept up in our cultural war, just like university presidents, celebrities, professional athletes and religious leaders before them.

Brands are likely to become even more segmented into red and blue, strengthening the association between liberals and Priuses and conservatives and Cracker Barrel. Corporate brand campaigns could soon resemble political campaigns, with efforts to identify the most intensely loyal consumers for repeat purchases as opposed to attracting new ones.

Mainstream brands may become as common as moderate politicians — that is, a rare, perhaps extinct, species in today’s political environment. Twitter and PayPal serve diverse customers today, but their recent efforts to regulate their own platforms have led to allegations of political bias and incited competitors.

According to Chatterji, it's futile to think we're ever going to return to the days when business enterprises merely offered quality products at what consumers perceived to be a good value and showed owners a return on investment:

There is no going back. Lists are being kept and wins are being tallied by pressure groups aiming to get companies on their side. The issues that divide us will keep being served up in relentless succession, forcing companies to take stands on just about everything.

Much of this is a reflection of who we have become. Corporate America thrives by selling us what we want, and they do that by appealing to our identities. In 2018, for many Americans, our political identity seems to define us more than ever. It already influences whom we socialize with on Facebook, whom we marry, what news we read and where we live. It was only a matter of time before this big sort started to shape our consumer behavior, too. 

It's been building to this present state of toxicity for some time, though. Corporate Acquiescencde to the Left is one of the first post categories we set up here at LITD.

There is now now realm of post-American life which offers a respite. An ideological charge has been imparted to business, sports, arts and entertainment, education, and even religion.

If you don't recognize the context in which your daily life is occurring as a war zone, at some point you will.