Woke virtue-signalling threatens to unite Left and Right

Woke virtue-signalling threatens to unite Left and Right

In the woke corporatism frontier of the culture wars, Left and Right are converging. Just as liberals have been sceptical of “corporate social responsibility”, believing that we all benefit from the self-interest of business, so anti-capitalists are increasingly taking the view that companies cannot launder their images by signalling woke credentials. While Milton Friedman argued the only “social responsibility of business is to increase its profits”, and that individuals rather than corporations should make donations, the Left see corporate efforts to “do good” as nothing more than a marketing strapline. Firms are appointing women to boards, airlines are banning “ladies and gentlemen” from their announcements, ice-cream companies are condemning policy responses to migrant crossings in the Channel. But critics argue this is corporate window-dressing designed to improve a company’s image rather than an attempt at genuine reform. This cynicism contributed towards Save the Children’s decision last week to turn down a £750,000 donation for its work in Ukraine from a North Sea gas company. Twitter got wind of it, and worked itself up into its usual frenzy. The Left insisted that Neptune Energy was attempting to “greenwash” its reputation, suggesting that allowing the company to burnish its credentials was akin