Modern American conservatism: rooted in hypocrisy and government meddling

Those who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and, ultimately, human fulfillment are created from the bottom up, not the government down …

The societies that have achieved the most spectacular, broad-based progress are neither the most tightly controlled, nor the biggest in size, nor the wealthiest in natural resources. No, what unites them all is their willingness to believe in the magic of the marketplace.

Ronald Reagan, September 1981

Stop the presses: US fast food company Chick-fil-A — once targeted by LGBTQIA+ groups for its owners’ stance on marriage equality — has hired a “director of diversity”.

An extremely common practice, it has nonetheless been picked up by various figures and think tanks associated with Donald Trump as an example of something something woke mind virus something, and then, inevitably, taken by far-right grifters somewhere even uglier.

Similar hectoring and calls for boycotts have happened at other huge US companies such as Kohl’s, Target and Bud Light over recent months (and as if to underline the deeply capitalist nature of all this stuff, Bud Light produced a backflip as comical as it was contemptible).

Ah, but surely the squalling of a few opportunistic outrage merchants isn’t a sign of anything much regarding the party they generally support? Actually, it’s the latest example of an interesting turn for the party of free markets, free speech and limited government:

• Zodiac Killer Texan Senator Ted Cruz demanded that the Beer Institute, the American beer industry’s self-regulatory body, conduct an investigation into Bud Light’s short-lived partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dedicated considerable energy in the lead-up to his presidential run to a prolonged fight with corporate behemoth (and sought-after wedding venue) Disney after its workforce pressured the corporation into criticising his law prohibiting public school teachers from discussing sexuality and gender identity in the classroom. DeSantis has attempted to wrest oversight of the land belonging to a private enterprise, removed special status from the company, and threatened them with new regulations and taxes. In response, Disney has scrapped plans to build a new campus in central Florida that would have reportedly employed 2000 people.
• Republican lawmakers in at least 12 states have announced plans to introduce bills attacking investing by private companies that take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. This has come in the form of either barring state money managers from considering ESG factors when investing, or blacklisting certain firms, such as in West Virginia, which barred five of the largest banks in the US from receiving state banking contracts because the banks were apparently involved in “boycotts of fossil fuel companies”.
• In 2021, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell warned major domestic airlines in the US that they would “invite serious consequences” if they continued to speak out about the GOP’s voter suppression laws.
• When Republican-led state legislatures attempted to stop people crossing state lines to seek an abortion where the procedure is banned in their home state, the Biden Justice Department said it would fight such laws, on the grounds they violate the right to interstate commerce.
• During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Republican governors in Texas, Florida, Alabama and Montana all made moves to prohibit private companies from imposing vaccine requirements on their workforces.