Quick Take
Michael Polhamus believes the public needs to know about PublicSquare, an online marketplace created by MAGA supporters featuring businesses that are against diversity, equity and inclusion, environmental protection and abortion. The site has 30 Santa Cruz County businesses signed up. Polhamus thinks the public is not aware of what PublicSquare is, that it calls itself the “anti-woke Amazon” or that local businesses are part of it. He suggests consumers get more information about where their money is going locally, what it is supporting and the choices they have in the marketplace.
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The current political climate in the United States is toxic, in part because people on both sides of the political spectrum feel powerless. Many people in Santa Cruz County feel that there is nothing they can do to voice opposition to the policies of the Trump administration.
Donald Trump and his acolytes have complete control over all branches of the federal government, which is being dismantled before our very eyes. It makes sense that many people would feel powerless, without choices, and with no way to resist.
However, there is.
PublicSquare is a publicly traded online marketplace started in 2021 and based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Self-described as the “anti-woke” Amazon, a place where consumers can “shop America’s woke-free ecommerce app & marketplace,” this online marketplace is committed to “consumers and businesses that value life, family, and liberty.”
After I learned about this site on reddit.com, I must say I was curious to learn more about an emerging business that thought Amazon was too woke. I found that not only was this online marketplace operating in California but also in Santa Cruz County and the Bay Area more broadly. That got me wondering.
I did some more digging and realized 30 different businesses around Santa Cruz County have registered on this site, which is not a simple process. That includes three in Boulder Creek, five in Scotts Valley, four in Santa Cruz, nine in Live Oak and Capitola, three in Soquel and Aptos, two in Watsonville and one each in Felton and Ben Lomond.
The site is dedicated to supporting small businesses and shoppers who espouse anti-DEI, pro-life and anti-environmental, social and governance (ESG) values and practices. For those who don’t know, ESG is a framework used to evaluate a company’s sustainability and ethical impact, encompassing its environmental practices, social responsibility and corporate governance.
One of PublicSquare’s early investors, and a recent appointee to its board of directors, is Donald Trump Jr.
Kelly Loeffler, the administrator for the Small Business Administration under the current Trump administration, resigned her post as a board member for PublicSquare upon being confirmed to her current position in February. Nick Ayers, former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence during the first Trump administration, is also currently a board member.
This site is the brainchild of the current MAGA movement.
PublicSquare is slowly spreading around the Bay Area as many business owners are seeking greater exposure to the online marketplace in a difficult economic climate. To be listed on the site as a PublicSquare business, owners must adhere to the site’s “values” listed above and PublicSquare must vet the business’ marketing material and social media for purity to trade in a “values-vetted marketplace.”
I could see a small business seeking greater exposure through a site such as this in today’s economy as a matter of survival. Perhaps, an unwitting business owner didn’t do their due diligence about this site and simply have made a mistake. I could understand and forgive that.
But this is different.
To get onto the site, the 30 different Santa Cruz businesses not only had to apply, but also have their materials reviewed for content. They also have to agree to uphold the values the site stands for.
That is a voluntary action that takes time and effort, which is not explainable by an “oopsie.”
Second, Donald Trump Jr. is not only an investor, but is now a board member. This means that he is directly responsible for shaping company culture and policies. He is also directly profiting from the sales made on the site, with a 15% commission for each sale going to the company and, thus, shareholders. Prospective business owners should be aware of this, because it’s everywhere from the X sphere to national news publications to the PublicSquare website.
I believe most Santa Cruz County consumers would not want to support businesses committed to anti-DEI, anti-abortion, anti-ESG ideology. These are not popular values in Santa Cruz County as shown during the most recent general election. I’m proud to live in a county where what you stand for means as much as what you’re selling.
I also don’t want to put a single cent in Donald Trump Jr.’s pocket. I do not support many, probably most, of the values he stands for and certainly do not want to make a man like him more wealthy. One report stated that Donald Trump Jr. allegedly owns over 550,000 shares of this company.
Furthermore, I do not support exporting a single hard-earned Santa Cruz dollar, and the support it offers to the local economy, out of state where it will almost certainly be used to further the stated values this company supports.
My intention here is not to sink small businesses. Family-owned and -operated local businesses are extremely important to our local economy and well-being, regardless of the politics of the owner. My intention is to give people more information, to make people aware of their choices and the indirect consequences of spending their hard-earned money.
Consumers having good information about businesses and products is a key component of a healthy marketplace so that they can make informed choices. We vote with our dollars, and we build the economic world around us through our collective purchases. If you are like me, and you like good information about what you buy, you can go to PublicSquare.com and determine if these are businesses and values you want to support.
For me, those registered on the site have made a conscious choice to associate their pocketbooks with politics in a way which is difficult to ignore. I cannot in good conscience support businesses that are making a point to support these people and these values publicly as a matter of commercial opportunity. That’s my choice.
I’m biased, though. I’m a moderate Democrat, a Kamala Harris supporter, a proud labor union member and I reject Trumpism. I think childbirth is a woman’s choice, I think diversity makes us stronger, I think the policies businesses support and that play out in the workplace matter.
I resent PublicSquare’s attempt to leech profits in a marketplace where ethical business practices are set aside as irrelevant and dismissed as “woke.” I also resent the attempt to elevate locally unpopular political positions by leveraging an online economic ecosystem exclusively for the use of business owners willing to support them.
But mostly, I just think the public deserves to be aware of this because I don’t think they are. And now that you are, you have a choice.
Michael Polhamus is an American government & economics teacher for Santa Cruz City Schools, former board member of the Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County, and chair of the City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission.