link to original reddit post by /u/LibertarianBro101
I was having an argument with someone (on an alt account) on the Libertarian subreddit last week about the concept of “voting with your dollar”.
I made a comment in opposition to people doxxing and harassing people’s place of work, and giving the business bad reviews in order to pressure the owners into firing them. I heard about this having happened to people before, and I was staunchly opposed to the idea of in-effect forcing a business to fire someone.
The person I was arguing with said that harassing businesses into firing people (for example, for being a Republican), is considered “voting with your dollar” because the bad reviews and bad press cause the owners to consider the financial implications of keeping the person hired, and that in turn leads to their firing. Is that not absurd to anyone else? Is that really “voting with your dollar”? I was under the impression that the phrase had more so to do with you just no longer giving the business your money.
Where do you draw the line on things like this? If a pizza delivery guy took a bite out of my pizza, I would call his employer and tel them about the situation. However, I would have to draw the line at creating an organized attack to get someone fired. Heck, an organized attack like this could happen to someone who did absolutely nothing wrong, and how would that be fair? I’m questioning whether or not the person was a Libertarian.
I guess the question here is whether or not social pressure/ostracism can be interpreted as an invasion of your own liberty and rights to speech and whatnot. If I’m a Republican but people get me fired from my work for it, is that not the opposite of liberty? Even if it doesn’t come from a government body, I would say that it’s still wrong.