That bear is NUTS.

[Miller]

@Kimstu

(My emphasis.) Sorry, but this is ridiculous. Consumer activity is not limited solely to individual choices about whether or not to purchase something. Consumers also have the freedom to form voluntary associations to concentrate their purchasing power, to institute boycotts, to generate positive or negative publicity, and in many other ways to pressure the market to get what they want. This is a perfectly legitimate part of market activity.

They have the freedom to do so in the sense that there is no law against it, and I don’t think there should (or could) be a law against it. It’s still a fucked up thing to do. It’s petty, DIY tyranny, and I’ve got zero respect for anyone who engages in an organized boycott. Such people are showing absolute contempt for the principles of individual freedom which are the foundation of this country.

If the advocacy groups involved here were lobbying legislators for a “Ban Insensitive Toys” law, or suing manufacturers for the pain and suffering caused by insensitive toys, I’d be squalling about it just as loud as all y’all. But they’re not. They’re simply using the free press and the free market to exert pressure on a company to voluntarily change its actions. Good for them.

No, fuck them. I don’t care if they’re using the government to enforce their morals on the rest of the country, or if they’re using private pressure groups. The end result is the same: a vocal minority gets to impose their ideas of what’s right on the rest of us, without our consent.

The only way you can make this sound like a Bad Thing is by inaccurately describing it as “force”, which it ain’t.

Like hell it isn’t.

Ridiculous. Neither of you has any kind of “right” to get your way in this matter. You don’t have a “right” to own any toy that the manufacturer doesn’t want to sell. And in this case, the piss-and-whiners successfully convinced the manufacturer to change its mind about selling the toy, which they had every right to do.

But the manufacturer does want to sell it. Else, they wouldn’t have made and marketed it in the first place. Instead, a small, vocal pressure group has bullied them into removing the product using the threat of massive negative publicity.

Of course, you have just as much right to institute or participate in a counter-campaign designed to pressure the company to change its mind back again, so you can get the toy you want. But it looks as though the pro-Crazy-Bear side couldn’t be bothered to mobilize, so too fuckin’ bad. They won. You lost. Nobody violated anybody’s rights.

Yeah, 'cause the bear is the real issue here. That’s what I’m pissed about. The bear. I really, really wanted to own this bear, and now I can’t, and that’s what I’m angry about.

Suck it up, Whiny-Boy.

Fuck you, you mealy-mouthed limp-dick.