3 ms·

Some people think that if something isn't illegal then it must be morally good. I am not sure if that coping mechanism or limited perspective on how life works

Some people think that if something isn't illegal then it must be morally good. I am not sure if that coping mechanism or limited perspective on how life works. Amazon et al. don't steel money, they legally offshores them to tax havens. Illegal? no. Immoral, yeah I'd say so. But at least they don't publicly gloat about it.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago
I think one factor is that the guy is an 'honest' trader, and doesn't squat on a domain to fill it with scummy links, bitcoin miners, malware, porn, scams, or impersonating other websites. More a straight 'this domain is for sale'. Morally bad has varying degrees as well, and if this guy didn't scalp the domains, someone else would have. Not saying the guy is a good guy, but there's worse ones out there.
- blunte 6y ago
  Sure there are degrees of badness. Doing something less bad than you could have done doesn't make your action laudable. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
- Lammy 6y ago
  "Lawful evil"
blunte 6y ago
Microsoft was someone infamous in the past for taking other peoples' technology and using it without paying for it, and later settling in court for small money. Amazon very certainly has bad behaviors with respect to allowing counterfeit items and possibly treating labor unfairly. Google seems to have its share of bad behaviors as well. Don't forget banking and finance, politicians, and other groups. But let's face it: the Mother Teresa's of the world don't gain the financial riches or obvious power that narcissistic and sociopathic leaders do. And at least in finance, not so unrealistically portrayed in The Wolf of Wall Street, some takers will privately mock their marks and fools. Incidentally, that movie missed telling the story of the real wolves. I'm still waiting for the Goldman Sachs/Fed/Government story. Point is, this behavior is OK for some.
jerry80 6y ago
I think you could just as easily devise a moral framework where paying more tax than you are absolutely required to is immoral, given the actives that your taxes support (e.g. war).

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

I think one factor is that the guy is an 'honest' trader, and doesn't squat on a domain to fill it with scummy links, bitcoin miners, malware, porn, scams, or impersonating other websites. More a straight 'this domain is for sale'. Morally bad has varying degrees as well, and if this guy didn't scalp the domains, someone else would have. Not saying the guy is a good guy, but there's worse ones out there.

blunte 6y ago
Sure there are degrees of badness. Doing something less bad than you could have done doesn't make your action laudable. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
Lammy 6y ago
"Lawful evil"

blunte 6y ago

Microsoft was someone infamous in the past for taking other peoples' technology and using it without paying for it, and later settling in court for small money. Amazon very certainly has bad behaviors with respect to allowing counterfeit items and possibly treating labor unfairly. Google seems to have its share of bad behaviors as well. Don't forget banking and finance, politicians, and other groups. But let's face it: the Mother Teresa's of the world don't gain the financial riches or obvious power that narcissistic and sociopathic leaders do. And at least in finance, not so unrealistically portrayed in The Wolf of Wall Street, some takers will privately mock their marks and fools. Incidentally, that movie missed telling the story of the real wolves. I'm still waiting for the Goldman Sachs/Fed/Government story. Point is, this behavior is OK for some.

jerry80 6y ago

I think you could just as easily devise a moral framework where paying more tax than you are absolutely required to is immoral, given the actives that your taxes support (e.g. war).