"Two weeks ago, PayPal announced plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte and employ over 400 people in skilled jobs. In the short time since then, legislation has been abruptly enacted by the State of North Carolina that invalidates protections of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens and denies these members of our community equal rights under the law.
"The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture. As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte."According to Schulman, "This decision reflects PayPal’s deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect. These principles of fairness, inclusion and equality are at the heart of everything we seek to achieve and stand for as a company. And they compel us to take action to oppose discrimination."
Sincere minds must question the sincerity of "PayPal’s deepest values" and "action to oppose discrimination." Their deepest values seem to only operate in the United States, where the movement of the bandwagon is in the same direction of their decision in North Carolina. If these are their "deepest values" and not just measures of expediency why not boycott "discrimination" across the globe -- much of it quite unlike a bathroom bill?
Congressman Robert Pittenger, a House of Representatives member from North Carolina, stated, "PayPal does business in 25 countries where homosexual [and transgender] behavior is illegal, including 5 countries where the penalty is death..." PayPal has offices or headquarters in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; Istanbul, Turkey; Chennai, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Moscow, Russia and so on. Check their policies on homosexuality and transgender. I haven't tried to verify Pittenger's exact number, but anyone who wants to have a go at it can find where PayPal does business HERE on their own web site.
Prison? PayPal doesn't pull out. Death? PayPal doesn't pull out. Must use a certain bathroom? Oh, we can't have that! The difference is probably this. PayPal can have success bullying individuals, states & other governmental bodies, and politicians in the United States. That's not a workable business solution across the globe, so "PayPal’s deepest values" must stay close to home. With Congressman Pittenger, I too must say "Perhaps PayPal would like to try and clarify this seemingly very hypocritical position."
At least that's how I see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment