Stakeholder capitalism is communism in disguise

OPINION:

The World Economic Forum has this push to replace shareholder capitalism with stakeholder capitalism — and that’s a fancy disguised way of saying the World Economic Forum is rapidly pushing to replace capitalism with communism.

The devil’s in the details. The writing is on the wall. This woke corporate climate America’s experiencing didn’t come from thin air.

“The good of a business is defined not only by its financial success, but also by the impact it has on our environment and communities,” wrote Bill Thomas, CEO of KPMG International, on the World Economic Forum website. “But if you can’t measure it, it’s hard to change it. That is why comparable, transparent and unified ESG-focused metrics are so important.”

What’s that mean?

ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance. So when the wonks working with WEF say that ESGs rather than profits — or more than profits — should be the defining factor of a business’s success, what they’re advocating is a new way of doing business. Free markets depend on businesses offering something that consumers find of enough value that they’re willing to pay cold hard cash to obtain; free markets are clean, pure, honest that way.

Now throw in environmental regulatory compliance.

Now throw in Black Lives Matter agenda.

Now throw in vaccine mandates.

Now throw in any number of government-slash-activist driven social justice wish list items, and put them in the hand of the business to provide — and then change the definition of business success to rate more social justice cause, less profit versus loss. And then — and this is the biggie — then recognize and reward businesses for their social justice successes using Big Government carrots. Tax breaks. Favor with zoning and permitting requests. And the like.

Those who don’t take the carrots?

It’s the stick for them. It’s the big clamp of government clamp-downs on all-things-business. Think the coronavirus gave government the ability to shut down what should be God-given rights to the individual to work and earn? Wait until the system of business itself becomes changed, to the point where only those who play along can gain.

“The Value of Universal and Common Standards,” as the WEF writes it.

“By ensuring the market is fueled by accurate information, we can work towards fixing some societal inequities by harnessing the power of capitalism and refocusing it on long-term value creation,” Thomas wrote on the WEF site.

Here are the threats to American free market freedoms: “Purpose driven businesses are likely to be more resilient than those that do not embrace people and the planet. Investors recognize that. We support WEF’s effort to … [develop] comprehensive ESG metrics and believe that this will be a step forward for a sustainable world,” Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, wrote on the WEF site.

Under a WEF-imagined stakeholder system, banks wouldn’t lend to businesses that don’t comply with, say, climate change policies or, say, vaccination mandates. Investors wouldn’t invest if the WEF didn’t approve. Insurers wouldn’t insure — governments wouldn’t permit — developers wouldn’t develop — builders wouldn’t build — and so forth and so on. The government, through partners and friends in business, would be the behind-the-scenes’ strings puller. And better believe this: The only businesses that would fit into this new government-run system would be the leftists.

Jack Dorsey, in charge of America’s free market. What a scenario. What a socialist, communist, Marxist scenario.

Free markets no more.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.