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Because Nike doesn't want you to think about the person working for $2 dollars a day to make your shoes in a sweatshop.
Totally agree. It's also easier for McDonalds to post a black box to say they care rather than address that 75% of their black female employees will experience sexual harassment at some point while working there.
Because the Left is a controlling religion -- controlling in the US in a way that Christianity has not been for a hundred years.

If you dare to go against the Left they will destroy you. Is it mere coincidence that every corporation that expresses a cultural opinion expresses an opinion that is amenable to the left? I think not. Do not folks on the right punish? Well, we're too lazy, for one thing. But we also believe (I would say) in freedom of thought. We will not destroy you for thinking differently than we do.

I notice less than 10 minutes after posting that I am down to zero points. This means someone has downvoted me, right?

I have never downvoted anyone on Hacker News. It is not in keeping with an ethos of free speech.

Part of the ethos of free speech is that those who think your comment is absurd can say so. On HN, the downvote button is one way that people say so.

Now, it's a pretty poor way to do so, because it conveys only one bit of information. Still, it is within the site guidelines that "downvote to disagree" is legitimate.

Yes, my criticism of the down vote is as much a criticism of how HN has decided to structure things as it is of those who actually do the downvoting.
Those on the right may punish. But those on the left have the megaphone right now, and if you're worried about publicity and how it affects your brand, you're worried about the opinion of those with the megaphone.
You are entirely right. But I would respect the Left more and fear them less if they relied more on persuasiveness rather than a cudgel. And it seems no matter how far to the left you are, you will eventually be attacked on your left flank.