[Issue 057] May giveaway details! — Above the Bottom Line

Man, I love a good book!

I'm lowkey (okay, that's a lie) obsessed with books, and my dream is to own a home with enough space for a room with floor to ceiling books and the coziest reading couch ever.

Anyway, that's why I get so excited when publishers are generous enough to send me books to give away to ABL subscribers!

This month's giveaway is Reset: Business and Society in the New Social Landscape. It's all about how everyday people like me and you are using the tools at our disposal (like social media) to analyze and influence corporate behavior.

I picked it up last week, and I'm enjoying it so far. If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw some of my highly intellectual annotations (e.g. "WORD!") in my IG stories.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, then May's giveaway is for you. And can we please schedule a summer book club to discuss??

Enter with just one step: Hit reply and tell me why you think Corporate responsibility is important.

Important notes:

By entering you agree for me to quote your brilliant response in future ABL content.
On May 31st, Lora (ABL's fearless intern) will randomly select two winners, and your books will be mailed to you in June..

So what are you waiting for? This could be you:

❤️,
Nikita

I'm super excited because we have been working on creating ABL swag, which will be used for Patreon rewards, future giveaways and, possibly, an online store!

But first, we want ensure that all the products we choose are as ethically and sustainably sourced as possible. I've honestly been surprised by how difficult it is to find options that meet our needs for custom printing, fulfillment and shipping. So if you know any companies we should work with, please send their info my way.

Here are some of the items I'm considering. Let me know what you like best!

Youtube’s Plan To Clean Up The Mess That Made It Rich. In the past year Youtube has had a lot of scandal and tragedy associated with it and what its creators have posted. Now, there is a lot of talk about Youtube needing to clean up its “laissez-faire attitude” toward regulating content. // BLOOMBERG

Raising the Rent. Check out this infographic capturing how Amazon's 2nd HQ could lead to significant rent increases in various cities, many of which already have affordable housing issues. // NYTIMES

Gender Pay Gap Closes Up For CEOs. A study of roughly 2000 companies from 1996 to 2014 has shown that there is no longer a gender pay gap for CEOs of public companies. The authors believe that this is due to the fact that CEOs are considered the “face” of a company, and thus the investment in this position is significant, whether the person is male or female. // TRIPLE PUNDIT

The Top Jobs Where Women Are Outnumbered By Men Named John. While men named John represent 3.3% of the population and women represent 50.8%, the Glass Ceiling Index has found that there are fewer women than men named John among Republican senators, Democratic governors, CEOs of the Fortune 500, directors of the top 100 grossing movies of 2017... should I go on? // NYTIMES

Supreme Court Bars Human Rights Suits Against Foreign Corporations. In a 5 to 4 vote, The Supreme Court ruled that foreign corporations cannot be sued in American courts for human rights violations. In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor 👑 said the Supreme Court had created a double standard for corporations. // NYTIMES

At Nike, Revolt Led By Women Leads to Exodus of Male Executives. Female employees at Nike, fed up with their complaints being ignored, distributed a survey amongst their female peers, asking if they had experienced sexual harassment in the company. On March 5th, that packet of complaints landed on the Chief Executive’s desk. Since then six male executives have left or plan to leave. Nike has also started to review its Human Resources department. // NYTIMES

Who Will Stand Up For Chikesia Clemons? On April 22nd, Chikesia Clemons and a couple of her friends went into a Waffle House in Alabama to pick up a to-go order and asked for plastic cutlery. When told that it would cost 0.50 cents extra, Chikesia asked for the phone number of the corporate office to file a complaint. The police were called reportedly because the friends were drinking alcohol inside the restaurant, and while Chikesia was sitting in a chair, they wrestled her to the ground aggressively, exposing her breasts in the process. In the video clip of the attack by police officers, one of them even says “I’ll break your arm, that’s what I’m about to do,” in response to Chikesia asking what they were doing. // THE CUT

“Just as corporations can increase the capacity for production, so, too, some can increase the capacity for suffering.”

— Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent to Jesner v. Arab Bank