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| Political Ethics |
Choux |
12/03/05 |
"According to a recent article in the Advocate, Ford Motor company, failing in its efforts to increase plummeting sales, has apparently decided that the best way to regain the hearts of Americans is to embrace homophobia.
The virulently anti-gay American Family Association (AFA) recently approached the foundering automobile company and informed them that, because Ford was advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications, the AFA would launch a boycott of the company.
Apparently, Ford immediately caved. On December 2nd, Ford spokesman Mike Moran told the Advocate.com that indeed, the company will stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in all gay publications.
For a short time Ford actually had been supportive of equal rights for all Americans, supporting various minority causes. No longer. Donald Wildmon, the AFA’s chairman, was quoted as saying “[Ford has] heard our concerns; they are acting on our concerns. We are pleased with where we are.”
Moran didn’t provide many details about its agreement with the AFA, although the assumption has to be that in upcoming Ku Klux Klan parades, the participants will all be driving brand new white Ford Tauruses.
Homophobia is an interesting policy for a company started by Henry Ford, one of Hitler’s strongest supporters in America, and one the country’s most outspoken anti-Semites. Ford was the author of such books as: "The International Jew, the World's Foremost Problem," which were distributed through Ford's car dealerships.
This bit of unhappy news comes at a time when Ford is in deep financial trouble, closing its plants and desperately trying to restructure the company. Interesting that the company seems to have decided that gays don’t buy Fords, or that the gay market, far bigger than the AFA market, isn’t worth holding on to. Also interesting that the company has decided its future lies in its past, in its gone-but-not-forgotten policies of discrimination and bias.
Most Americans are not familiar with the company’s shameful history.....""
Is it ethical to pressure Corporations for religious agendas? Is it ethical for a Corporation to cave-in to pressure?
Do any ethical considerations cover product boycots? |
Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 12/05/05 3:00 pm:
No, Chou, I can't give you examples of why it is ethical, other than to say that that is how American politics works. It is not UNETHICAL, and that is all I can say on the matter.
Can you tell me why it is moral for a group to try to use its political strength to try to get the government to codify their behavior when the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that their behavior should NOT be codified, and is immoral?
Can you tell me why it is ethical for a group to threaten to boycott organizations that stand for moral values that have been the standard for civilization for the past 5,000 years in favor of activities that are considered by most people to be immoral?
Is it moral or ethical for a group to print an article like the one that you cite, claiming that some group or other are homophobes and cowards because they made a decision or support a stance that the group disagreed with?
If there are moral or ethical considerations in this case, I would look to the slanderous article that you cited, not Ford or the AFA. AFA is doing what it is chartered to do, supporting the traditional definition of "family". Ford is making a business decision based on the possibility of losing a few gay customers vs. losing a lot of hetero customers. The writer of the article, however, is stooping to name-calling, hetero-bashing, etc. So you tell me which of these is unethical.
Elliot Clarification/Follow-up by Choux on 12/05/05 7:03 pm:
Thanks, Elliot.
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