The culture war is actually a corporate insurgency seeking the enslavement of consumers

The culture war is actually a corporate insurgency seeking the enslavement of consumers by leveraging government communism!

 I was recently watching a video by some of my favorite movie commentators in which they were lamenting the apparent death of the movie theater business. They noted, in particular, that they had predicted the film 'Furiosa' (a feminist bait and switch designed to replace the more popular male Mad Max character) would do relatively well. Yet, the movie bombed epically. They seemed to be bewildered as to why this occurred.

They posited numerous theories from social to economic trying to explain why so many big-budget bonanzas were failing. They of course suggested that the COVID event might have pushed people to adjust to streaming services as the better option. They noted that theaters can be more frustrating because of loud customers. They tried to apply some economic theories to the situation (these theories were rather painful and left out a lot of important factors, but these guys aren't economists, so I gave them a pass).

But when the concept of the culture war was briefly broached, they dismissed it immediately. They acted as if it wasn't a part of the equation at all; a mere fringe element of "clickbaiters" trying to make something out of nothing. The idea that people are boycotting Hollywood on principle was too much for these film critics to handle.

I have to say, the level of delusion required to ignore the culture war is mind-boggling to me.

If you don't understand the culture war, then you don't understand a thing that's happening in the U.S. (and parts of Europe) right now. I realize that there are people out there who refuse to engage in anything political. Some of them don't like to involve themselves in conflict of any kind. Others see themselves as "above it all" and superior to anyone who spends time on politics. This seems more like a coping mechanism for people who don't grasp the complicated nature of civil division.

Yes, it's easier to turn a blind eye to what's happening and pretend like the chaos is random, but the fact is that our civilization is changing rapidly and breaking apart rapidly and this is by design. EVERYONE will be affected by these conditions and consequences whether they believe in the culture war or not.

The world of film might be seen as frivolous to a lot of conservatives out there, but it has always fascinated me because it's a perfect litmus test for social strife. Film is an expression of modern-day mythology as well as modern ideological influence. You can always tell the decade when a movie was made because they all subtly express ideas that were popular during the era they were produced. Sadly, when future generations look back on the movies of our decade, they will find a complete lack of creativity and soul, a dark time of woke propaganda when public brainwashing was more important than finding common ground.

It's not only about movies, though. Nearly every major corporation has engaged in woke warfare since around 2016 and they have been relentless in their mission to make far-left cultism the dominant ideology in the Western world. Even to the point that they are willing to lose a massive portion of their customer base in the process.

The corporate insurgency against consumers is never more obvious than it is in June, unilaterally declared "Pride Month" by an army of international companies and nonprofit organizations. Make no mistake, "Pride" is not a grassroots endeavor or a redress of grievances. The LGBT community has no legitimate grievances, and they have the same exact rights under the law as everyone else. No, Pride Month is about power and cultural saturation.

DEI is the same; a corporate effort to inject woke politics into daily life for workers as well as consumers until the rhetoric is so ingrained into everyone's existence that they no longer question its legitimacy.

Almost no one asked for pride month. Almost no one asked for DEI. Most people just don't care. Yet, every year for the past several years corporations and elements of government have foisted these ideas on the population and told us this is something we will have to embrace if we want to be considered "good people."

It is this argument that I want to focus on, the idea that corporations are now dictating morality to the public as if they are the arbiters of our culture.

At some point along the way (it's hard to determine exactly when) corporations took on a new mantra, a new way of looking at business. They decided that they were no longer beholden to the customer; the customer was now beholden to them. In other words, if they put out a product with woke intent, then the customer must buy that product and love it unconditionally, or that customer will be labeled an enemy.

This is a grotesque juxtaposition of the traditional business/consumer relationship. I have long argued that corporations are not free market entities, but socialist constructs chartered and protected by governments. However, they used to at least care about making consumers happy so that they could make a profit and continue to function. This is no longer the case.

Today, corporations treat consumers as slaves on a plantation. They are to be told what to eat, what to drink, what to love, what to hate and what to think. Just look at the endless examples of when consumers have pushed back against woke ideology or DEI in corporate marketing; in almost every case that company along with the establishment media will ATTACK their customers as racists, bigots, misogynists, or fascists.

They will say that if a group of customers don't like a product because of the political messaging, then they don't want those people as customers. They proudly point those people to the door. Then, when their products fail and their sales implode, they once again blame "bigots and racists."

Of course, everyone's first inclination would be to point out that these companies are self-destructing. You can't treat the majority of your buyers like lepers and expect to continue bringing in revenue. Eventually, these corporations will die.

That said, I would like to suggest three alternative theories.

Theory #1: I have talked a lot in the past about ESG and how it failed as a tool for consolidating power. Globalists, through groups like the Council for Inclusive Capitalism, thought they could unify corporations under the ESG lending umbrella and then use them as an influence monopoly to force the public to submit to woke ideals. The public resisted this program and exposed the agenda.

But, what if ESG was just a beta test?  What if the real goal is to go full communist, making governments and central banks the primary source of ESG funding? In other words, what if these corporations know something we don't, and they expect governments to eventually step in and save them with a perpetual woke bailout? Any company that toes the line when it comes to progressive politics gets saved. Any company that doesn't is allowed to collapse.

Theory #2: What if major corporations are acting like they don't need to satisfy consumers because corporate leaders have been told that the system is going to break down in the near term? What if they have abandoned their mandate to pursue profits and have become propaganda peddlers because they know profits don't matter anymore?

If the economy is about to suffer a Great Depression-like destabilization (or something worse), then this might explain why corporate leaders have allowed their products and public relationships to derail.

Theory #3: Then there is the possibility that the concept of the customer as an indentured servant to the corporation is a median step toward an Orwellian future, the world of the "Sharing Economy" promoted by the World Economic Forum.

What if the habit of trying to shame consumers into accepting whatever product they get is designed to acclimatize the populace to a culture in which free market choice completely disappears? In the Sharing Economy (built around a cashless society) government essentially provides everything while you own nothing. The idea of private property evaporates. In this kind of environment, the public would have to simply settle for whatever food they are given, whatever housing they are given, whatever tools they are given, whatever job they are given, whatever entertainment they are given, etc.

And, when people are "given" something the expectation is that they are supposed to be grateful for it no matter what it is. That is to say, the Sharing Economy would breed a slave mentality in which everyone must be happy with what little they have. If they complain, well, they are ungrateful little monsters that need to be dealt with, right?

This is how the corporate world is treating the public RIGHT NOW. Imagine what things will be like in the next decade if we allow this trend to continue. Corporations can't force people to buy their garbage products today, but what if tomorrow governments give them that power?

This is what the culture war is all about. Some people want to embrace the dystopian system (mostly leftists) and people who see this system for the evil it truly is (everyone else). The boycotting of woke corporations is a vital example of the battle that is raging over the future of free markets and freedom in general.

To truth and knowledge,

Brandon Smith