I’m no admirer of Republicans, particularly the form of Trump Republicanism that has dominated the party for the past seven years.
But credit must be given where it is due and there is one strategy Republicans continue to use to great effect: hostage-taking of words, phrases and ideas and reshaping them into pejoratives.
The tactic not only fuels the perpetual outrage that drives most of the content on Fox News, it confuses issues and serves as a distraction from issues of far greater importance.
Probably the most familiar example is Critical Race Theory (CRT) which was an obscure college-level course taught mainly in law schools that explained institutional racism, both in history and in its current state. CRT was presented 30 years ago when legal scholars began to question the concept of value-neutral law and its effect on perpetuating racial injustice.
Then conservative activist Christopher Ruso transformed it into an attack on white Americans.
It caught fire almost immediately. Soon state legislatures, including Mississippi, were creating laws banning CRT in schools where it has never been taught.
Other ideas, phrases and movements have been similarly mischaracterized and weaponized, including Black Lives Matter, Antifa and the “woke movement” which is particularly popular among conservative office-holders and politicians. Anything approaching racial justice, or sexual orientation, climate change or any other issue considered “liberal” is labeled as the work of “the woke mob.”
Of course, you have to keep feeding the beast and conservatives may have found their next hostage: ESG.
The average person may never have heard the term until this week, when President Biden vetoed legislation that overturned a Labor Department rule that permits fiduciary retirement fund managers to consider climate change, good corporate governance and other factors when making investments on behalf of pension plan participants.
It is a concept called ESG and it has been around since the 1980s. It’s used as an investment tool to evaluate public-traded companies. The “E” stands for environmental impact, the ”S” stands for Social Impact (how the company affects the community where it is located) and “G” stands for the company leadership’s commitment to living up its environment and social/community obligations.
Until now, the idea was hardly controversial. Honoring the values of ESG is not only good for the company’s standing with the community, it’s good business. Investors find value in that, too.
But suddenly the word has gone out for Republicans to redefine this otherwise benign idea as “woke capitalism.”
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves was all over it, tweeting, “ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology.”
That “woke mob” apparently includes Steel Dynamics CEO Mark Millet. You may recall that Reeves called a special session to secure $250 million in incentives for the company’s new aluminum plant in Lowndes County. The company’s $2.5 billion project is the biggest in state history.
Here’s something else you should know about SDI: Investors’ Business Daily named Steel Dynamics as one of the 100 Best ESG Companies of 2021.
“What is called ESG and sustainability is something that’s been woven into the fabric of our company since our inception 27 years ago,” Millet said in acknowledging the designation.
Why the governor would be so eager to hand out $250 million in incentives to a “woke capitalist organization” like Steel Dynamics is anyone’s guess.
It could be that Reeves is full of crap and simply cannot resist any opportunity to fear-monger.
It is, after all, his only discernible talent.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is ssmith@cdispatch.com.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is ssmith@cdispatch.com.
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