I generally don’t write on political topics—not because I don’t have opinions, but because no blog or meme or post anywhere is going to change anyone’s political opinion.
Last week during my regular morning perusal of LinkedIn, one of the many political posts in my news feed caught my eye. In it, the author alluded to a vote for the Republican candidate being indicative of the voter as being sexist or racist. The idea that someone might vote for the Republican candidate and not factor in the Democratic candidate’s gender and ethnicity into the voting decision apparently did not occur to this person.
I took issue with that and commented as such. The original poster then replied with a long comment linking several articles supporting her point that nearly three-quarters of people voting Republican were both sexist and racist. Since the sources she posted aren’t what I’d consider all that credible, I dropped out of the conversation rather than waste my time doing a bunch of research and debating with her.
This is one reason why I loathe posts such as hers and the many villifying the other party’s candidates. They demonstrate the polarization of our society and hold the other side in contempt without regard to those holding more moderate opinions that may align more or less with an opposing viewpoint.
For instance, my mother-in-law and mother, both of the generation preceding the Baby Boomers, are the least prejudiced people I have ever met. Neither of them subscribes to the concept of gender fluidity. Both favor prudent fiscal policies. Both take seriously their civic duty to exercise their right to vote.
I doubt either of them would deny a woman’s capability to serve as the president of the United States, although one wouldn’t vote for the Republican candidate and the other wouldn’t vote for the Democratic candidate, regardless of incentive.
There’s more to a person than his or her political leanings. A Democrat may be pragmatic and support business as much as a Republican may be idealistic and espouse peace on earth and goodwill toward all. In fact, what I have found is that those with the most extreme political affiliations are those who are the least tolerant of differing opinions.
I’ll be the first to admit that many people base business and personal decisions on politics, whether their own politics or someone else’s. This cannot be better demonstrated than the hit Budweiser took when they jumped on the woke bandwagon. This political positioning clashed with the values held by a large portion of their client base. The company is sufficiently diverse and robust to withstand the defection of those customers. Other companies, such as John Deere, have learned that painful lesson, too: don’t clash with your client base.
I have worked for clients whose politics opposed mine. It didn’t matter whether I agreed or disagreed with their opinions; what mattered to me was improving the quality of their content. When it comes to business, I’m agnostic. My focus isn’t on what you believe or don’t believe; my focus is on the project and helping the author make it as good as it can be while maintaining the author’s distinctive voice.
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