With the goal of looking good to the right market groups, corporations have used considerable resources to push social and “cause” agendas that expand far beyond the scope of their core businesses. These efforts, like virtue signaling, are the actions of followers and are often times hypocritical attempts to socially engineer society. Corporations that causefeed are not engaging in leadership, but rather the worst kind of weak-willed, follower mentality designed to garnish the right headlines rather than create opportunities for change. The most recent example of corporate cause feeding is the debate over the national anthem at NFL games. Deciding…
Author: Matt Rogers
Matt Rogers
Matt Rogers is a passionate believer in the power of small business capitalism and opportunity creation. Through his experiences in banking, international business and academia, as well as living internationally, Matt possesses a unique view of entrepreneurship, innovation, and culture and how these forces can benefit a society. Matt currently teaches entrepreneurship and innovation in Bogota, Colombia and writes about the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation in an era of growing government regulation and corporate power. He can be reached at matt.f.rogers@gmail.com
The most recent killings in Las Vegas will remain in the headlines for a while and the world will look to America as a failed leader, wondering why such violence exists in such a highly developed country. The left will renew its efforts to ban all weapons while the right will fight any and every attempt at gun control. Then we will move on from this tragedy to the one. There will be another disaster or Trump will tweet something polarizing, and along with every other tragedy, this one will be forgotten – until it becomes politically convenient for one…
Populist movements are rising up, decrying the “danger and destruction” of capitalism. This false populist sentiment is perpetuated by four groups: politicians manipulating the “us vs them” mentality, the ultra-rich who wish to see others not succeed, university professors who have either never worked in the real world or have spent so much time in academia they forgot what the real world was like and blindly idealistic college students that also embrace “microaggressions” and “trigger warnings.” It is an easy argument to make: the rich were made rich by a rotten capitalist system that oppresses those noble, hardworking innocents who…
The word came down just days ago. Uber is going to lose its licenses to operate in London. The official reason given is that Uber’s “approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility.” Regulators (political appointees focused on protecting their turf) faulted Uber’s safety and security practices for the decision. On the surface, this makes sense as many Uber drivers have been charged with the horrific crime of rape. Although this would be more impactful if more than 1,000 of London’s Black Taxi drivers have not also been accused of rape, murder, and child abduction. The real reason Uber was banned…