Bruce sounds like a world class jerk, and what he did was certainly against everything that I’ve ever believed to be right (not only with the price gouging, but also with the other stuff Acidman mentioned in this latest post). [Original post describing Bruce's antics here]

There were other people willing to give money to buy the ice and give it away. That’s great; bully for them. There may have been still others who were willing to drive down and sell ice for cost, or a minimal profit. The fact that Bruce was able to get $10.00 per bag of ice doesn’t just reflect poorly on him, it reflects poorly on those of us who sit back and let it happen, because many of us are in a position where we could help if only we would and some of us are in a position where we could help (or could help more) if we weren’t spending far too much of our money on “wants”.

I’m in that latter position. My new car certainly wasn’t a need (and isn’t a need now), and while the payments aren’t really killing me in the sense that I’m struggling for money to eat, they do prevent me from helping out as much as I feel I should.

For me to be spending a good chunk of change every month on that car* while my fellow Americans suffer because of a massive hurricane is just as wrong as Bruce loading ice up in a refrigerated truck and running it to Hugo’s aftermath.

BUT…

Just because something is WRONG doesn’t mean it should be illegal. Bruce was being morally repugnant, but he’s exercising his right to sell his property for a price of his choosing. I couldn’t say that it was okay to force him to sell it for a lower price (or not sell it at all) and also believe that Kelo v. New London was a fundamentally evil decision. I believe that Bruce’s actions were wrong, but I will fight tooth and nail to defend his right to have the choice to be wrong.

* Please note that I’m not saying that anyone is wrong if they own a nice car; I’m saying that it’s wrong to get a nice car by financially crippling one’s self to the point that it become difficult or impossible to care for one’s neighbors should they need it. I’m a strong believer in capitalism, because I think that, as an economic system, it harnesses human nature for a better eventual, big-picture outcome than any other. However, I don’t hide myself in the delusion that capitalism somehow makes human nature noble or right.