Chavez was the leader of the United Farm Workers union and is best known for when McGovern was running for President. Chavez organized the lettuce pickers and got McGovern in a photo op where he said “I will not eat another salad until Chavez and his members win!”
I argued this with a Sociology prof when I was an econ prof. I told her this boycott was exactly the wrong thing to do. She didn’t understand. The conversation went like this:
Me: If the boycott is successful, what will happen to the demand for lettuce?
Her: It will go down!
Me: And if demand falls, what will happen to price?
Her: It will fall.
Me: And if prices fall, what will happen to the farmers’ abilities to give a wage increase?
Her: Errr...it goes down.
Me: What would happen to the demand for lettuce if McGovern instead said: “I’m going to eat 10 salads a day until this is settled”.
Her: Demand would increase.
Me: And since supply is fixed in the short run, what would happen to price?
Her: Umm...It would go up.
Me: And what would happen to the farmers’ ability to give a wage increase?
Her: Well, that may be, but I don’t believe it!!
Whereupon she stomped out of my office. She and other liberals I taught with did that a lot over the years...
Heh. The Socratic Method - winning arguments for over 2400 years!