David French’s thoughtful post about boycotts (and “buycotts”) gave me a memory. I’ve written about this before, so I ask old-timers to forgive the repetition.
I have a Vermont friend, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, who loves ice cream, same as I do. Many years ago — 15? — we were talking about Ben & Jerry’s, those Vermont ice-cream makers. They are commies, at least in some respects. Ignat and I are anti-commies (in every respect). Should we buy and eat their ice cream?
Oh, yes. For one thing, it’s excellent ice cream. For another, eating according to politics is a Left thing — not what we do. The Left invented “The personal is political.” This is one of the most poisonous attitudes of life.
Now, can I imagine boycotting companies, in particular circumstances? Yes. I’m afraid there’s no substitute for going case by case — for making individual judgments. That’s another trait of conservatism: an eschewal of ideology and dogmatism, messy as case-by-caseness can be.