Alolan_Apples
“Assorted” Collector
When I call for respect of others based on political beliefs, there is another thing I do not support from either side - boycotting for political reasons.
You see, you are free to buy whatever you want to buy and from wherever you want, but if you boycott a business because the CEO or manager makes an opinion you don’t agree with, you are clearly showing intolerance. Basically, you’re a bigot when you boycott a business because of what the owner or management believes in. Unless if they’re being discriminatory or prejudicial, or if they make their business unsafe or uncomfortable for customers or employees, do not boycott a business because of a political belief you disagree with. I’m not trying to force you to buy what you don’t want to buy. Nor would I be okay with anyone doing so since that’s both fascist and bullying. But boycotting because of their political beliefs, that’s intolerance.
It’s also very bad for the economy to use political reasons to boycott. Their beliefs have no effect on the products or services. How does opposing Obamacare’s employer mandate affect the quality of pizzas? How does removing Christmas labels on red cups affect the taste of coffee? There are some exceptions like plastic straw bans, regulations on how much fat you can put in foods, and legalizing marijuana smoking in hotel rooms. But most of the cases, it has no effect on the product or service. Mass boycotts of a business would hurt the income, which will result in either laying off workers or reducing their wages, which would make their lives worse. It may even hurt other businesses involved.
Back in 2012 when Chick-fil-a voiced their opinions on same-sex marriage, I villified the Democrats for boycotting Chick-fil-a for lacking respect in Chick-fil-a. Even a few cities banned Chick-fil-a from opening there. They also did this to Papa John’s for opposing Obamacare and Hobby Lobby for opposing the birth control mandate. Now, even the Republicans are doing it. They recently did it to Nike for putting Colin Kaepernick in their advertisements. If someone isn’t willing to respect a business because of what they believe, why should I respect him/her? Again, I wouldn’t force someone to buy what they don’t want to buy, but I wouldn’t show respect towards anyone that can’t be tolerant towards a business over their political views. I understand the logic of “vote with your feet”, but I’m not like them. Whatever the manager believes in or donates to, as well as who endorses the service, has no meaning to me or the products or services they provide.
It’s also worth mentioning that both the liberals and conservatives are hypocrites for boycotting over political beliefs. Democrats, if you want everybody to be tolerant, why would you be intolerant of a business that disagrees with you? Republicans, if you support the free market system, why wouldn’t you support the business’s rights to have an opinion or make certain decisions? Okaying your opponents to boycott businesses you support doesn’t make you any less than a hypocrite since you’re already contradicting your core values.
However, I wouldn’t be completely against boycotting over political beliefs. If I were, I would okay discrimination or child labor, which aren’t any good. There are some exceptions to my boycott beliefs that I would like to point out:
You see, you are free to buy whatever you want to buy and from wherever you want, but if you boycott a business because the CEO or manager makes an opinion you don’t agree with, you are clearly showing intolerance. Basically, you’re a bigot when you boycott a business because of what the owner or management believes in. Unless if they’re being discriminatory or prejudicial, or if they make their business unsafe or uncomfortable for customers or employees, do not boycott a business because of a political belief you disagree with. I’m not trying to force you to buy what you don’t want to buy. Nor would I be okay with anyone doing so since that’s both fascist and bullying. But boycotting because of their political beliefs, that’s intolerance.
It’s also very bad for the economy to use political reasons to boycott. Their beliefs have no effect on the products or services. How does opposing Obamacare’s employer mandate affect the quality of pizzas? How does removing Christmas labels on red cups affect the taste of coffee? There are some exceptions like plastic straw bans, regulations on how much fat you can put in foods, and legalizing marijuana smoking in hotel rooms. But most of the cases, it has no effect on the product or service. Mass boycotts of a business would hurt the income, which will result in either laying off workers or reducing their wages, which would make their lives worse. It may even hurt other businesses involved.
Back in 2012 when Chick-fil-a voiced their opinions on same-sex marriage, I villified the Democrats for boycotting Chick-fil-a for lacking respect in Chick-fil-a. Even a few cities banned Chick-fil-a from opening there. They also did this to Papa John’s for opposing Obamacare and Hobby Lobby for opposing the birth control mandate. Now, even the Republicans are doing it. They recently did it to Nike for putting Colin Kaepernick in their advertisements. If someone isn’t willing to respect a business because of what they believe, why should I respect him/her? Again, I wouldn’t force someone to buy what they don’t want to buy, but I wouldn’t show respect towards anyone that can’t be tolerant towards a business over their political views. I understand the logic of “vote with your feet”, but I’m not like them. Whatever the manager believes in or donates to, as well as who endorses the service, has no meaning to me or the products or services they provide.
It’s also worth mentioning that both the liberals and conservatives are hypocrites for boycotting over political beliefs. Democrats, if you want everybody to be tolerant, why would you be intolerant of a business that disagrees with you? Republicans, if you support the free market system, why wouldn’t you support the business’s rights to have an opinion or make certain decisions? Okaying your opponents to boycott businesses you support doesn’t make you any less than a hypocrite since you’re already contradicting your core values.
However, I wouldn’t be completely against boycotting over political beliefs. If I were, I would okay discrimination or child labor, which aren’t any good. There are some exceptions to my boycott beliefs that I would like to point out:
- Food Network fired Paula Deen for something she did 28 years before her firing. Although there’s no defending of that racial slur (or any bad word in particular), this has been done a long time ago, and that is irrelevant to Food Network’s business.
- The Red Hen restaurant in Lexington expelled Sarah Huckabee Sanders since she is a Trump cabinet member. I understand how heinous it is to separate children from their parents by law, but if you can’t separate politics from business with a customer, don’t bother making any business.
- Target removed gender restrictions from bathrooms and fitting rooms, which puts women and girls in danger. Bathroom bills that require people to use bathrooms based on biological sex are stupid, but removing gender restrictions would mean anybody, not just transgender people, can make bathroom choices.
- Facebook and Twitter are discriminating against conservatives by shutting down conservative pages and accounts while giving liberals the pass for breaking the rules. They’re even lying about it and/or hiding the truth.
- Google fired James Damore for denying gender discrimination and pointing out differences in social behaviors based on genders. It would be hard to boycott Google since it became a vital resource, but they did corporate abuse.
- SeaWorld abused Tilikum and separated baby orcas from him as part of their orca breeding program. It’s a good thing they stopped doing this though.
- The NFL is allowing their players to kneel or sit down during the national anthem. Not only it’s disrespect to our nation, but they are spreading politics into football. And whatever they’re putting into football is a very touchy issue.
