Freedom Of Association

An apartment complex in San Antonio, TX has a policy barring people with piercings and tattoos from renting an apartment. Good for them.

Some people are upset about it but so what? It's private property and they should be able to rent to whomever they want. As far as I'm concerned, people should be able to discriminate over anything they want to.

If a property owner only wants to rent to blacks, whites, Jews, women, homosexuals or whatever, that should be their prerogative. That's part of what PRIVATE PROPERTY means. It means that on my property I can do whatever I want. No one has any inherent right to force me to surrender all or part of my property to anyone I consider undesirable.

The same principal applies to employment. No one has an inherent right to a job at my place of business. If I find any reason that I don't want someone working for me then I should be allowed to exclude them from my business.

I don't encourage discrimination. Sometimes, it's monumentally stupid to discriminate based on certain things but there shouldn't be any laws protecting people from their own stupidity.

Why were the Jim Crow laws passed in the South? It's because employers were acting in their own best interest and giving jobs to black people and encouraging them to patronize their businesses. Those laws were an attempt to force people to be racist. Anti-discrimination laws are no better. Why should we be forced to put our private property to a use which we find objectionable?

In case you're not already aware of it, you discriminate every day. When you make any choice you discriminate.