I amDo companies cross states? This question, which has haunted people’s minds since the dawn of capitalism, resurfaces in the fight between global media giant Disney and the state of Florida. A fight that transcends the cultural difference that was the beginning of this affair. This Wednesday, April 26, the company announced that it has filed a complaint against the government for non-compliance with amendments to the US Constitution on legal certainty and freedom of expression.

The lawsuit began in the spring of 2022 when Disney CEO Bob Chabeck publicly criticized Florida’s new law to ban discussions of gender and sexuality in elementary education. The tone quickly rose between the administration and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made no secret of his presidential ambitions.

Things seem to have calmed down once former CEO Bob Iger returns to the helm, and a new county council appointed by the governor doesn’t add fuel to the fire by revoking an agreement made by the previous council. A rift is burning between Florida government and one of its major employers.

A state within a state

It must be said that behind the clear political divide now involving the question of culture in America hides another matter of power. In 1967, when Disney chose to locate its massive Disney World in Florida, it negotiated with the state to gain full control over a 100-square-kilometer district near Orlando where the park was built. He received tax breaks and full government control in the area, used his own utilities and set his own rules for development. A state within a state.

It is this exception that Ron DeSantis has disavowed and broken up with the District Council of Disney executives to hire his men. According to the future US presidential candidate, behind the “Vogue Disney” feud are the loss of power, and the loss of currency, tax breaks.

Since the Middle Ages, kings and presidents have burned down debtors, nationalized banks and factories, brought business stars to their knees to show who was the real boss. The recent Chinese example has again provided evidence of this, particularly with the fall of Alibaba’s over-ambitious boss Jack Ma. Here again, the will to power is linked to the culture war. Shaping the minds of the people has always been a condition for acquiring and maintaining political power.