Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No that poll tells me people want goods as cheaply as possible, and probably for free during a disaster.
That's all fine and well when it's the government footing the bill (aka taxpayers of America), but when it's private businesses you have no god given right to discounts or freebies from those people. On what planet is it ok to tell someone how much they have to sell their things for?
Who cares about property rights! Right?
Oh my FRICKEN GOD! That is the stupidest thing I've heard yet on this particular topic, and that took some doing.
You've never been in a real disaster, have you? You've never lost everything, through no fault of your own, have you?
It wouldn't have even mattered if these people had stocked up in preparation for this hurricane, their homes are flooded and everything is gone. They can't eat the food in their fridge. They can't sit around collecting their canned goods and water bottles while the flood waters pour in, they have to be rescued first, then figure out where to get food and water.
It's not about "wanting it as cheaply as possible and probably for free", it's about literally trying to survive at all when everything you owned just got washed away. They don't have anything left, even if they had stocked up. It's gone. Do you not comprehend that? The water washed it away. It's gone. No fault of their own. It's not because they were lazy or irresponsible or expecting anyone to bail them out...it's all gone because of the water that you nor I or they have any control over.
NO ONE is asking for "discounts or freebies" goddamnit, they are simply asking that you don't go charging ninety nine fricken dollars for a bottle of water! They aren't asking for a hand out. Have you even been to Houston? You are totally barking up the wrong tree on that one.
On what planet is it okay to hold a bottle of water in front of the face of a person who just lost everything, is parched and dehydrated, needs that bottle of water, but doesn't have 99 f-en dollars to give you for it so you sit there and watch them suffer? On what fricken planet is it that you live on?
The companies will restock regardless they can increase price or not.
You said they would not have any incentive to sell what they have and no incentive to restock. You seem to be admitting being wrong about it.
Quote:
The point is, if we allow price gouging, they will restock much faster and with more supplies. Therefore, more lives will be saved and fewer people have to suffer.
That is an invalid point, because stores restock as soon as they can knowing everything flies off the shelves in a disaster situation.
Quote:
Here's an example. Our shelters are begging for baby products like wipes and diapers. If they can be sold at high prices, wouldn't drones already drop ship them to the shelters? Now, they have to let the babies suffer and wait for the road to clear.
Drones? No, they would not. Maybe Texas is not handing the situation well, because elsewhere such products will find their way to shelters quickly without rip-off prices and drone deliveries.
You've never lost everything, through no fault of your own, have you?
How is it no fault of their own? Houston is a poorly engineered, coastal urban sprawl that was already prone to flooding and gets more prone to it every year because of poorly engineered development and expansion. Living there is a choice the individual makes. If you choose to live there, then you choose to put everything you own at known risk of being destroyed by a flood that your city is prone to. That's exactly 100% your fault. With towns like Houston and New Orleans, it isn't "if", it's "when."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow
They don't have anything left, even if they had stocked up. It's gone. Do you not comprehend that? The water washed it away. It's gone. No fault of their own. It's not because they were lazy or irresponsible or expecting anyone to bail them out...it's all gone because of the water that you nor I or they have any control over.
Again, it is their fault. They chose to be there and Houston is prone to catastrophic flooding, made worse by adding more and more concrete and asphalt every single day, nonstop. I feel for their loss, but I cannot say "no fault of their own" when they took a known risk that this exact thing would happen, given that it has happened several times in the past and the pattern is that it will keep getting worse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow
NO ONE is asking for "discounts or freebies" goddamnit, they are simply asking that you don't go charging ninety nine fricken dollars for a bottle of water! They aren't asking for a hand out. Have you even been to Houston? You are totally barking up the wrong tree on that one.
What they are asking is for someone in the lawmaking business to suspend private property rights in the event that they suffer misfortune. That is what disaster/emergency price controls are - suspension of private property rights during a disaster/emergency.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow
On what planet is it okay to hold a bottle of water in front of the face of a person who just lost everything, is parched and dehydrated, needs that bottle of water, but doesn't have 99 f-en dollars to give you for it so you sit there and watch them suffer? On what fricken planet is it that you live on?
The planet where a natural, individual right to private property and ownership exist? As I said before, I would give away water if I were there and in possession of water to give, but I would also NOT BE compelling others by force to do as I do. I believe everyone can choose for themselves how to conduct themselves in such situations, including in what manner they dispose of their private property.
Responsible companies are already working on trucking in vast quantities of bottled water, generators etc. at regular prices. The Tide loads of hope truck is already on its way.
Some see poking people in their backsides when they are down as okay. To some, Shkreli is a great guy.
Hope someone is taking names and photos of the profiteers for later doxxing.
I agree with you. Often responsible companies are actually the ones who put in place a sort of price control. I have seen this in other situations. Some stores limit the amount of baby formula any one customer is allowed to buy. They also keep prices down at some level which is not totally unreasonable. I think they do it out of a sense of obligation to the community and because they see it in the long run as good for business. If people see the store as holding an important role within the community, they are more likely to patronize it during ordinary times for ordinary goods. I suspect shoplifting is less as well when the people in a community believe they have "a stake" in the continued presence and success of the grocery store.
In the end, both the store and community depend upon one another. Profit is an essential factor in keeping the store open. However, the store cannot make a profit unless the people within the community continue to patronize the store.
I have seen stores in my own community act with great responsibility. I trust the stores in and around Houston will do the same thing.
Until those supplies arrive, prices MUST be increased to prevent some selfish SOB from buying all the water for himself. At $10/bottle you will only buy what you need.
Unless you can't buy any.
Most stores reserve the right to limit quantities. It works.
First of all, I didn't compare that to hoarding houses.
In the real world, when you implement price control,
1. People would just watch your dehydrated person die rather than sell the water.
2. Nobody has any incentive to ship water to you. More people die.
3. Nobody has any incentive to stock up water before the disaster. Even more people die.
But you are totally OK with that as long as you aren't paying $99/bottle.
This argument is ridiculous. Who is watching the dehydrated person die? Oh, yeah...that jerkoff holding out for $99 a bottle.
People will ship in water not because the available safe water is expensive, but because, regardless of price, often, after a disaster like this one, THERE ISN'T ANY TO BE FOUND. The people who ship in water do it because they know it is scarce. It has nothing to do with prices.
Stock up how much, and when? Lots of people don't have the space to store, on a permanent basis, enough water to get by for weeks, or even a few days. By the time they realize they must stock up, it's already scarce, and following your charming little model, prohibitively expensive.
you're advocating to legislate morality? where does it end
everyone showing the outrage is completely ignoring the supply that comes in without the price controls, people find a way to fill the void when it's worth their while. You will still always have the people giving away or discounting but with price controls there's a mad rush to empty the shelves
Bull. In a natural disaster, there is a mad rush to empty them, anyway. Hell, where I live, a prediction of two inches of snow will do it.
That may be the most wretched world view I have ever seen expressed anywhere, not to mention one of the most inaccurate.
You are more than welcome to name one exception. You can't by the way. LOL.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
