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This is akin to saying that if there were sufficient demand for free speech rights, privacy, or the abolition of slavery, markets would provide for those things
by noduerme 3y ago
This is akin to saying that if there were sufficient demand for free speech rights, privacy, or the abolition of slavery, markets would provide for those things - and that their removal is simply an economic function.
Like, if enough people want handjobs from non-sex-trafficked sex workers, surely some massage parlors will open to cater to ethical customers, right?
Markets do not guarantee civil rights, and they shouldn't be relied upon to do so. Moreover, their failure to do so should not be construed as a proof that broad enforcement of those rights would not improve both individual businesses and the wider economy. Nor should the economic impact be the sole reason for society to choose whether those rights are worth defending.
By your logic, businesses can choose to refuse service on the basis of race because a certain race is poorer on average - and people from that race just have to hope they will be served by another business that comes along to hoover up their money.
We as a civilization have decided that we don't want the market or a collection of individual businesses to make those sorts of decisions. Protecting people from predatory discrimination is the role of civil society and government, and why we make businesses conform to certain standards, whether they like it or not.
- cycrutchfield 3y agoThat’s a lot of words built on top of a rather flimsy assertion that using cash is a civil rights issue, which I don’t think any court has actually ruled on. It seems like a right that people have invented from thin air. The answer to people being unbanked is to make banking easier and less discriminatory. Not to force everybody to accept cash.
- noduerme 3y agoClasses covered under Title IX aren't necessarily covered by the Constitution, but our democracy has recognized that they need protection. Civil rights are rights outlined in law and reinforced by the courts. They're not pulled from thin air. If you believe that there is no right to spend your income without first depositing it into a third party for-profit bank for safekeeping, then make that case.
- cycrutchfield 3y agoYou can claim that anything is a civil rights issue by selectively distorting statistics in your favor. Let’s wait until courts weigh in on this.