After the Supreme Court decided to block the federal government requirements of either getting the COVID-19 Vaccination or test weekly for unvaccinated employees in workplaces with 100 or more employees, Carhartt has decided to go ahead with the mandate.
Carhartt in a recent statement to CBS News has said “ We stand behind our decision because we believe vaccines are necessary to protect our workforce.” They added by saying, “Carhartt made the decision to implement its own vaccine mandate as part of our long-standing commitment to workplace safety. Our recent communication to employees was to reinforce that the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the mandate we put in place”
After this decision from Carhartt, the company started to receive harsh backlash from conservatives, even calling for a boycott. Co-Founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, and Blaze TV’s Host of You Are Here and Slightly Offens*ve, Elijah Schaffer are amongst those who have called for a boycott of the company. Elijah tweeted “Very bad look. Definitely should stop buying their products if you do.” Charlie Kirk said “Carhartt is betraying their entire customer base of hard-working Americans by forcing unconstitutional Medical Tyranny on their employees, despite the Supreme Court's ruling. Stop buying @Carhartt until they reverse course - this is unacceptable.” Attorney McCann was also among those calling for a boycott. She wrote on Twitter the following “Well @Carhartt has labeled the unvaccinated dangerous and implemented a vaccine mandate. Pretty rich from a company sustained by the ranchers, farmers, laborers, etc. who make this country great and celebrate her values of freedom and liberty. Boycott Carhartt until they break.” Different posts and videos from conservatives have also gone viral encouraging and partaking in the boycott.
Many other right-wing and libertarians are saying that it is fine that Carhartt is doing this, only because they are a private company and not the government. One of the people who are saying this is Carmine Sabia. He along with other people are saying things along the lines of “If you do not want to adhere to its policies, quit.”
They also go into the argument of saying “This is a free market.” Ignoring the fact that wrong is wrong, regardless of the entity pushing it.
Authors Opinion/ Closing Statement -
Contrary to popular belief, it is not true that the freer the market, the freer the people. Being a consumer is not freedom. When a company does something wrong, they are to be held accountable by the people. Being a private business does not grant you the ability to do what you want and impose and rule as you please. Laws and regulations exist for a reason. When a company enforces a mandate that was turned down by the Supreme Court in the same of “keeping people safe” without actually keeping people safe, they ought to be held responsible for it. Carhartt doesn’t enforce the flu vaccine, the same as many other employers. So why be selective in which vaccines you will enforce? Conservatives overall need a different perspective on private businesses. If they are destructive to the people, if they are dishonest, if they are exploiting their employees for profit, they need to be held accountable. Being a private business does not exempt you from criticism and backlash and having to uphold the law.
About the Author:
Reggie is a Husband and Father of 2 who is an America First/Christian Conservative individual, but believes in objective journalism. He is now working with Red Liberty Media making a weekly show. He is considered by many to be high energy and loves chick-fil-a.