The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

The primary function of the corporation is to enhance shareholder value. Expecting anything more from them is a recipe for disappointment, for either the shareholders or the larger culture, or both.

Do I want American corporations to be patriotic and act in the best interests of the country and its citizens? Sure! That sounds great in theory, but it turns quickly into a massive problem. Who gets to decide what is patriotic? Who gets to decide what is best for America?

Senior VPs of Human Resources? The board of directors? The CEO? The hourly employees on the shop floor? The shareholders?

We have seen how well that has turned out over the past generation, as corporations across the country have gone insanely Woke, and have acted in ways that many Americans think are antithetical to the political philosophy on which our country is grounded: Just look at Budweiser, Disney, Target, Nike, GM, and many more. Yet those boards of directors approved the behaviors that sent their stock prices crashing, and in the case of their frantic drive to be the poster children for DEI and AGW gutted generations of merit-based hiring in favor of a rabidly racist system that was almost guaranteed to destroy corporate value, radically shifted the direction of the company toward EVs, or made movies that glorified transsexual insanity, and on and on and on...

But it also works the other way, when corporations pursue the bottom line without any regard for their workers, their country, or their own long-term health. Off-shoring manufacturing and customer service, and using imported foreign or illegal labor to save the higher cost of American workers makes some financial sense in the medium term, but geopolitical realities rarely recognize earnings per share as important. China's implosion, a new and radically different perspective in Washington, and the long overdue response of the American body politic to the insanity of corporations actively rejecting everything "American," is a powerful incentive to pay more attention to America and American workers.

But can we count on that shift to be permanent? No, of course not, and that is why the election of Donald Trump is so important, and the 2028 election of J.D. Vance (or a similar nationalist/populist) is vital.

JD Vance Slams Big Tech’s Labor Shortage “Bullsh*t Story” — Calls Out H-1B Visa Abuse

The Vice President stated that he disliked seeing American companies firing thousands of American workers, then claiming there is a labor shortage.

“But I don’t want companies to fire 9,000 American workers and then to go and say, we can’t find workers here in America.”

“That’s a bullsh*t story,” he said.

The same thing is necessary to rein in the horrid, racist hiring practices of many corporations. They want to hire 50% disabled black two-spirit mechanical engineers?With the appropriate laws passed and strictly enforced...they can't. They will have to hire using the now strange method of choosing the best people, regardless of color or sexuality or political bent.

And yes, I am arguing for more government interference in what ideally should be a private decision between employer and employee. But we have to admit that what worked reasonably well for a very long time has become an anachronism, as corporate profit has become distorted by competing pressures of Woke lunacy and MBA-driven profit over all other considerations.

Perhaps in a generation, if our universities return to actual education (or even better...disappear), our corporations return to recognizing that shareholder value cannot be created with Woke policies, and our culture discards the absolute insanity of the last generation, we might succeed without government and legal interference, but I doubt it.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter] And the Apple and Spotify feeds for CJN's podcast should be working!

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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