Conservatives Should Leave An Open Door When Creating New Industries

In recent weeks, the topic of boycotting has remained in the forefront of the national conversation as companies pander to the Left and take a hard stance against certain conservative values. As conservatives weigh the idea of implementing boycotts of their own, the core principles of open debate should be remembered.

After recent voter ID legislation passed in Georgia — laws Democrat leaders compared to Jim Crow — leading corporations spoke out. Some went further than talk, such as Major League Baseball, which pulled its All-Star game out of the state and moved it to Colorado in protest. 

When corporations become involved in denouncing certain groups of people and their values, they do the work of normalizing such behavior. This is how a society is formed wherein the loud voices of culture and consumerism drown out the individual citizen and tell them that their ideas are not valued.

Conservatives not only spoke out against the incorrect statements made by many on the Left about the Georgia voting laws, but they have also begun discussing potential responses to such efforts by companies who seem to want conservative principles to disappear. 

The “woke” culture seems to call out anyone in an established position who appears to side with conservatism. The canceling nature of the far Left pushes people out of the circle if they do not agree with the views accepted by the broader culture.

Now, some on the Right have encouraged boycotts of their own as a necessary means of response to industries which have mistreated conservatives in one way or another.

The question of when conservatives should take the leap and get into the practice of boycotting is one that has been a debate for some time. The boycotting of businesses and people based on political views is not something that ultimately promotes the idea of an open society strengthened by vigorous debate, and many have pushed back against it. But when ideas are shut down and individuals are not allowed to occupy the same space as those who think differently, it is hard to think of an alternative route.

Americans will always have divisions, but a country that is divided down to its core cannot stand. This doesn’t mean that differences of opinion should not be expressed. Diversity of thought in the United States is a good thing and can lead to important conversations and lasting compromise. The question remains as to how much division is a natural part of a free society, and how much will result in the silencing of ideas. People can only be ostracized so many times before they stop engaging with society at all in fear of retribution for their less popular beliefs.

For many, the more desirable and enticing option may be to shut the door on members of the opposite party after new areas of influence are created on the Right, but that would be a mistake. It matters that conservatives take the high road. If the Right truly believes in the original ideals of the founding of the United States — that freedom of speech and expression are vital and should not be taken away — those principles must apply to boycotts. Any new structure should refrain from the “wokeism” that would silence anyone who disagrees. It should invite the outsiders in.

America has always been a place of lively rhetoric and intense debate. It’s when debate ceases altogether that the deterioration of culture begins.

The theme of any newly-formed entity on the Right should be one of strong conservative values, but it should include the sentiment that anyone who wants to come into the circle and discuss ideas should be welcomed.

In The Federalist No. 10, James Madison wrote about factions and the appropriate response to the threat they pose. He described a faction as “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” He discussed the connection between freedom and faction — that factions don’t exist without liberty, but that doesn’t mean Americans should get rid of liberty.

“Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be a less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.”

The same concept should be applied to conservatives creating new groups of their own. Liberty must remain and be the driving force behind any new space that is created — and anyone who wants to come along and have a discussion should find an open door.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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