Social activism is not business
CORPORATE Australia loves supporting fashionable issues like gay marriage.
Sure, it might make businesses appear progressive; but such social activism is fundamentally wrong.
Companies exist to mobilise capital, labour, entrepreneurial spirit and customers to make profits for shareholders. Nothing more, nothing less.
Preaching about who should be allowed to marry whom is a question best left to individuals.
Let’s get something straight, I support same-sex marriage.
Despite that, I’m also against corporations involving themselves in what is essentially a question of individual morality.
Big companies often have tens of thousands of employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers.
There is probably not one social issue on Earth with which 100 per cent of them would agree. Take your pick: gay marriage, religious freedom, the limits to free speech, animal rights, charitable donations or helping the homeless.
Opinions vary widely on all those issues.
How can any sizeable business pick one approach that satisfies all its stakeholders?
Consider short-stay behemoth Airbnb.
It has more than 100 million users, 640,000 hosts and operates in 191 countries. According to its Australian CEO, Sam McDonagh, at Airbnb’s heart are the values of “openness and belonging”.
As a result, the company has started a campaign in favour of gay marriage called Until We All Belong.
Its supporters are encouraged to wear incomplete rings designed to showcase marriage inequality in Australia.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Airbnb will supply the rings to all its employees who wish to highlight this particular bandwagon.
In its quest to provide a truly global service, Airbnb operates in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Dubai.
And why not? In recent years Dubai has become a luxury shoppers’ paradise that many Australians visit on their way to other destinations.
But Airbnb’s presence there makes it hypocritical on same-sex unions.
Like most Muslim nations, Dubai has strict views on homosexuality.
Its penal code provides for up to 10 years’ imprisonment for the crime of sodomy.
And in the past decade, both male and female tourists engaging in consensual gay sex have been imprisoned for their behaviour.
Genuine support for marriage equality is pretty thin on the ground in the Middle East.
Back in Australia, Airbnb is not alone in promoting the Until We All Belong campaign.
Telstra, ANZ and Qantas are also on board. As at Airbnb, their workers will also soon encounter bowls of marriage equality rings in the staff tearoom.
This jewellery-wearing works well in a theoretical touchy-feely world where everyone is a social reformist dedicated to eliminating perceived injustices.
But many people, be they religious, politically conservative or whatever, remain in favour of the traditional view of marriage as solely between a man and a woman.
Undoubtedly, some such people work at Airbnb, Telstra, Qantas and the ANZ. Could they be ostracised for not wearing a marriage equality ring?
It may take a brave person to reject the campaign once management has indicated the “correct” path.
Imagine if a corporation instructed its employees how to vote in state or federal elections? Or ruled that personal donations be made to only to charities officially supported by the company’s management and board?
Yet at businesses like Airbnb, Telstra, ANZ and Qantas, employee opposition towards social issues like gay marriage could soon be frowned upon. Companies are not people in the true sense of the word.
They shouldn’t have official opinions on social matters unless they relate specifically to their bottom line.
If Qantas, for example, decides to chase the pink travel dollar ahead of its more religiously conservative customers, it might make business sense to campaign in favour of gay marriage. Otherwise, it should remain silent on the matter. Tom Elliott is Drivetime host on 3aw. Regular columnist Chris Calcino returns next week.
THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE OFFICIAL OPINIONS ON SOCIAL MATTERS UNLESS THEY RELATE SPECIFICALLY TO THEIR BOTTOM LINE