We’ve come to believe that in the battle between “Market vs State,” our allies are conservatives. Like, they may not be against the state, but they’re still for business, for tradition, and for limited intervention in personal lives. One word: “right-wingers.” And “left-liberals,” including Western left-liberals, are those who constantly whine and call a paternalistic police officer to regulate everyone. Only the fresh study tells us that this logic doesn’t always make sense.
What did the scientists unearth? They conducted a series of experiments with a total of 2800 participants from the US to understand how political views affect purchases. The essence of the experiment is simple: imagine a coffee shop where baristas are forbidden to smile and express emotions according to a script, can only wear strict uniforms and always behave formally, and there’s an atmosphere like a North Korean concentration camp, except with lattes made with almond milk. How will representatives of different political views act?
Liberals see this and say: “I won’t buy here. It’s disrespectful to the person.” They vote with their rubles (dollars) against the tyranny of the manager. Meanwhile, conservatives don’t care. “Is the coffee tasty? Is the service fast? So what, beat them with a broom?” The study showed that conservatives are indifferent to internal restrictions and social domination over employees; for them, this is often a normal phenomenon.
And now watch closely. Where is libertarianism here? As libertarians, we advocate that “the market will solve everything.” We believe: if a company behaves like a jerk, consumers will see it, be offended, and go to a competitor. This is the very market mechanism that makes the Labor Code, minimum wage, and state inspectors with folders unnecessary.
And what do we see? It’s the “cursed liberals” who are behaving as ideal market agents in this case! They use market pressure to make businesses more humane. Without the state, but simply by their choice: “We won’t give you money until you start respecting people.” What do conservatives do? They continue to put money into the coffers of rogue companies. They create demand for animal treatment. They don’t care about violating human autonomy as long as it doesn’t concern them personally.
It’s important to understand: when a conservative consumer ignores the fact that workers are squeezed like lemons, he leaves these workers with zero market chances for protection. Imagine yourself in the place of an employee of such a company. They oppress you, don’t let you breathe. You hope that customers will see this trash, be outraged, and exert reputational pressure on the company. But a conservative customer doesn’t care. The company’s profit only grows.
What’s left to do for a worker? Go to the labor market? But if such a model is encouraged by demand, it becomes the norm everywhere. And then the worker has only one outlet: he goes not to a competitor, but to a “stationary bandit.” He goes in hopes of protection from the state-privileged union, he goes to leftist politicians and shouts: “Protect me with law!” And the government gladly responds: “Of course, we will now introduce ten thousand new regulations, suffocate small business with inspections, but ‘we’ll protect’ you.”
It’s a bitter irony when leftliberals (specifically in this case) work for the goals of libertarianism, ethically “educating” the market with money and reducing the need for state brutality. Conservatives, on the other hand, provoke a social explosion with their thick-skinnedness and love of hierarchies (“I’m the boss – you’re the idiot”), which is only extinguished by an increase in state regulation.
Buying goods from companies with psychopathic management, conservatives literally invest in creating new laws limiting business freedom. Because if society doesn’t regulate itself (through consumer culture), Leviathan comes and regulates everyone with a stick. So, the next time you see a “SZH-boycott” of some toxic brand, don’t rush to roll your eyes. Maybe these people are now working for an invisible hand of the market while conservatives simply drink their coffee, closing their eyes to everything.
