Friday 4 April 2014

Economics 101 and free speech


http://alj.am/1il8DMZ


Mozilla's co-founder and CEO is stepping down after a backlash over a $1000 donation he made to the Prop 8 plebiscite in California that instituted a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.


The response of Mozilla's chairwoman, however, has made me even less likely to use their products:


'"She said that Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech and that "figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard"'


Sorry, that's just nonsense. It's not very difficult at all.


Everybody is entitled to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. However, if you are in business and decide to promote someone with particular views, I'm within my rights, as a consumer with freedom of expression, to show my opposition to those views by not buying or using your products.


Don't expect me to pay your wages to allow you to promote causes I disagree with.  So sorry Mozilla, its not hard at all: it's free market economics 101.


The funniest bit of all this has been the reaction of the conservative right. Consider below, some tweets from The Heritage Foundation, "A think tank devoted to the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense."



Back to school for you I think Heritage.

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