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This guy did something that at a minimum will make him a pariah in his community and at worst could get him convicted of crimes in several states, yet he didn’t
by massysett 7y ago
This guy did something that at a minimum will make him a pariah in his community and at worst could get him convicted of crimes in several states, yet he didn’t hesitate to have his name, picture, and complete confession plastered nationwide in one of the country’s premier and most widely read newspapers. Head-scratcher.
- bberenberg 7y agoWhat laws does this violate? Illegal resale without a permit or something?
- paulgb 7y agoSome states have laws against price gouging. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_gouging https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_gouging
- nabla9 7y agoPotentially price gouging laws. Even if he is not breaking laws, he is doing morally reprehensible thing.
- SamReidHughes 7y agoWhat about the people hoarding hand sanitizer?
- tjoff 7y agoAlso falls under morally reprehensible thing.
- SamReidHughes 7y agoSo he hasn't harmed net immorality. I'd say the good version of this would be buying up hand sanitizer in January, selling it for markup yesterday. And if somebody is mad that you're making money, tell people a certain percentage of the profits goes to charity.
- tjoff 7y agoOf course he has. Vast majority of hoarders don't hoard nearly that much. Vast majority of hoarders don't plan on exploiting people.
- SamReidHughes 7y agoWell, if he hasn't sold them yet, he has. He needs to find a buyer ASAP. I suppose this article would help.
- tjoff 7y agoStill immoral...
- SamReidHughes 7y agoYes.
- nabla9 7y agoIt's the difference between worry and irrationality and exploiting others in cold blood.
- SamReidHughes 7y agoIf he sells it to organizations that really need it, he’ll do a net good.
- ardy42 7y ago> If he sells it to organizations that really need it, he’ll do a net good. Organizations that really need it probably aren't going to be buying from a sketchy Amazon marketplace seller.
- jacknews 7y agodoes it have to be illegal to be bad?
- endorphone 7y agoAnti-gouging laws are seldom enforced and are of dubious constitutional basis. I'm entirely for them, but I doubt this guy is going to be convicted of anything. We had a similar case in Canada where a Vancouver couple talked to a newspaper about their enterprise and it just left me pondering what they thought the outcome would be. People respecting their "hustle" and business savvy?
- eesmith 7y agoWage theft is also seldom enforced. That doesn't make wage theft right. That is, I don't see what that has to do with anything. Anti-gouging laws are applied (it seems) after every major hurricane. I hear the news talk about how to report gouging incidents, for example. Prosecutions occur often enough that I'm surprised to hear you say they don't have a constitutional basis. Surely that would have been tested by now (and from what I can tell, it has, and not found to be unconstitutional). Yes, there are limits on what the state can do with regards to interstate trade. But most anti-gouging laws are state laws, and not really subject to direct US Federal Constitution limits. So, could you explain more about how they are dubious?
- endorphone 7y ago"Wage theft is also seldom enforced." I responded to someone who claimed that what he is doing "could get him convicted of crimes in several states". While he could potentially face sanction, he isn't going to be convicted of anything. "But most anti-gouging laws are state laws, and not really subject to direct US Federal Constitution limits." Are you seriously arguing that state laws aren't subject to the constitution? What a wild discussion. The number of actual convictions from these laws are absolutely minuscule, targeted only at major players, and a number of them fell on a constitutional challenge. "Prosecutions occur often enough" No, no they don't. You could count them on one hand. Don't confuse the big show about such laws with actual enforcement of them -- most such laws aren't even written to be enforceable (South Carolina, for instance, bans "unconscionable" pricing, which is legally meaningless). They are a showy discouragement and public placation. Let me go back to your first paragraph- "That doesn't make wage theft right." [arguing by association that I'm somehow saying that price gouging is right] Apologies for the (necessary) wording, but fuck that disingenuous, obnoxious strawman. Nowhere did I say it was right. It is heinous. It is socially reprehensible. It is obnoxious behavior, and hopefully as supplies equalize this asshole and everyone like him are caught with a garage full of these things. But if people depend upon the law to discourage people this they're going to be disappointed.
- zenonu 7y agoWe (the guy in the article and myself) live in a nation where insurance companies would rather see you die than pay out, insulin is $350/bottle when it's $7 to produce, and politicians that we elect are entirely for it all. We have ourselves to blame for setting the moral standard.
- Yuioup 7y ago"Yes Officer, we were breaking the speed limit because, let's not kid ourselves, everybody breaks the speed limit."
- jmull 7y agoOther people are bad so it's OK for you to be bad? The basic moral standard is don't be an asshole, especially not when people are desperate. You're failing that.
- listsfrin 7y agoIf it's $7 to produce why there are no new companies that sell it for $100? They'd make quite some profit.
- hawkice 7y agoIntense regulatory barriers. For a longer comment from a healthcare worker of note, see section 2 here: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/04/30/buspirone-shortage-in-healthcaristan-ssr/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/04/30/buspirone-shortage-in-...