Toxic Politics Are Smothering America. Could David Hogg’s Progressive Pillows Be the Solution?
There’s a silver lining to partisan demagogues taking up peaceful entrepreneurship.

The creeping politicization of every aspect of American life is causing more than a few people to want to bury their faces in a pillow and scream out their frustrations. Soon enough, even that might not be an option for aspiring apoliticos.

On Thursday, gun control activist and Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg announced that he would be starting his very own pillow company to combat the influence and reach of rabidly pro-Trump MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell.

Hogg’s plan is to launch his pillow company within six months and sell one million units within the first year of operation, according to Axios. The name of the company is being kept under wraps until all the necessary copyright issues are resolved, says Hogg.

The teen activist has said that he wants his pillow product to be sustainable, domestically manufactured, and union-made, although that last goal appears to be causing him some trouble.

Hogg’s pillow company need not be so toxic. Indeed, there’s every reason to think it won’t be. While certainly politicized, Hogg’s plan is to start a company that will, hopefully, sell people a product they enjoy at a price they can afford. Rather than pushing for zero-sum, liberty-crushing gun control policies—where Hogg’s success can only come at the expense of gun owners and those who disagree with him—he will instead be devoting his energies to making profitable, mutually beneficial exchanges.

Should he make a good enough product, he might even win over a few conservative customers who would never be reached by polarizing activism.

Even if Hogg fails in that, he has nevertheless stumbled upon a productive outlet for his political passions that forgoes the raw pursuit of power, and instead focuses on the creation of consumer convenience and brand loyalty.

So roll your eyes at Hogg’s pillow dreams if you must, but recognize that with that progressive padding comes the possibility of more peaceful politics.

That is some serious bullshit.

Here is why.

Loyal readers know I have been posting news about Hogg’s pillow company with astute economic and manufacturing assessments as to its future.

This company is not being created in the “usual” means.  There was no market research to determine if there is a need for pillows like these at that price, what the demand might be, and if the business is viable.

It was done to spite another business out of existence.  Hogg wins, not if he profits, but if My Pillow goes under.

They are being bankrolled on this principle, which sets a dangerous precedent.

Wealthy activists setting up companies that will lose money to drive others out of business for political reasons.

Imagine if you will, a local pizza restaurant gets targeted for cancellation over some menial bullshit.  Some rich celebrity decides what he is going to do is open up a competing Pizza restaurant next door.  It will sell pizza at a loss until the targeted restaurant folds.  The celebrity doesn’t care because his income is from some alternative source, he can throw money away on a pizza place to spite another business owner out of existence.

If you think “no, rich celebrities won’t do that, they like their money,” you didn’t pay attention to Hollywood during the GW Bush years.  How many movies did they make portraying the US military as either psycho killers or trailer trash losers?  Every single one of them lost money.  Middle America didn’t want to see them.  But they gladly lost money to insult the military knowing they would make it back on the next CGI popcorn fodder.

Fuck if Disney+ just threw hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars away in franchise value because they didn’t like one actresses’ tweets.

Wealthy, or in Hogg’s case being connected to wealthy people, starting businesses in bad faith, not to make money through competition but using monopolistic tactics to drive other people out of business is only going to increase toxic politics.

Damn the people at Reason went stupid.