In The End, Disney’s Florida Dream Succumbed To Its Democracy Problem
deadline.comIt was bound to happen, sooner or later. On Monday, the Walt Disney Co.’s corporate privilege in Florida finally succumbed to its Democracy Problem.
Specifically, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that stripped Disney of its highly unusual control over a special entity, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, that had the power to tax, spend, plan, zone and generally govern the acreage surrounding Disney’s Florida theme parks.
In narrow terms, the move stemmed from a dispute over Disney’s stance over a Florida parental rights law, branded “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents, that limits sex-and-gender education to younger children.
But in truth, the revocation was a long overdue rupture in a corporate/political structure that concealed a hidden flaw. Reedy Creek was a Utopian construct, endowed with powers—including the right to generate nuclear power, if needed—that were granted 55 years ago in the expectation that successors to company founder Walt Disney would fulfill his plan to build a techno-based paradise, a truly functional Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
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