You’ve likely heard a quote attributed to former President Calvin Coolidge that went this way: “The business of America is business.”
This, while pithy, isn’t quite accurate.
As the Library of Congress notes, what Coolidge actually said was this: “After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world.”
The emphasis was added. I note it because Coolidge’s actual quote, as opposed to the snappier-sounding version, is more relevant than ever.
For most of the 21st century, and particularly in the past few years, one might have gotten the impression the chief business of American business was politics. Black Lives Matter! LGBT “Pride” packaging! Microaggression training! Net-zero emissions from your local fast-food joint! Equity week! BIPOC recognition fortnight! Etc.! Etc.!
Many years ago, Michael Jordan said, in his reluctance to get involved in politics, that “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” The messaging from athletic-wear companies in America — particularly since the annus horribilis of 2020 — seems to be, “Wait, Republicans buy sneakers, too?! Find the Republicans wearing our sneakers and we’ll toss them to the lions!”
It turns out, according to a Gallup poll, that the steady drumbeat of virtue-signaling has become more unpopular as it’s become ever louder.
The annual Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report, a survey conducted May 8-15 but just released on Tuesday, found that only 41 percent of Americans think businesses should be taking stances on sociopolitical events, compared with 59 percent who don’t.
In 2022, 48 percent thought they should be versus 52 percent who thought that they shouldn’t; that represents a 7-point shift in just one year.
Are you sick of companies wading into politics?
Yes: 100% (4 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
The results “are based on a web survey with 5,458 U.S. adults conducted … using the probability-based Gallup Panel,” Gallup said in a blog post.
“Political party identification has the strongest influence on whether Americans believe corporations should take a public stance. Most Democrats (62%) believe businesses should take a public stance on current events, compared with just 17% of Republicans and 36% of independents,” the post said.
“While still high, the percentage of Democrats who believe businesses should take a stance has declined from 75% in 2022. The percentage of independents reporting companies should take a stance has declined slightly, by four percentage points, while Republicans’ views on this issue have remained essentially unchanged.”
Indeed, only 18 percent of Republicans thought businesses ought to be involved in politics in 2022 — so the biggest move came among Democrats, which would seem to run against standard logic.
Furthermore, while minorities tended to be more likely to believe businesses should get political, support for that position declined among all three groups included in the survey — black, Hispanic and white.
Among black adults, 61 percent said they believe corporations should get involved in current events, vs. 72 percent in 2022 — an 11 percent decline. Support for that stance among Hispanic adults declined slightly, to 48 percent from 49 percent in 2022. Among white adults, support fell to 35 percent from 41 percent last year, a 6 percentage-point drop.
And while younger adults were more likely than older adults to think that businesses should get involved in politics, support was down by at least 4 percentage points in each of the four age groups.
TL;DR: Everyone thinks virtue-signaling by corporate America is lousy, and it’s not just because conservative Bud Light drinkers took up their pitchforks the moment they saw the Dylan Mulvaney promotion.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite — Republicans have always thought businesses being political entities was a terrible notion. It’s independents and Democrats who have decided that corporate America has gone too far even for them, and now companies like Target and Disney are feeling the effects.
And who can blame them? When even Skittles is marketing drag queens to children, people tend to get a bit defensive:
.@Skittles is trying to turn your kids into BLM & LGBTQ+ activists. Their packaging also features a drag queen.
Skittles have gone completely woke. pic.twitter.com/jjlkc7uOaL
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 11, 2023
However, it’s difficult to feel any sympathy for those on the left or in the center who went along with the mob. Perhaps Dylan Mulvaney is what finally awoke them from their slumber, but there was enough woke madness along the primrose path to that promotion that it could only be said it took innumerable whacks upside the head for them to finally come to.
As for corporations, they’re discovering the truth in Coolidge’s actual words: The chief business of the American people really is business. It’s not politics, it’s not arguments over the dinner table, it’s not a new Facebook profile frame every time the cause of the week changes.
If that’s the chief business of businesses, then Americans will find somewhere else to take their business. Period.
