On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher reacted to pressure on Disney to oppose Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill by stating that “America needs more neutral things,” and “the more that things make us into two camps, the worse it is.”
Maher began his discussion by asking, “[W]e live in this world where corporations now have to take sides. My question is, is that a good thing that corporations always have to take sides on every political issue?”
Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson responded, “In most cases, no.” She continued, “10 years ago, the folks that would have been the most upset about corporations using their voice and power to engage in political speech was the left. Now, it’s more often the left that’s calling for corporations to engage in political speech, to use their microphone to try to advance certain values.”
She added that most of the time businesses are led astray when their PR departments tell them to take political stands, but Disney might be a different story because Disney does “sell values, at a certain level.”
Author Max Brooks then argued that all corporations take stands because “wherever the money comes from, there’s always a stand. But I think the awesome awesomeness about capitalism is, as the consumer, I have the choice, I get to vote every day about where I put my money. So, when Disney comes out with Mulan 2: Mulan Fights the Dalai Lama. Because they want to make money in China, I can say, goodbye Disney.”
Maher responded, “All of that is true, here’s the other side of it: We are breaking down…into these two different, intractable factions in this country. People talk about civil war, not just nuclear war, they talk about civil war like it’s really going to happen or it could happen. People talk about seceding and all of this kind of stuff. This — the more that things make us into two camps, the worse it is.”
Anderson responded that conservatives are “very used to having to consume cultural products made by people that do not necessarily share their values. But it is now young progressives who make up a large portion of the workforces…who are really putting the pressure on and they are more willing to punish companies than conservatives are.”
Maher added, “America needs more neutral things, that we can all go, oh, you’re not completely different from me on all things.”
Anderson replied that she thinks most Americans don’t want everything politicized.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.