Is “cutthroat economic libertarianism” force-feeding Americans a “homogenized corporate culture?” New York Times opinion columnist Matthew Walther thinks so ( “Shopping for ‘Woke-Free’ Beer? Read This,” May 1).
Walther correctly notes that current culture wars over beer brands like Bud Light have largely ignored how many of them are owned by a handful of larger companies — and how all of them operate in a larger marketplace dominated by “generic large-scale corporate profit-seeking.” But is this really “economic libertarianism?”
Walther observes that in the less consolidated industry of the 1970s, regional brewer Coors had real clout to enforce its owners’ union-busting conservatism despite being shunned by “respectable middle-class liberal social circles.” True enough, but the Coors-hauling outlaws of Smokey and the Bandit aren’t so tidily relegated to the same “right-wing” extreme.
Links to thegarrisoncenter.org (10)
fff.orgThe Future of Freedom Foundation – Advancing an Uncompromising Case for Libertarianism
seangabb.co.ukSean Gabb - Writer, Academic, Director School of Ancient Studies
The Future of Freedom Foundation – Advancing an Uncompromising Case for Libertarianism