Abe sent a message to Dan Schulman – President and CEO of PayPal – Email Address that said:
Hi Dan,
I'm writing to express my displeasure, as a PayPal customer, that you're cancelling your expansion plans in North Carolina do to their transgendered bathroom law. As a customer, and a US citizen, I'm becoming very very very tired to the politicization of business. I see it as hypocritical: it's okay for businesses to be prosecuted if they refuse on moral grounds from supporting causes they don't agree with (like Christian bakers refusing to provide a cake to a gay couple's wedding), and yet PayPal can assert it's right to cancel or change plans because of what? Your personal perspective on North Carolina's law, and your desire to wield your business as a weapon of change? This is not acceptable. If you politicize your business, than I--as a customer--will politicize my response. PayPal, as an entity has no moral compass. It fact, it has no consciousness at all. You, as a human, have consciousness and a moral and ethical compass, and you have a right to your own opinion and expression of that opinion. But that is where your rights end. To project your opinions (or those of your board) as being the voice of PayPal is just offensive to this customer. The risk you run is that millions of customers reject your politicization of your business. We may not care one way or another about North Carolina's law, but we do care that businesses stick to BUSINESS and stay out of policy (beyond that which makes sense for a business to be concerned about: namely, tax and labor law). You personally may feel that North Carolinas law is immoral and unethical, and certainly, feel free to express your personal dislike. Honestly, I don't have strong feelings one way or another on North Carolina's law, but I AM getting sick and tired of businesses having political opinions (no matter how they're justified). As such I am constructing a personal list of businesses I eschew doing business with BECAUSE of their expressed political stances. PayPal is now on that list (and will be until such time as it begins acting like a business, and less like a bully), and joins others such as Target and Starbucks. I think I'm not alone. I suspect you will discover that many Americans are tired of businesses being political, and will begin voting with our dollars. We will support those businesses who stick strictly to business matters, and zip their lips when it comes to political matters, and we will avoid doing business with those, like PayPal, who have become politicized. I hope I'm making myself clear here. I am extremely disappointed in your decision on this matter, and will do what I can to minimize my utilization of your platform.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Abe
