When some corporations and Republicans first started speaking publicly in favor of gay rights, I remember feeling like something wasn’t right – that having allies like that would doom the cause. But as a gay man, I convinced myself that it must be a good thing on balance. As we see now, however, the corporate commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion was always skin deep. Ultimately it was only about making money from a new consumer base and diverting our attention from the tectonic movement of wealth toward the plutocrats ruling our lives by making us think that they cared about us.
As union busting, deregulation, globalization, and tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest snatched away the promise of generational gains for the working class, we were left only with the promise of equal opportunity to struggle for a share of what the elite were willing to leave on the table. The idea of a just economy was supplanted by that of an “opportunity economy.” In this context, preaching the virtues of diversity, equity, and inclusion comes across as a demand that people welcome an increasing number of claimants for a shrinking piece of pie.
Not surprisingly, many in the working class found the message elitist, and they became easy targets for propaganda that blamed the shrinkage of the pie on immigrants and others newly seated at the table rather than those on the top who were actually keeping more of the pie for themselves. Anyone interested in a detailed analysis of these developments should read the new book by Wolfgang Streeck called Taking Back Control?
Now that the oligarchs have succeeded in their game of divide and conquer, we must not engage in recriminations against those who have been misled by the propaganda. We must instead wage war on the oligarchs with every weapon remaining in our arsenal. That means:
Using the power of the state governments that are still controlled by Democrats to tax the oligarchs’ wealth and income.
Using the new tax revenues to pay for new programs and benefits, like affordable housing and free childcare and education, and for existing programs and benefits that the Republicans will surely try to eliminate.
Using the corporation laws of the states to prohibit businesses from engaging in political activity like making political contributions or hiring lobbyists unless the activity is authorized by a special board of directors that is elected on a one-shareholder-one-vote basis by shareholders who are citizens of the United States. This avenue of corporate democracy was explicitly left open by the Citizens United decision. And a company that is democratically committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion could contest any Republican prohibition on DEI programs as a violation of its First Amendment rights under the Citizens United decision..
In the end, if we fail to attack the wealth and power of the oligarchs and instead engage in skirmishes about DEI, we will lose our country.