AM I NEXT? WARNING: PURCHASING CAN BE DRIVEN BY PARTISAN POLITICS

The classic trade-offs between price, quality, and delivery have now been corrupted by the malignant mainstream media and social media platforms to add a fourth dimension: partisan politics. A renormalization of purchasing decisions that is immune to reputational advertising and risks offending large segments of the purchasing decision-makers.

And, it may not be enough to remain silent as those "social justice warriors, as they are colloquially known may demand active affirmation of their position with the implied threat of reputational damage, boycotts, or even worse, attacks on your vendors, financers, and large customers who may be castigated for their purchasing decisions.

Considering the time and cost of pursuing legal action against offenders in the mainstream media or on social media platforms, there are no easy solutions.

When all is said and done, it may be disconcerting to find that the attack was mounted by a teenager and his friends using automated bots.

Consider the case of a California teen who used an online petition to call out grocery retailer Trader Joe's for a light-hearted naming of ethnic foods. Examples like Trader Jose's Taco Shells and Trader Ming's Wonton Soup.

The company initially caved. According to a company spokesperson, “While this approach to product naming may have been rooted in a lighthearted attempt at inclusiveness, we recognize that it may now have the opposite effect — one that is contrary to the welcoming, rewarding customer experience we strive to create every day. Packaging for a number of the products has already been changed, but there’s a small number of products in which the packaging is still going through the process.”

When loyal customers mounted a counter-protest and details about the offended party surfaced, Trader Joe's reacted. "We want to be clear: we disagree that any of these labels are racist. We do not make decisions based on petitions. ... If we feel there is a need for change, we do not hesitate to take action."

In many cases attacks are mounted by low-esteem, low-accomplishment individuals seeking to feel better about themselves and to attract followers on social media platforms.

More malevolent cases involve competitors or those seeking to shake down companies in order to sell diversity training or consulting.

We are living in perilous times where personal, professional, and organizational reputations can be destroyed with a mouse-click.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? POLITICAL RISK AHEAD

JUNE 9, 2021 — THE XL PIPELINE IS OFFICIALLY CANCELED

TC Energy Corporation confirmed today that after a comprehensive review of its options, and in consultation with its partner, the Government of Alberta, it has terminated the Keystone XL Pipeline Project.

Construction activities to advance the Project was suspended following the revocation of its Presidential Permit on January 20, 2021. The Company will continue to coordinate with regulators, stakeholders, and Indigenous groups to meet its environmental and regulatory commitments and ensure a safe termination of and exit from the Project.

Following is a statement from TC Energy’s President and Chief Executive Officer, François Poirier:

We value the strong relationships we’ve built through the development of this Project and the experience we’ve gained. We remain grateful to the many organizations that supported the Project and would have shared in its benefits, including our partners, the Government of Alberta and Natural Law Energy, our customers, pipeline building trade unions, local communities, Indigenous groups, elected officials, landowners, the Government of Canada, contractors and suppliers, industry associations and our employees.

Through the process, we developed meaningful Indigenous equity opportunities and a first-of-its-kind, industry-leading plan to operate the pipeline with net-zero emissions throughout its lifecycle. We will continue to identify opportunities to apply this level of ingenuity across our business going forward, including our current evaluation of the potential to power existing U.S. assets with renewable energy.

TC Energy’s infrastructure plays a critical role in powering the North American economy, delivering the energy people need every day, safely and responsibly. The Company continues to progress $20 billion of secured growth projects, $7 billion of projects under development, and numerous additional initiatives aligned with its risk preferences and return criteria across its business lines and geographies.

Looking forward, there is a tremendous opportunity for TC Energy in the energy transition with its irreplaceable asset footprint, financial strength, and organizational capabilities positioning it to capture further significant and compelling growth. The Company will continue to build on its 70-year history of success and leverage its diverse businesses in natural gas and liquids transportation along with storage and power generation to continue to meet the growing and evolving demand for energy across the continent.

JANUARY 21, 2021 — A WORST-CASE EXAMPLE

One example of political risks and their impact on the overall economy, an industry sector, feeder services, and individuals is the revocation of a construction permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline based on nothing but political concerns of a single large constituency, the progressive socialist democrat environmentalists.

