Letter Re: Voting With Our Feet And With Our Wallets–Standing on Principle

Jim:
[I recently saw an announcement from a company that caught my attention.] This alone would seem to me to make a company at least worthy of consideration for future business:

   ‘Effective Immediately!! Due to the recent changes in 2nd Amendment laws that are pending or currently enforced by states across the country, the J&T Family of Companies which includes J&T Distributing, DoubleStar Corp., Ace Limited, and the DoubleStar Training Academy has been forced to reassess our policies regarding government and law enforcement sales. Effective immediately, the J&T Family of Companies will be joining other manufacturers and distributors by ceasing sales of regulated items in states that have altered the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms.

The JTFOC will no longer sell prohibited items to law enforcement agencies or any government agencies in states, counties, cities, and municipalities that have enacted restrictive gun control laws against their law abiding citizens. We hope other companies will join us with their support. We applaud those already involved with this effort to protect our 2nd Amendment rights.’

Regards, – J. McC.

JWR Replies: Thanks for sending that. According to Gunssavelives.net at least 80 other companies have done likewise. These sales policies are good examples of how to express our principles in a way to effect positive change in our nation. I consider this sort of action comparable to the whole concept of “voting with our feet.” It is a non-violent, non-coercive way of disengaging ourselves from that which is corrupt and associating ourselves with what is right and good. Call it Going Galt (a la Atlas Shrugged), or call it what you will, but I believe it is fully justified. We need a lot more of it. We should also do our best to boost local economies by buying locally, attracting businesses, supporting farmers markets, and boosting local currencies as well more widely circulating alternative currencies such as Bitcoin. These are all part of a logical progression for America’s nascent Redoubts. (I use the plural because it would be arrogant to think that The American Redoubt region that I named will be the only one. There will undoubtedly be others in places such as the State of Jefferson, Northern Colorado, the Cumberland Plateau (advocated by Joel Skousen) the Four Corners region, and perhaps in places like Maine and western New York.)

There is a long standing precept in American private enterprise. It is summarized in a small sign you see, often hand-printed: “We reserve the right to refuse to do business with anyone.” This principle undoubtedly rankles the nerves of the statists, fascists, and other assorted collectivists. To their mind, industry is at their beck and call. They’d like to be able to place a purchase order (using taxpayer funds, of course) for 1,000 dozen rubber truncheons to their precise specification from whichever company they’d like, and have that company be obliged–under penalty of law–to fill that order. But the statists are presumptuous. America doesn’t work that way. We never have, and we never will. Just like “voting with our feet,” by refraining from accepting business from those that intend to enslave us, we can effect positive change.

Please support companies like J&T Family of Companies. They deserve your business and your notes of encouragement. As time goes on, the “red/blue” polarization of the U.S. will continue. Do your best to help the good folks band together. Encourage company management to relocate their firms to the Redoubts. Vote with your feet. Vote with your wallet. We can all Go Galt, at least in some small way.

An important note, in closing.: I’m not advocating polarization by race (which is nonsensical.) And I’m not advocating polarization by political party (as that is now meaningless, since America’s two dominant parties have been thoroughly co-opted.) Rather, I’m advocating polarization based on the propensity for human Liberty. Let freedom reign.