The Mother, the School, and the Holy Reindeer

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers;” Monty Python said, “Blessed are the cheesemakers.” How true, how true. But alas, the Ethics Scoreboard cannot bless the gratuitous troublemakers.

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Boycott Ethics

Boycotts have their place in a democracy, but it is a limited place. The method is a form of economic bullying, using commerce, or the withholding of it, to pressure a person or business into changing their conduct. The ethical problem with boycotts is that it is the economic impact, not the rightness of the cause, that usually determines the end result. Boycotts can and have been used for bad objectives as well as good. They also cause collateral damage, as innocent employees, investors and families lose income, jobs and security due to no fault of their own.

In a country that is based upon freedom of thought and political choice, using  boycotts to suppress positions that are merely controversial rather than objectively wrong is ethically offensive. Yet in these times of polarized parties and ideologues who cannot see the grays in any dispute, too many people are unable to tell the difference. “You have a right to your opinion,” is a sentiment heard less and less these days, particularly if that opinion involves an issue like abortion, global warming, or gun control.

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