A libertarian dilemma

What do you think of this?

Only Ford Vehicles Allowed in Plant Parking Lot
Friday, January 27, 2006

DEARBORN, Mich. — The parking lot at Ford Motor Co.'s (F) Dearborn Truck plant just got a little more exclusive.

Plant manager Rob Webber announced Monday that, starting Feb. 1, the parking lot may be used only by employees who drive vehicles built by Ford or one of its subsidiaries.

The libertarian in me is torn. On the one hand, the individual's choice of automobile is being restricted - and restricting choice is not a great thing at a non-moral level. But wait - I may have answered the argument of the other hand: the moral level. Morality, in my view, is our responsibility to one another. And if I, as a Ford employee, am advertising for a competitor, then am I not in some way hurting my coworkers? Ayn Rand would be furious with me. Good for me. :-)

The other hand is Ford's right as a corporation (literally, a sovereign body) to set its own standards. The employee has no rights in this regard, where they might conflict with the employer's. The employee's sole right is to not work for the employer.

To employees who might protest the new rule: buy the cheapest Ford product (certainly at an employee discount) and be done with it.