I couldn’t help but be vexed and frustrated by the hullaballoo over a single message on a bag sold by Lululemon, a purveyor of yoga-oriented soft goods.  The message was “Who is John Galt?”  Some of you may recognize it from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

And the wails that one item has raised!  The New York Times felt compelled to weigh in here, and there was this commentary at the Just Marketing blog.

Well, here’s the comment I left at that blog site:

Milton Friedman was absolutely correct in his devastating critique of what we now laud as “corporate social responsibility.” So in an ideal world, I’d agree with the argument that Mr. Wilson is misusing his shareholders’ money.

But that debate is long since lost, and we’re now constantly pummeled by foolish and destructive left-wing activism from almost all sizable corporations. It’s deeply disingenuous at this point to accuse Wilson of establishing some negative new precedent.

Or is it? Because I suspect that the reason this particular bit of corporate activism is raising such hackles is that CSR is perfectly acceptable to those doing the complaining now — just so long as it adheres to the already-established precedent that it ALWAYS serves the destructive progressive agenda. Mr. Wilson’s touting of a message that instead supports free markets and individualism threatens to crack the current rigid ideological uniformity of the CSR racket, which is why you hear so much screeching about this one tiny instance of independent thought and action.

I shouldn’t be surprised at the shamelessness and hypocrisy of those forcing CSR down our throats, and yet I am.  For those unfamiliar with Friedman’s commentary on the matter, it’s here.

H/T to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.