Would you believe we live in a fascist union?
No?
First, let’s define what fascism is, since President Trump’s election has brought out far too many ill-informed citizens screaming at the wrong things. The great economist Thomas Sowell defines fascism as a leftist ideology that originated with Benito Mussolini. In simple terms, “You own, but the government tells you what to do with it.” He elaborates in his 2012 Town Hall column:
It bothers me a little when conservatives call Barack Obama a “socialist.” He certainly is an enemy of the free market, and wants politicians and bureaucrats to make the fundamental decisions about the economy. But that does not mean that he wants government ownership of the means of production, which has long been a standard definition of socialism.
What President Obama has been pushing for, and moving toward, is more insidious: government control of the economy, while leaving ownership in private hands. That way, politicians get to call the shots but, when their bright ideas lead to disaster, they can always blame those who own businesses in the private sector.
Politically, it is heads-I-win when things go right, and tails-you-lose when things go wrong. This is far preferable, from Obama’s point of view, since it gives him a variety of scapegoats for all his failed policies, without having to use President Bush as a scapegoat all the time.
Politicians aren’t the only ones calling the shots. Lower court judges on the left have had a grand ol’ time pushing their stupid ideology with precious little consequence. Case in point:
An Indiana judge has taken an unusual step and temporarily barred Starbucks from closing 77 failing Teavana stores in Simon Property Group malls because the real estate giant was less able to handle the financial pain.
Starbucks said in July it planned to shutter its 379-store Teavana operation — but Simon rushed to court to block 77 stores in its malls from going dark — claiming such a move by a high-profile tenant could spark other stores in its malls to close.
Starbucks, after trying to turn around its stumbling tea chain, said last August it was pulling the plug on Teavana.
It wanted to close all the stores by the end of the year.
But Indianapolis-based Simon, in an environment where hundreds of stores across the country are closing, rushed to a local court to ask Judge Heather Welch to stop the store closing.
Welch, in a 55-page order, found that the very profitable Starbucks could absorb the financial hit — estimated by Starbucks to be $15 million over five months — better than Simon could. The mall operator did not provide an estimate of how much the closings of the Teavana stores would hurt them.
Here is the story, boiled down: Teavana is losing money but a government body is forcing it to stay open because closing down would hurt. Please tell me how this is not flat-out fascism with “rulers” picking winners and losers. Poor Simon Properties. Boo hoo. Your risk didn’t turn out so well. This is neither the community’s nor Starbucks’ fault.
By the way, even if Teavana were making more money than all Starbucks stores combined and they still wanted to close, as dumb as that would be it’s still their choice. Short of breaking the law, management gets to operate however it wishes.
If you didn’t notice, this very topic is front and center at the Supreme Court in a case that will determine if a man can choose for himself what to do with his own property (i.e. bake cakes)? I can’t stand Starbucks, somewhat because its coffee is burnt but mostly because CEO Howard Schultz is a committed leftist. I have no interest in defending the company. But this judge’s decision is dumbfounding in a free society. If her fascism goes unanswered, can anyone confidently claim their business is exempt from the same soft tyranny?
Short of censuring, the options for dealing with activist fascist judges aren’t many. It’s my hope the local community and perhaps the Trump administration will at least make these judges infamous so as to tarnish their names.
Image: CC by 2.0; https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheilaellen/7840862744/;
