I heard a man and woman discussing Chinese tariffs
My jaw dropped
WARNING: I'm a libertarian. Some of what I write below may offend the Left, the Right, or both. But as Walt Whitman asked, "Who are you who only wants to be told what you've heard before?"
I was at the dog park last night. I overheard a man and woman discussing Chinese tariffs. The woman said, "If a company is so fragile they can't cope with these tariffs, they probably shouldn't be in business anyway."
My jaw dropped. Why, you may wonder? It wasn't because of my innate libertarian opposition to tariffs, it was because of something that surprised me, which shouldn't have. Here it is...
I have heard so-called progressives say the same thing about minimum wage laws.
"Progressives" (what an arrogant, condescending label that is) routinely argue that anyone who can't pay a living wage to an entry-level employee shouldn't be in business. Well...
When Tucson voters passed a $15-an-hour minimum wage law, that is exactly what happened to the high-end dress store my friend worked at. The store was a famous national brand, but it had slim margins. The managers did the math and saw they could no longer make a profit paying $15-an-hour for entry-level positions, so they closed their doors.
No entry-level person ever again got a job from that store, at $15 an hour or any other wage. My friend lost her higher-paying Assistant Manager job into the bargain, as did all the other human beings who worked there. She has never again quite managed to match that job, and the slot that store had reliably occupied has since been replaced by a rotating series of businesses that never stay open for long.
What the Left so callously does to other human beings using minimum wage laws, the Right now wants to do with tariffs. They are both determined that no slim-margin business ever stays open or employs any people.
And thus, so blithely, do the Left and the Right sweep away the dreams, businesses, and livelihoods of millions of people.
The Left & Right are two sides of the same evil coin
Both groups have no problem using state power to impose their personal preferences on other human beings. Both sides have little concern for those they crush, just so long as their fantasies are enacted.
My only hope is that decent people will someday join together to create a libertarian plurality or majority that can reduce or end all this uncaring Left/Right criminality.
I left the dog park and stopped at a fast-food drive-through. The young $15-an-hour twit who served me got my order wrong.
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Copyright © Perry Willis 2025
Perry Willis is the co-founder of Downsize DC and the Zero Aggression Project. He co-created, with Jim Babka, the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Write the Laws Act, all of which have been introduced in Congress. He is a past Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and was the campaign manager for Harry Browne for President in 2000.