A Liberal argues with a Liberal whether Apple is Liberal.

By D.C.

Anil Dash posts on his lefty blog,Dashes.com,Aug 19th, "What they're "protecting" us from".He makes the argument that business can be successful when operated in a "progressive" manner.He uses Apple,the computer and electronic gadget giant,as his prime example.

First,Dash establishes Steve Jobs',founder and CEO of Apple,solid leftist credentials,he writes;
"So, who is this man? He's the anchor baby of an activist Arab muslim who came to the U.S. on a student visa and had a child out of wedlock. He's a non-Christian, arugula-eating, drug-using follower of unabashedly old-fashioned liberal teachings from the hippies and folk music stars of the 60s. And he believes in science, in things that science can demonstrate like climate change and Pi having a value more specific than "3", and in extending responsible benefits to his employees while encouraging his company to lead by being environmentally responsible."

OK,I'll buy that,Steve Jobs has all the necessary paperwork to establish his big time lefty pedigree.Dash continues;
"Every single person who'd attack Steve Jobs on any of these grounds is, demonstrably, worse at business than Jobs. They're unqualified to assert that liberal values are bad for business, when the demonstrable, factual, obvious evidence contradicts those assertions."

Then Dash's coup de gras;
"It's a choice whether you, or anyone else, wants to accept the falsehood that liberal values are somehow in contradiction with business success at a global scale. Indeed, it would seem that many who claim to be pro-business are trying to "save" us from exactly the inclusive, creative, tolerant values that have made America's most successful company possible. I side with the makers, the creators, and the inventors, and it's about time that the pack of clamoring would-be politicians be put on the defensive for attacking the values of those of us on this side."

Take that you greedy right wing businessmen! OK,I admit I don't buy that.I think 'ole Dash is forgetting about,or doesn't understand,the "investors" and the fiduciary responsibility Steve Jobs has to them,but I'll play along with Dash for the sake of this post.Liberals can be successful in business by being liberals.

Not so fast there partner,Andrew Leonard,deputy commissar of the politburo,excuse me,I mean staff writer for Salon,does not agree.He argues in his,Aug 23rd,post "Apple's cool is no liberal triumph",that while Steve Jobs may be a card carrying member of the Socialist Party of America,it was not all the touchy feely liberal mish mash that made Apple a successful company.Leonard fires his first shot across Dash's bow,he writes;
" In his post, Dash neglects to point to a particular liberal-values bashing source, which makes it a little difficult to understand the motivation for the sudden attempt to reclaim business for progressivism, even if we grant that there are plenty of conservatives who do believe that peace and love equals bankruptcy. And sure, on the basis of such personal attributes, Steve Jobs helps to refute "the falsehood that liberal values are somehow in contradiction with business success at a global scale. " But is Apple, the company, really all that great an example of "inclusive, creative, tolerant values"? One could just as easily argue that Apple's ability to play the game of cutthroat capitalism as well, or better, than anyone else, derives from factors that have nothing whatsoever to do with anything "liberal."."

 Now ranged in on their mark,Leonard's big guns cut loose,he continues;
"Is it "liberal" to exploit cheap Chinese labor in massively dehumanizing monster manufacturing complexes? Is it "liberal" to lock down absolute control over the computing ecosystem? Is it "liberal" to wield a ruthless intellectual property litigation strategy to ward off competitive threats to market share?
I'm not saying Apple is wrong to do any of these things. Obviously, it makes very good business sense for Apple to keep labor costs as low as possible while maintaining a stranglehold over exactly how its hundreds of millions of customers interact with both the innards of its gadgets and the wonders of the Internet. Taking a cut out of every financial transaction an iPhone or iPad user engages in is also a brilliant strategy -- if your goal is to maximize revenues. But none of these things fits under the category of "inclusive" or "tolerant."."

OH NO! Dash is taking on water and beginning to flounder! Leonard goes on to point out that Google is more liberal (than Apple) because they open source their OS software,then he fires his next volley;
" Fighting aggressively for higher wages and better benefits for all employees, across borders, would probably be more "liberal" than offshoring all one's manufacturing operations in search of the lowest possible operating costs.."

At this point,in what has now become an act of mercy,Leonard deals the final blow;
"Apple does a fantastic job of marketing itself as the cooler alternative to its dowdy, mainstream competitors. But cool does not equal liberal. If there's a single quality that Apple exhibits above all others, it's the way the company has managed to mint gold out of Steve Jobs' totalitarian control-freakery. Creative, yes. Liberal, not quite.."

Dash rolls over belly up,then disappears beneath the waves to join Osama bin Laden in Davy Jones' locker at the bottom of the sea.

Andy Leonard is right about the cutthroat nature of business and he presents a realistic view of Apple's business practices but think about this.How do liberals behave in the political world? They are ruthless in pursuit of their ideological goals.Liberals are petty,mean spirited,cutthroats and backstabbers,who are vindictive without any conscious or shame.The total destruction of their political enemies by any means necessary,not just conservatives but other liberals too,is just another day at the office for the average liberal pol.

So,it's not much of a stretch to believe that liberals would behave in this same manner in the business world.I know a few liberals in my personal life,some are successful in business and I can tell you this.While they may be liberals,when they sit down behind that desk and start crunching the numbers they suddenly become conservatives,when they file those quarterly tax reports they bitch that their taxes are too dam high.But a liberal being a hypocrite is nothing new for them or Steve Jobs.