Well, golly, hiplainsdrifter, that's awful mean. So I'm either ignorant or a commie? Jimminy -- I think my feelings are hurt.
Well. . . no they're not. But I'm afraid you've mistaken an insult for an argument, and thus failed to score in either regard.
Let me see if I can help. (Because that's all I really want, is to help.)
See, I think I'm thinking about all of this from not merely a commercial, but a social perspective -- and I'm doing so because this board is not designed to be primarily a commercial enterprise for those who inhabit it. And since this forum is not primarily a marketplace, Randian ojectivist principles are not the standard for evaluating behavior here. (Not for nothing, they are also not useful standards for evaluating Ayn Rand's behavior -- no greater hypocrite ever took breath or wrote over-long, self-indulgent, over-rated books. But I digress.)
You see, it seems to me that scooping up all the Spice -- er -- Penzance when it becomes available in the regular stream of commerce, then charging 4- and 5-times its usual price, is a lot more like, say, gouging your suffering neighbors $1,000 for a $300 generator and $10/gallon for gas after a hurricane. (Well, one difference is that such practices are actually illegal in my state in the wake of a hurricane, but for this exercise, let's pretend its not illegal, merely reprehensible.) Even if such behavior were legal, if you traded on such terms with your friends, you might expect to make a profit, but you certainly ought to expect to lose some friends. And even if you are OK with that, because you value profit over the goodwill of your neighbors, they certainly won't be "ignorant" or "communists" when they point out that you are chiseling, opportunistic scoundrel who doesn't deserve to live among decent people. (Speaking strictly hypothetically, of course, and using "you" in its generalized and not specific sense.)
See what's happened? Because the relationship among neighbors is not supposed to be strictly -- or even primarily -- commercial, your "business transaction," while lawful, has set you outside the community of which you were supposed to be a part. (In my fictional scenario, that is.)
Now, it actually goes farther than that, the opprobrium you can expect to endure. Because even in a pure marketplace, and even among staunch capitalists such as I -- folks who believe that those who make a useful product or provide a useful service ought to be compensated as the market sets value for their innovation, effort, labor, materials, etc -- there is natural, visceral loathing for the speculator, who makes nothing, contributes nothing, creates nothing. You may make a profit, but you'll likely have to sail your yacht or ride your polo ponies all alone (except for the prostitutes you pay yo pretend to like you). [Again, speaking not of "you" in the sense of hiplainsdrifter, but rather "you" in the sense of some notional, utterly hypothetical person who behaves in such a manner.]
So, I'm afraid simply calling me names isn't much of argument as it relates to the issue I raised and speak of here. [Not that calling me names isn't swell fun. You should have at it. There are so many excellent ones. It's just not an argument.] But I await, with eager anticipation, your more detailed and considered responses on the issues discussed, not least of all becuase this sort of discourse (well, not the calling names part) is precisely the sort of thing this forum -- this community -- exists to promote. (Even if I don't make a dime from it. See how that works?)
