The news that’s spreading across North Carolina is all about big businesses who are refusing to or threatening to refuse to set up production operations of one form or another in North Carolina. Businesses or industries that are getting the most publicity include Paypal and the film and TV industries. These companies are doing this because of their objections to HB2 which protects businesses’ rights to make their own rules for the use of their own bathroom facilities by nullifying Charlotte’s bathroom ordinance. The Charlotte law denied these rights to private businesses, forcing them to possibly change the rules they have put in place for the use of their bathrooms by different genders. (Please note these businesses are not refusing to sell their products in the state, which would actually hurt their bottom line. Apparently the profits that are generated from sales to NC customers are still quite welcome. This suggests just how principled their stance is.)
So what do these seemingly unrelated businesses concerns have in common? They are crony capitalists who regularly seek special government favors and subsidies in making businesses decisions. In other words disrespecting other people’s property rights is actually part of their business model. This puts them firmly in the class of what has come to be known as crony capitalists. For example, Paypal is changing its mind about opening a global operations center in Charlotte which it was only willing to build in the first place after violating the property rights of North Carolina taxpayers to the tune of $3.7 million in coercive wealth transfers from state and local government, i.e. taxpayer subsidies. (Please note Article 1 Section 1 of the North Carolina Constitution which states that the people of North Carolina have a creator endowed right to “the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor.”) And of course the film industry is infamous for soaking up tax payer subsidies and threatening to leave the state if they don’t get them.
The point here is that there is nothing in the crony-culture of either of these industries that would lead them to take a principled stance in favor of private property rights. So it is not surprising that, in this case, they would have no moral qualms in taking a stand that is foursquare against them.