Boycotting by businesses not the best of tactics – The Courier-Express

Boycott is happening frequently in the context of politics.

That is disturbing.

Georgias recently enacted laws carry overtones of revenge by Republicans for former President Donald Trumps 2020 defeat in that state and the election of two Democratic senators from Georgia that gave Democrats control of the Senate.

But mixing politics and business is bad business. Americans traditionally require businesses to be open to the public, regardless of whether the customer is Democratic, Republican, etc.

Shouldnt we also expect businesses that are publicly owned to similarly stay at arms length from political decisions?

There is no outright crisis to be fought here. Georgias new laws, while regressive, are nowhere near the racism of the Jim Crow era.

Some provisions, such as the one forbidding anyone from offering even water to voters waiting in lines, are politically stupid. As to food, there is precedent: Free food, booze, etc., has been used as a wrongful vote-buying enticement since the dawn of the Republic.

Every Presidential election from Washingtons through Lincolns prominently featured free booze as an encouragement to vote. That smacks of machine politics. But no water? That is dumb.

So are some boycotts.

Major League Baseball is pulling its All-Star Game out of Atlanta. Do all of the owners of Major League Baseball teams approve of this? Probably not. Do all of the players, umpires and other employees? Assuredly not.

Coca-Cola is publicly traded. Its owners are hundreds of thousands of stockholders from all around the world. No vote of stockholders was taken. Other companies taking similar positions include Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, Viacom CBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS, and Merck.

Individual Americans can withhold patronage from any business for any reason or for no reason. That right can extend to sole proprietorships of the Mom and Pop variety.

But companies with many employees swim in dangerous waters when they attempt to navigate partisan political doings.

Far better to let voters have their say about Georgias new laws in elections in 2022 and 2024. Far better to actually see the consequences of Georgias new laws unintended as well as wink-and-nod intended consequences.

Boycotts are divisive and extremist by their nature, pitting groups of Americans against each other in our ability to earn our livings or conduct our businesses.

The rush to boycott in Georgia smacks of self-aggrandizing political correctness.

Lets not use that tactic.

Denny Bonavita

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Boycotting by businesses not the best of tactics - The Courier-Express