Businesses
have
been
entangled
in
politics
since
there
have
been
businesses
and
politics.
It
didn’t
used
to
be
so
in-your-face
though.
Now,
before
spending
a
dollar,
we
apparently
have
to
somehow
try
to
sort
out
the
“good”
corporations
from
the
“bad”
corporations.
I’m
going
to
let
you
in
on
a
little
secret,
though.
All
corporations
are
ultimately
amoral.
A
corporation’s
purpose
is
to
make
money
for
its
shareholders.
Hopefully
without
leaving
a
swathe
of
societal
destruction
in
its
wake.
A
lot
of
corporations
talk
a
good
game
as
to
caring
about
important
external
things
like
the
environment
or
civil
unrest.
Whatever
they
say,
at
the
end
of
the
day,
if
there
is
a
major
conflict
between
some
purported
corporate
value
and
profitability,
you
don’t
need
an
MBA
to
know
what
the
real
priority
(for
the
corporation)
is
going
to
be.
Here
in
America,
we
used
to
have
things
like
government
oversight
to
help
ensure
that
companies
didn’t
get
too
evil,
but
elected
officials
would
rather
worry
about
which
bathrooms
we’re
using,
I
guess.
Customers
have
a
little
influence
to
exert.
But
not
much.
If
you
really
cared
so
deeply
about
exploitative
labor
practices,
animal
welfare,
pollution,
corruption,
etc.,
that
you
would
not
touch
any
product
from
any
company
with
a
hand
in
such
things,
well,
there
is
not
a
whole
lot
you
could
buy.
So
you
probably
do
what
we
all
do:
try
to
avoid
the
very
worst
companies
and
don’t
think
too
hard
about
how
the
rest
of
what
you’re
buying
found
its
way
into
your
shopping
cart.
The
impossibly
complex
web
of
moral
turpitude
in
corporate
America
is
a
big
part
of
why
very
few
of
the
proposed
boycotts
and
counter
boycotts
over
the
past
10
years
of
hyperpoliticization
have
accomplished
anything
(with
the
big
exception
of
the
Bud
Light
boycott
—
if
your
target
demographic
is
men
insecure
about
their
masculinity,
it
turns
out
that
even
a
small
nod
to
the
transgender
community
is
a
bad
business
decision).
There
are
just
too
many
people
out
there
buying
things
in
America,
many
of
them
ignorant
of
or
thrilled
about
whatever
is
upsetting
you,
for
nationwide
boycotts
to
be
effective.
However,
there
is
a
related
idea
floating
around
online
that
I
find
intriguing.
A
number
of
social
media
accounts
with
big
followings
are
promoting
a
24-hour
consumer
spending
blackout
on
February
28.
The
apparent
leaders
of
this
movement
are
also
targeting
specific
retailers
for
more-widespread
boycotts
and
are
specifically
upset
over
the
Trump
administration’s
hostility
toward
diversity,
equity,
and
inclusion
programs.
While
I
totally
understand
why
this
would
be
motivating
for
people
—
what,
you’re
for
homogeneity,
inequity,
and
exclusion?
—
I
also
don’t
want
to
get
too
caught
up
in
that
specific
justification
for
a
24-hour
voluntary
freeze
on
all
consumer
spending.
If
we
really
could
get
a
large
majority
of
the
American
population
to
not
spend
any
money
for
one
whole
day,
something
interesting
would
happen
economically.
I
don’t
know
what,
exactly,
that
would
be.
Inflation
could
instantly
chill.
CEOs
might
quake
at
the
prospect
of
consumer
power
that
only
exists
when
we
work
together.
Perhaps
we
would
all
feel
momentarily
connected
in
expressing
our
collective
economic
might.
Even
if
you
hate
DEI,
I
invite
you
to
join
this
consumer
blackout
on
February
28.
You
have
nothing
to
lose
—
at
the
very
least
you
will
save
a
little
money.
And
don’t
tell
me
you
can’t
go
a
single
day
without
buying
anything.
Make
coffee
at
home.
Fill
your
gas
tank
the
day
before
or
the
day
after.
Eat
that
old
can
of
beans
that
you’ve
been
navigating
around
in
your
kitchen
cabinet
for
months.
And
in
the
name
of
all
that
is
holy,
don’t
buy
anything
online.
There
are
not
many
chances
for
an
individual
worker,
a
consumer,
to
have
any
sort
of
real
influence
on
the
massive
corporations
that
dominate
our
lives.
Joining
this
no-buy
Friday
on
February
28
could
be
the
only
opportunity
you
have
for
a
while
to
show
big
companies
that
they
are
successful
because
of
us,
not
the
other
way
around.
Our
political
division
is
their
strength.
Showing
big
companies
that
we
can
unite,
however
briefly,
would
send
a
powerful
message.
Whatever
your
politics,
consider
joining
in
for
a
24-hour
hiatus
on
spending
this
February
28.
I
guarantee
you
have
a
lot
more
in
common
with
other
potential
participants,
even
those
who
may
have
voted
differently
than
you,
than
you
do
with
Jeff
Bezos
or
Elon
Musk.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD
(affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].