It may simply be my general lack of exposure to the rarefied air breathed by some in the billionaire class, but I’ve never understood why someone in charge of a business that makes its profits primarily from folks of the leftward persuasion would purposefully seek to alienate his own customer base by publicly mouthing right-wing tropes. There just seems to be a disconnect in the thinking there, but, as I said, it may just be my provincial sensibilities.
I actually test-drove a Tesla a few years back but after hearing the recent right-wing screeds from Elon Musk I can now say with complete confidence I’ll never, ever purchase one. Part of that is sheer practicality: the electric car market is going to be saturated with non-Tesla alternatives in a couple years, and I can afford to wait until the battery in my hybrid runs down. But the other part is certainly garbage like this:
Now I get that Musk wants to suck up to the GOP in anticipation of ghostwriting some serious tax benefits into the Federal Code in exchange for a few million strategically placed dollars into the pockets of what he anticipates will be a House GOP majority. He may even want some legislation passed that directly affects his bottom line. Or maybe he actually believes this crap. I don’t know and I don’t particularly care. It’s offensive, regardless.
But I doubt I’m the only one who reads things like the above stupidity and forswears ever buying any of his companies’ products. Maybe there’s some highly compensated accountant who compares the likely benefit to Musk with the anticipated drop-off in his customer base (or maybe that’s an easy back of the envelope calculation for Musk) but here’s the thing: as a consumer in this capitalist society one of the only means of exercising my power is by deciding what I will and will not buy. Sure, I can vote, but I recognize I can’t buy Congressmen like Musk can. So I have to go with what I have. And while Musk could achieve all he wants without resorting to calling me names just by secretly donating to some rightwing SuperPAC, instead he chooses to insult me and people like me.
So, see ya Elon. And hey, YMMV.
Same with this fool who runs Whole Foods.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said he feared "socialists are taking over" in the US and that young people "don't seem like they want to work."
The cofounder of the supermarket chain made the statements in a podcast that was released on Wednesday with Reason magazine, a monthly libertarian publication.
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"They're taking over everything. It looks like they've taken over a lot of the corporations. It looks like they've taken over the military. And it's just continuing. You know, I'm a capitalist at heart, and I believe in liberty and capitalism," he said. "Those are my twin values. And I feel like, you know, with the way freedom of speech is today, the movement on gun control,
Really? Well, fuck you, John. I don’t shop at Whole Foods because I shop locally or even at the “normal” supermarket that while it may or may not be unionized, doesn’t go out of its way to denigrate me. I also think almost everything at Whole Foods is grossly overpriced (that comes from knowing where the ethnic groceries are in town). But I do know this: a huge portion of your customer base is liberal. And like everyone else, they don’t like being insulted, singled out or smeared. It’s as simple as that. “[A] lot of the liberties that I've taken for granted most of my life, I think, are under threat..." Give me a fucking break, please.
Young people don’t want to work? Congratulations! You’ve just smeared a whole generation, maybe two! And by extension, their parents!
“Gun control” is taking your liberty away? As CEO of a supermarket chain? Say what?
And “socialists” are “taking over the military?” Don’t even get me started.
If those are really his “values” then I don’t share them and therefore I see no reason to patronize his stores. I also know that “libertarian” is just another word for “I’ve got mine, so screw you.”
Now maybe Mackey’s purposes are the same as Musk’s: cuddle up to the right in the hopes of payback. But again, that could have been accomplished easily without advertising the fact that you’re an asshole.
Same with Home Depot. And that idiot in Central, Pennsylvania who runs a steel company with a giant Trump- Pence sign I’m forced to look at every time I drive by. Why would you alienate half your potential customer base? I really don’t get it.
Well, actually, maybe I do get it. One of the first epiphanies about just how utterly brain-dead some otherwise smart and successful people can be occurred at a dinner at the first company I worked for. One of the name partners in the outfit had a few too many beers and started bloviating about how much he hated Bill Clinton, and how he ought to be “arrested” or “executed” or some other such right-wing claptrap. Not only did he lose my respect forever, but he also taught me something important: some of the most successful people are complete and utter buffoons when it comes to political thinking. It happens to lawyers, doctors, businessmen, all types. They can be sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to whatever it is they happen to practice, but take them out of their element and many will quickly become whiny, ignorant toddlers.
I recognize that there are whole lists of companies that “liberals” or “conservatives” should or should not support, and yes, everyone is certainly entitled to their own politics. But biting the hand that feeds you just strikes me as a really, really stupid business practice.