Ron DeSantis has just signed a bill outlawing the production and sale of lab-grown meat in the state of Florida. In part, this is obviously a reward to Florida agriculture for its political support, but is there something else going on here?
Yes, there is. The GOP claims to be the party of freedom and the deregulation of business, but here, as with Disney, other reactionary values are taking priority. Republicans often accuse Democrats of interfering in the free market and picking winners, but in this case, the right is doing the same thing. The real issue here is that Democrats want to pick winners that will be viable in the future, while Republicans prefer to invest in the economy of the past. Lab-grown meat is to DeSantis as electric cars are to Trump.
King Lear would approve.