Just a sandwich: Why do people make everything so political?

By David McElroy · August 2, 2012

I didn’t eat at Chick-fil-A Wednesday, but only because I new the lines would be around the block on a day that was being billed as “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” which was a response to the groups that have been trying to get everyone to boycott my favorite chicken restaurant.

For as long as I can remember, Chick-fil-A has been an enjoyable part of my life. Back when they just had the sandwich, I used to throw away the bread and pickle, because the chicken was all I wanted. I switched to the nuggets and then to the strips when they were introduced. I have other favorites at other places. The Big Mac and the Whopper were pretty good if I wanted unhealthy burgers — as most of us do sometimes. And the old, discontinued Big Twin (which was an even better knockoff of the Big Mac) at Hardee’s was another favorite. (And speaking of Hardee’s, it’s hard to beat their sausage biscuits.)

There’s lot of food from a lot of places that I’ve loved over the years. But I have to confess that with every favorite I’d add to my list (or choice I’d remember to never buy again), the only thing that mattered to me was whether I liked the food. I never once considered the politics of the people who sold me the sandwich.

The people who serve me the food and the people who manage the companies I’ve patronized almost certainly hold political views that I find repugnant. As an anarchist of the libertarian stripe (anarcho-capitalist variety), I have to accept the fact that almost everybody holds political views that offend me.

Somehow, though, I’m able to do business with these people. Why? Because buying a sandwich isn’t about politics. It’s about buying a sandwich.

At this point, I’m pretty tired of the organized pressure groups on all sides — of just about every issue — trying to make everything in life political. If I want to eat at Chick-fil-A, it’s because I want their chicken, not because I’m making a political statement. If I don’t go there for a few days, it’s not because I’m boycotting anyone. I just might have something else to do. In other words, the transactions I make in the market are for one purpose only. They’re to satisfy the needs I have to buy or sell a product or service. Isn’t that as it should be?

People today have become so eager to make everything political that it’s hard to bring up anything — even to make jokes — without someone turning it in a political direction. Is that all these people think about? Can they not turn off their partisan brains long enough to experience good-natured fun or discussion that has nothing to do with the “team” they follow — Red or Blue or whatever?

I’m glad that Chick-fil-A is thriving and I’m glad that a lot of people supported the company Wednesday. The people I know who made it a point to go there did so because they didn’t like what they saw as bullying from political activists. I’m sure there were some people who went because they hate gay people, but I don’t know anyone who felt that way. The people I talked with merely felt strongly that a company owner should be able to do what he pleased with his own money and not be attacked for it.

I hate it that Mike Huckabee and his group will get credit for making “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” a hit, because it’s definitely political to him. I wish both sides of the culture wars would just shut up about trying to turn our mundane little choices into political issues.

The food I eat has to do with whether I like the taste or not. My food isn’t a political statement. I enjoy not having to keep up with what the management and employees of the various companies believe. Frankly, I don’t care. I just want the food I like.

Now let’s go get some Chick-fil-A.

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We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

I have no use for the theocratic and repressive government of Iran. The people who run the country are cruel at best and evil at worst. The Iranian people deserve freedom. But I have no personal quarrel with anybody in Iran. While I’m not thrilled about a future Iranian government having nuclear weapons, I’m just as concerned about nukes in the hands of politicians in Israel, Pakistan, India, China and Russia. I’m not even thrilled with the U.S., Britain and France having them, either, because I don’t trust any politicians to be responsible with such terrible weapons. All I can say with certainty is that American taxpayers have no business attacking Iran, especially since we’re being forced to pay for this attack in order to benefit the politicians of Israel — and nobody else. If Middle Eastern countries want to fight among themselves, that’s none of my business. It’s not the business of the U.S. government, either. I have no quarrel with anybody in Iran — and having the government which claims to represent me launch an unprovoked attack against a sovereign country will only make all Americans less safe in the near future. This attack is poorly conceived and morally unjustified. Remember that when the Iranians launch attacks that we will then condemn as “terrorism.” What the U.S. is doing right now looks like terrorism to me. And let’s not forget that the attack is the latest in a long line of unconstitutional wars by various U.S. presidents — who have no legal power to declare war on their own, according to the U.S. Constitution.

A child having a tantrum understands only one thing: Did I get my way or not? He doesn’t understand the issues involved. He doesn’t understand the reasons that went into a decision. He doesn’t understand any of the things that mature and reasonable adults have to understand in order to live healthy lives. By his reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down his disastrous tariff scheme, Donald Trump shows himself to be — once more — a screaming child having a tantrum. Outside the world of mob bosses who expect to get their way every time, normal adults don’t act this way, but Trump isn’t normal. He’s an angry and vengeful man who has narcissistic personality disorder. And we are in danger as a result. Trump doesn’t understand the legal issues involved in this ruling. He doesn’t understand economics. He doesn’t understand rule of law. He doesn’t understand that he can ever be wrong. All he understands is that he didn’t get his way. And he is now a narcissistic and raging little boy who also happens to hold life-and-death power over most humans on this planet. He’s dangerous — and the system which gives him that power is even more dangerous.

Is it an attempt to blur the gender line between men and women? Or is it some weird tribute to the traditional Scottish kilt? It’s hard to say, but fashion designers keep pushing for men to wear skirts in the last few years. Both men and women in modern fashion seem oddly androgynous, as though it would be offensive for a man to look manly or for a woman to look feminine. A CNN article about the latest fashions from Paris caught my attention Monday and left me wondering about the ugly clothes the designers are hawking. If a man wants to wear a skirt — or a kilt — that’s OK with me, but I’ll stick with a traditional dark suit with a white shirt and tie. (Well, when I’m not wearing t-shirts and sweats, of course.) I always wonder who actually buys the outlandish garb from fashion designers anyway. I would be humiliated to be seen in any of this stuff, but I obviously have no sense of high fashion.

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