In late 2016 the city of San Francisco attempted a sweeping boycott program aimed at building their public image as a leftist "Utopia" while also giving a middle finger to red state economies. The project was called "Chapter 12X" and was authored by California state Senator Scott Wiener (pictured below).
Even though progressive boycotts have been consistently unsuccessful over the years, this did not stop them from making yet another attempt at the height of the Trump vs Clinton election frenzy. Perhaps they believed the tide was shifting even further to the political left and they were getting ahead of the game.
The goal of San Francisco's effort was to ban all city employees from doing business with companies based in states with policies and laws contrary to progressive dictates. Companies in states with abortion restrictions, states that prevented "trans identifying people" from using the bathroom or locker room of their choice, states that required identification proving citizenship before voting, states that don't obey the tenets of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ideology, states that refused to implement climate change laws and companies that did not disclose carbon impact reports were not allowed to do contract business in San Francisco.
For SF bureaucrats the assumption was that access to the city's market was the prize and through a boycott they would teach red states a lesson. In reality, SF was not the prize, efficient red state production was the prize. Failure of the program became evident in 2023 after seven years of inflated costs from doing business with progressive friendly companies in blue states with high taxes and high operating overhead. The city could have saved millions by simply outsourcing to red states.
Another problem was the fact that many "blue" companies in blue states were not as "pure" as activists in SF wanted; most had associations with red state businesses, and this undermined the political message that the city wanted to send.
In the aftermath of a repeal on the boycott, San Francisco is trying to understand why their plan failed while also still trying to institute some kind of ideological filter on city business dealings. Can SF find companies in red states that follow their progressive religion while also giving them low low prices?
The end of the contract ban is expected to decrease citywide expenditures by at least 20% in 2024 - In the midst of a stagflationary crisis every penny counts.
The lesson to be learned here? Democrats often argue that red states would collapse without blue state and blue city economies. The truth is the exact opposite. Without the production capabilities and lower costs of doing business in red states, progressive enclaves suffocate under the weight of their own taxes, legal restrictions and lack of self reliance. They need conservatives far more than conservatives need them.