On January 21, 2021, the first day in office for the newly elected President of the United States, the President signed an executive order revoking the construction permit for the 1,179-mile Keystone XL Pipeline which was designed to transport oil from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska.

It is estimated that single action may have killed 11,000 direct jobs and an estimated 60,000 indirect jobs in secondary, related industries.

According to a company spokesperson, "TC Energy Corporation will eliminate more than 1,000 construction jobs in coming weeks and halt work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline after U.S. President Joe Biden revoked the project’s presidential permit."

In a secondary provision, the President suspended oil and gas permits on federal land. It is not known how many positions this will affect.

For those wishing to read the Executive order, it can be found here on the White House site.

JANUARY 20, 2021 — BEWARE OF POLITICAL RISK

Today, January 20, 2021, we will experience a peaceful turnover of our government to another President and his administration.

While many of the rules and regulations implemented by the previous administration’s executive orders may be nullified or modified, Americans will be facing the political risks of a lifetime. Not only the risks of the continuing global pandemic which has wreaked havoc on our economy and small businesses but the risks of a radically different system of governance. A system that may see protected classes in finance, employment, housing, and healthcare elevated to preferential classes, along with a new set of social rules and cultural norms. Where local and state leaders become tyrannical using the authority they do not possess.

It is unknown what these changes will have on our Constitution, our nation, our economy, our culture, and individual citizens.

We can only suggest that you ask yourself, “Am I Next?” every day as you navigate the churning waters close to the waterfall. Consider developing multiple independent sources of income based on your skills. No longer rely on corporate loyalty or the goodwill of your government. Keep your skills sharp, update your resume, and keep looking to better your position. Lighten the load of “stuff” you may have accumulated through the years. Reduce your standard of living. Attempt to improve your mobility if you are able. And maintain an emergency fund.

You can no longer rely on the goodwill of the government, organizations, or even individuals. You must protect yourself and your family.

Best of luck.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? IS YOUR COMPANY AT RISK FOR DE-PLATFORMING?

This post is a cautionary tale for those organizations that rely on third-party hosting services for their functionality, discovery in the marketplace, logistics and fulfillment, payments processing, or other critical services.

Any organization that is dependent on a third-party hosting service assumes the risk of de-platforming that increases exponentially with the organization’s size, profitability, competitiveness, or public political profile, which may generate adverse regulatory, media, or public scrutiny for the third-party host.

The risk is greatly amplified if the third-party hosting service is a public company, experiencing financial difficulties, uses proprietary hardware, proprietary software, proprietary service, and storage protocols, is willing to sacrifice any customer for its beneficial gain, or is attempting to ward off or delay adverse governmental regulations.

The risk is also magnified when the technology company is controlled by a high-profile public person who seeks public attention and approval.

A contemporary example

According to John Matze, co-founder of one of the fastest-growing social media platforms and an alternative to Twitter, the company will be de-platformed by the technology services host, Amazon.

“Sunday (tomorrow) at midnight, Amazon will be shutting off all of our servers in an attempt to completely remove free speech off the internet. There is the possibility Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch. We prepared for events like this by never relying on amazons proprietary infrastructure and building bare metal products.

We will try our best to move to a new provider right now as we have many competing for our business, however Amazon, Google and Apple purposefully did this as a coordinated effort knowing our options would be limited and knowing this would inflict the most damage right as President Trump was banned from the tech companies.

This was a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the market place. We were too successful too fast. You can expect the war on competition and free speech to continue, but don’t count us out.”

Whether or not Parler can survive this attempt at de-platforming is unknown. As is the fate of their finances, staff, and future viability.

Unfortunately, many third-party service providers demand that organizations sign a unilateral one-sided contract, allowing them to take adverse actions against the organization without legal or financial consequences.

Whether or not Parler can bring a legal action based on anti-trust, anti-competitive, tortuous business interference, or even defamation. Likewise, whether or not Parler’s audience is enough to deter Amazon from taking precipitous action is unknown.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?