this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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Isn't that literally everything you buy? Nobody sells at cost price and stays in business. Supermarkets, even. Just everything.
This is about scalpers. (Which includes Ticketmaster.)
During the height of the pandemic many scalpers were claiming that they were a crucial part of capitalism. That what they were doing was important for the economy.
I agree with you, I'm sending a subtle nod to the fact that, that line of distinction is becoming so thin it's almost invisible.
That's fine, but the comic doesn't make that distinction anywhere. Buying in bulk and reselling higher is what every store in existence does.
It's supposed to be easily inferred which honestly it is.
There is a subtle, but fundamental, difference between being a distributor - someone who buys in bulk at Location X and sells retail at Location Y - and a monopoly/cartel - an individual or group that takes control of a critical point in the supply chain and then operates as a monopoly reseller at enormous mark-ups to everyone downstream.
The general distinction is in the degree of markup that your position provides. For inelastic goods/services (staple foods/energy/medical/emergency services) and opportunity-limited services (concert tickets/first-edition prints and collectibles) you can capitalize in a sudden spike in demand to raise prices astronomically.
No better example of this than the Texas electricity grid. Natural Gas power providers run a cartel in our state which allows them to limit how much electricity they generate during periods of peak usage. So when the weather starts cresting 100° and electric demand for A/C peaks, they can charge upwards of $3000/Mwh for electricity that was trading at $15-20/Mwh hours earlier.
You seem to be furthering my original point. Here where I am it's our supermarkets, they just got awarded the shonky from choice, for price gouging. That line is blurred. There almost is no line. When we can just see how much one marks it up, we get all up in arms, all the others the original price they pay is hidden, so we don't feel as put out, but it's not as fair a system, in those hidden places, as we imagine, as you see and point out occurs in your power grid.
Dear ‘capitalists’ who keep using this excuse to defend what they do: Distribution is different from scalping. One has legitimate costs for what you suggested to keep a brick and mortar business running. The other is fleecing without cost and it’s not exactly for the altruistic reason of ‘just surviving’ nor is it interested in anyone else’s ability to survive. It is the unchecked reason why the planet is in the hole now.
I think this isn't any kind of defense of capitalism. He's just saying that meme isn't specific enough about it being about scalping. "Distribution" also falls into the description that the meme gives.
I’ve seen these kinds of capitalists defend not paying a liveable wage to someone. They are purposely misreading these messages now if they still think ‘no one wants to work anymore’
That still doesn't make this message clear.
You’re intentionally being obtuse, troll.