New Capitalism, Old Problems
Corporate elites like Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff are holding out the prospect of a kinder, gentler capitalism. But relying on the goodwill of businesses won’t mend global inequality. We need democratic socialism.

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, in January 2009. (Robert Scoble / Flickr)
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s “fair, equal, and sustainable capitalism” is a charade that won’t convince.
Earlier this month, Benioff published an opinion piece in the New York Times proposing that businesses sign on to a vague and voluntary moral code to solve wealth inequality and climate catastrophe. He touted his experience at Salesforce as proof positive of “profit and purpose going hand in hand.”
What a time for Benioff to make that argument: his employees are currently organizing as part of a national campaign calling on Salesforce to drop their contract with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Benioff only mentions immigration in the op-ed in the context of reflecting on how bewildered his immigrant great-grandfather would have been by the enormous wealth he has accumulated. For Benioff, this great wealth is not a problem but rather a prerequisite for the solution: philanthropy to address social injustice.