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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 8078150">I never denied COVID. I realize you are using it as an example, but given how people have responded to me on this thread, I think there is a lot of room for folks to get the wrong impression with the way this post is phrased. Again, I don't think this is a  sound argument Umbran. And I think it is a morally flawed one. It assumes there are two sides which people must join to every issue, rather than a spectrum of views. It also denies the reality of neutrality, which is simply wrong. If there is a conflict about something, one can choose not to be actively involved. Neutral nations and conscientious objectors arise all the time. Convoluted arguments about how they are actually deeply imbedded in a system that makes refraining from involvement a logical impossibility, don't seem like particularly logical arguments to me. This is especially important when considering the role of corporations. Corporations weld considerable power. They lobby and influence government policy. They have power over their employees. They choose which aspects of our culture and society to engage. They can choose to be neutral on matters of politics and morality. That doesn't mean they are entirely free from the system, but it means they can choose not advance causes. And I just don't trust corporations to make the right choices on moral issues. I think you are asking for trouble when you start demanding that companies weigh in on the moral issues of the day (for all the reasons I gave). Now if you disagree that is fine. I don't pretend to know everything. This is just my opinion. But you are talking to me like I am child who is living in ignorance and you are the teacher here to guide me, and that is kind of insulting. I arrived at my position on this issue though a lot of thought, life experience and learning. Then how can they not take stands on political issues and take sides in partisan contests. If neutrality is impossible, and everything is political, and all of us have to pick a side, shouldn't corporations be picking sides? Again, I think the better approach here is to reduce the power corporations have over us, rather than use spiderman as a moral guide. I really don't trust these kinds of institutions to make good moral judgments. The less involved they are in the moral issues of our day, the better. And people in this thread are relying on the power of the free market (which simply favors those who have the financial resources to vote with their dollar) to lead us down a moral path. Corporations are about making money. Pretending they are about anything else, is very unwise. They can certainly use moral language to their advantage, they can appeal to peoples sense of moral outrage to win customers. But these are profit driven institutions. Don't let them convince you that they are on your side simply because they are speaking your language or saying the right thing on twitter. That is all calculated and all just an attempt to get customers (and they would go the opposite direction in a heartbeat if they felt that would get them more profits).</blockquote>

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