Contrary to leftist dogma, Corporate America is not a universe where executives are not reciting Ayn Rand scripture during lunch breaks and worshiping Milton Friedman photos by candlelight before they leave for the day. From Woka-Cola to Major League Wokeball, many corporations are now helmed by men and women who endorse and advocate progressive orthodoxy while vilifying conservative values. Perhaps they are frightened of perturbing the digital pitchfork-wielding cancel mob. Or – and even worse – they believe in the nonsense they peddle to the public. But as these private businesses metastasize into extensions of the Democratic Party, abandoning the philosophy of “Republicans wear sneakers too,” should they start footing the bill for leftist causes, particularly reparations?
The Commission of Reparations
The House Judiciary Committee recently voted to move forward with legislation that would establish a 13-member commission to study the effects of slavery and racial discrimination, present "appropriate remedies," and determine what the national apology could be for the harm caused by slavery 200 years ago. Proponents say it is critical because the spirit of this odious 19th-century practice is built within the American system. Opponents argue that people living today would be penalized for an issue that occurred centuries before they were born. States, like California, have also been looking into taxpayer-funded proposals.
Since the government does not generate wealth, the state must confiscate wealth from people who had zero to do with the slave trade. Because corporations now cave to the demands of the left, maybe it is time that some of the largest businesses in the world fund these feel-good endeavors.
Corporations Fighting Racial Injustice
Over the last year, some of the most well-known brands have been contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to racial justice efforts. Foot Locker, for example, pledged $200 million for the next five years to fight racial injustice. JPMorgan Chase is committing $30 billion to help remedy racial discrimination. Major League Baseball relocated the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta, GA, over election security legislation that officials likely never read.
These businesses are using their money, resources, and freedom to support race-based causes. Never mind that Foot Locker’s efforts were ignored as one of its stores was looted in Brooklyn Center, MN. Or that MLB cost minority-owned businesses in The Big Peach tens of millions of dollars by moving the annual festivities to a predominantly white jurisdiction in Denver, CO.
Now that multi-billion-dollar entities are funding grants, charitable contributions, and loans, the next reasonable step would be extending the cash necessary to support the trillions of dollars in reparations. They ostensibly believe that it is their responsibility to come to the rescue of underserved minorities. The private sector creates wealth – not the government – so it would make the most amount of sense for these juggernauts, feeling it is necessary to be politically active any time they see fit, to foot the bill.
This would do more for minorities than holding anti-white seminars, censoring the word “master,” and destroying jobs in the name of ignorance anyway. Indeed, U.S. CEOs can travel to Washington and write a fat check to Uncle Sam, allowing bureaucrats to allocate payments to every non-white American (or illegal immigrant). This would afford corporations the opportunity to cover the cost of generational and societal transgressions.
Whether this succeeds or not remains to be seen, but as French novelist Emile Zola wrote: “Anyone who promises to change everything for you all at once is either a fool or a rogue.”
Selling Victimhood, Sowing Chaos
Even if corporations were to dismiss this proposal, rioters and looters are getting their reparations no matter what. According to some Black Lives Matter activists, as Liberty Nation’s Sarah Cowgill reported in August 2020, rioting and looting are considered a form of reparations. A Gucci purse or Nike sneakers might not be essential items to put food on the table, fund a college education, or keep the lights on, but those who have never been enslaved think theft is a reasonable repayment scheme.
This is what unfolds when the corridors of power send the message that certain segments of the population are perpetual victims and others are interminable oppressors. CNN technical director Charles Chester told an undercover Project Veritas investigation: “You can shape an entire people's perception about anything [depending] on how you do it.” This is what the leftist institutions – media, entertainment, academia, and government – have accomplished in recent years: selling victimhood and sowing chaos. Corporations have facilitated it, so perhaps it is time the wokeologists turned the moral mirror on themselves and pay for their perceived sins rather than forcing their transgressions upon others.
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