America's Counter-Revolution The Constitution Revisited
From the back cover:
This book challenges the assumption that the Constitution was a landmark in the struggle for liberty. Instead, Sheldon Richman argues, it was the product of a counter-revolution, a setback for the radicalism represented by America’s break with the British empire. Drawing on careful, credible historical scholarship and contemporary political analysis, Richman suggests that this counter-revolution was the work of conservatives who sought a nation of “power, consequence, and grandeur.” America’s Counter-Revolution makes a persuasive case that the Constitution was a victory not for liberty but for the agendas and interests of a militaristic, aristocratic, privilege-seeking ruling class.
3 comments:
"Such behavior" [refusal to serve particular customers] is "repugnant?"
Is that supposed to be self-evident? It isn't, you know.
It's not self-evident in the sense that denial is a logical contradiction. But it is self-evident in this sense: If I entered a store ready to accept the terms apparently offered and was told, "Get out. We don't serve your kind here," I would not find it repugnant. The golden rule is a reasonable rule.
Hi Sheldon,
Thanks for another great article (I read all of it at FFF). I wish more people understood that social cooperation and market preference do a much better job of punishing "bigotry" than legislative fiat. However, I have to agree with the first comment. Even with your qualification, it is not self evident that refusal to serve particular customers is repugnant.
You state:
"But does this mean that private individuals may not peacefully sanction businesses that invidiously discriminate against would-be customers?
No! They may, and they should. Boycotts, publicity, ostracism, and other noncoercive measures are also constituents of freedom of association."
I agree completely that this tactic is valid and socially useful. However, may not a business owner employ the same strategy? As a business owner, can I not boycott customers I find to be morally objectionable? For an easy example, if a customer walked into my store wearing a "God Hates Fags" T-shirt, I would ask them to leave. For a more difficult example, consider the possibility that a self-organized business boycott of "particular" people may be socially beneficial in the same manner as a customer boycott of business. Imagine that the "particular" people being boycotted comprise anyone who chooses to be employed in a profession that requires the rights violation of others (policeman, soldier, DEA agent, IRS agent, prosecutor, etc...).
Kind Regards,
Jeremy
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