The Forever Culture War: The Right’s Efforts to Create a Parallel Economy to Go After the Left
The Forever Culture War: The Right’s Efforts to Create a Parallel Economy to Go After the Left
Texas’ Patriot Mobile wants conservatives to buy its inferior cell phone service to fund anti-progressive campaigns
Dear Readers:
Today, we are launching our first video essay by Landry Ayres at The UnPopulist. As we previously announced, Landry recently joined us as senior producer and he will spearhead The UnPopulist’s expansion from written content and podcasts into an entirely new space: video essays.
His gift for storytelling in this new format through slick visuals and a crisp script is evident in his debut video essay, published here, on our homepage, and also on our new YouTube page (please subscribe!). It examines the right’s efforts to construct a “parallel economy,” a collection of products and services marketed to conservatives by other conservatives who share not just their right-wing values but also their core political objective, namely, wresting control of American institutions from the alleged grip of the left. This parallel economy prioritizes political purity above product quality—as Landry notes—and depends for its growth on perpetually escalating the culture war.
We are pro-market liberals, but it’s worth reflecting about the broader ramifications of enterprises whose business model depends on inflaming the culture war.
Watch the video above (or directly on YouTube) and then consider answering the following question:
As a consumer, how important is it to you that the companies from whom you buy products hold the same political beliefs and objectives as you?
Let us know in the comments. Our favorite one will get a shout out on our Substack Notes feed.
Berny Belvedere
Senior Editor
© The UnPopulist 2024
Follow The UnPopulist on X (UnPopulistMag), Facebook (The UnPopulist), Threads (UnPopulistMag), and Bluesky (unpopulist.bsky.social).
It’s very important to me given the current stakes. We need to be able to hold corporations accountable for their actions (after all they have the same rights as individuals). A great example is the companies still doing business with Russia. I use an app called Push To Leave to ensure I am not buying any products from those companies. The data is based off of a Yale project tracking each company. This is a great way for me to be able to hold Russia accountable for their war crimes.
Generally, I do not ever choose products, goods and services based on the political affiliation of the owners, companies, or stock holders. Those choices are driven by cost and quality. Most companies and corporations probably support many things that I find loathsome. I believe people have the right to boycott businesses if they wish but I have never joined any boycotts because rarely do they actually have an impact.
I don't choose art, theater, films, recordings, books, etc. based on the political orientation or moral failings of the artists. Orff and Strauss were apolitical and Nazi adjacent. Wagner was a raving Jew-hater. Picasso, Gaugin and Dali were misogynists. The list could go on but I don't believe any creative (I hate that word almost as badly as influencer!) should be cancelled but their creations judged solely on themselves and in the historical context from which they came. Soviets and fascists created some awesome art.
That said, I do not choose products, goods and services from companies who use religion and/or politics (right or left) as a marketing strategy. They are free to enter the market however they choose. They are free to distribute profits as they choose. But any company for whom implied discrimination against other religions, social and political affiliations will not have my business.