2 ms·

I think the source for these two YouTube videos is highly suspect. Isn't this the same guy who got called out by Claire Lehmann for promoting white genocide the

I think the source for these two YouTube videos is highly suspect. Isn't this the same guy who got called out by Claire Lehmann for promoting white genocide theory? Source aside, I think this is another example of confusing common elements in any cultural shift with the totalitarian violence-oriented method employed by the Maoists. "Stakeholder capitalism," for example, is a fancy term for "Corporations bow to their stakeholders." But who are the stakeholders? They're mostly customers. So if the customers are rewarding companies for (at least paying lip-service to) being open-minded about diverse ways of being, then who we blame for capitalism-backed-democracy being "subverted" is... The people? Can the people subvert their own democratic system?

prohobo 4y ago
Actually the stakeholders are the investment firms implementing ESG programs. What you're referring to is a different kind of capitalism from what we currently have. I think it was in the late 19th century that someone first figured out that you can give out a newspaper for free and make tons of money by selling ad placements and creating eye-catching headlines. That's the current model of capitalism, where the "customer" is not a stakeholder at all but is instead the product. Investors are the real stakeholders. As for the YouTube videos being suspect, half of the content is direct quoting from Maoist literature, and I think a discerning intelligent person can figure it out for themselves.
- shadowgovt 4y ago
  What investment firms are those, and what benefits to they gain from ESG programs?
  - prohobo 4y ago
    https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-esg-funds/ https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-esg-funds/ The biggest ones are of course Vanguard and Blackrock. I don't really know what they gain from it. I don't think it's anything directly, but maybe it's part of the intertwining of state and corporation, where they scratch each others' backs and compensate for each others' weaknesses.
    - shadowgovt 4y ago
      I believe what they gain from it is investors. ... which ties back to the "It appears to be what the people want" problem. Granted, money may be a bad proxy for what the people want (and we could have an entire conversation on the caustic effect of financial inequality of the stability of a functioning democracy). But to the extent that capitalism likes to imagine we can conflate the two... If it pulls in the dollars, it's the thing that's wanted, right?

prohobo 4y ago

Actually the stakeholders are the investment firms implementing ESG programs. What you're referring to is a different kind of capitalism from what we currently have. I think it was in the late 19th century that someone first figured out that you can give out a newspaper for free and make tons of money by selling ad placements and creating eye-catching headlines. That's the current model of capitalism, where the "customer" is not a stakeholder at all but is instead the product. Investors are the real stakeholders. As for the YouTube videos being suspect, half of the content is direct quoting from Maoist literature, and I think a discerning intelligent person can figure it out for themselves.

shadowgovt 4y ago
What investment firms are those, and what benefits to they gain from ESG programs?
- prohobo 4y ago
  https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-esg-funds/ https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-esg-funds/ The biggest ones are of course Vanguard and Blackrock. I don't really know what they gain from it. I don't think it's anything directly, but maybe it's part of the intertwining of state and corporation, where they scratch each others' backs and compensate for each others' weaknesses.
  - shadowgovt 4y ago
    I believe what they gain from it is investors. ... which ties back to the "It appears to be what the people want" problem. Granted, money may be a bad proxy for what the people want (and we could have an entire conversation on the caustic effect of financial inequality of the stability of a functioning democracy). But to the extent that capitalism likes to imagine we can conflate the two... If it pulls in the dollars, it's the thing that's wanted, right?