What company gives more money to the retarded community and hires more retarded workers than any other? What company’s past earning were given in the tens of $millions to National Public Radio… many times the magnitude of any other private contributions?
Now what company is hated by the Left community, is blamed for destroying farming in France and has books and movies attacking it for making Americans fat?
Same company: McDonald’s.
I could give a....
I could give a dozen other examples of do-good corporations with a bad
reputation … starting with Starbucks that gives maximum benefits to its
employees and is excessively generous with neighborhood charities and
yet Starbucks is endlessly attacked and hated by the Left.
Thinking about this state of affairs, my conclusion is that it is questionable policy for industrial corporations to give money to charity. The charitable gifts are rarely or never appreciated and charity does not build up goodwill in any community that I have ever seen. Making charitable gifts to employee related projects might be defensible if it is in the Human Resources budget designed to make employees happy and work better.
I think that the two main reasons for charitable giving by industrial corporations are fallacious. One is to buy long term goodwill. I don’t believe that. A single public failure of minor proportions can wipe out decades and $billions of do-gooding. Another is to buy off mau-mauing attack organizations. From my observations this subdues the meekest attack groups and feeds the appetite of strong groups to attack more….often other businesses.
I would like to see some major corporation decide that there is no
moral reason for a corporation to do good but a corporation should
publicly defend itself vigorously from attackers.
I would recommend attacking with all the points that I make in Commerce. When a company is attacked it should directly respond to the facts of the attack and should counter attack with clear, blunt statements such as:
Industrial corporations:
* hire and promote diverse work forces, a major force for integration.
* are the main source of meritocracy and social mobility in our society.
* provide jobs and work opportunity in nearly every geographic region without discrimination.
* strive to reduce consumer prices and use private capital and improved technology to do it.
* serve all customers without discrimination with dignity and care.
* pioneer and offer new and expanded services that customers want.
No other entity on the planet does this. Make these points with vivid examples. That is enough, there is no need for industrial companies to give to charity to earn false community goodwill.