Before I begin, let me say that here at TDV we don’t look to take advantage of emergencies to promote our worldview.
But, when we do see totally wrong information being spread widely we feel an obligation to correct it.
And, the topic of “price gouging” during the Texas flooding is a perfect example.
The internet, and of course the mainstream TELL-LIE-VISION programming, has been inundated with outrage that people are selling needed items during an emergency at a markup.
Most of those who are complaining likely have no knowledge of economics or if they do, it is an understanding warped by a Keynesian outlook that was taught to them during their 12 years of government indoctrination or the 4 years of college propaganda they received shortly thereafter.
Price gouging is an example of the free market at work. Not only is price gouging not a bad thing, but it is absolutely imperative for the greater good of those afflicted by the situation.
Natural disaster situations usually come with an increased desire for certain goods, which as a consequence of the calamity are in limited supply.
By jacking up prices, producers weed out the consumers that need a product less urgently. In turn, this keeps products on the shelves for those who are in dire need of said product and enables those to access them who otherwise couldn’t if everyone was stocking up willy nilly on every product in sight at regular prices.
In other words, the consumers who less urgently desire these goods, have a guide for rational economic calculation.
For instance, rather than buying milk which is usually more expensive than water, a person may choose to just buy water instead. And because they decided to forego buying the milk they perhaps won’t buy any cereal to go with it. Maybe they would choose to buy oatmeal instead since it can be made with the water.
This means that the people who need goods the most will get them, albeit at a higher cost and not because producers and consumers are moral, intelligent, or generous. It's because such a clearing of markets, or rational economic calculation, is based upon prices in the free market.
And, just as importantly, with higher prices, producers are incentivized to make more of their product and to go through the extra effort to get the product to those in need.
Whereas if the price is held artificially low there is no financial incentive for producers to go through the trouble of getting their product to those in need.
This is why grocery stores are often left with no products available in times of emergency or in highly socialist or communist countries like Venezuela. When you artificially force a price lower than what the market demands, it increases the incentive for those who do not desperately need it to buy it and for those who produce it to not produce it.
In other words, the exact opposite of what you would want to happen.
And when an entire population is uneducated, by design, in the government indoctrination camps about economics they will clammer for the very thing that will make matters worse for the people on the ground. And demand that those who are trying to help be arrested.
While the public is admonishing the government to arrest the very people trying to help the situation they are also being inundated with propaganda about how the government is the sole entity saving most of the people.
This is very far from the truth. Thousands of stories of people helping each other can be found on the internet but they’ll rarely be featured in mainstream media.
Just look at all these individuals lining up to help.
Instead, the media will focus on how the mayor, the governor and even the president of the US are all coming to the rescue.
It’s worth mentioning though that the mayor decided not to evacuate Houston because the roads couldn’t handle the traffic volume, which begs the question, if the citizens pay taxes for their precious roads, why can’t the roads accommodate everyone?
And, as we know from Hurricane Sandy, FEMA actually closed its operations “due to weather.”
And during Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, under the stewardship of FEMA, the Superdome became a place to go starve and get raped. And that’s while the National Guard was out confiscating people’s guns so they were left helpless to thieves and thugs.
Barely mentioned will be big business who, as it often does, has come to the aid of the community which it is a part of.
Like Walmart.
And, Anheuser-Busch - another private donor - is helping by pausing beer production to package 500,000 cans of emergency drinking water to help the victims.
Meanwhile, Mexico has even offered to send help but it is likely to be turned down by Trump. That is what fascist/communist dictators do… they turn away foreign help fearing that it will show how inept they are.
And, don’t forget that the biggest helpers in almost every crisis situation are the insurance companies. Nearly half the losses in Hurricane Sandy ended up being recouped thanks to this free market invention.
And, anarchists are also coming to the rescue.
Much like when Acapulco had a serious flood, we crowdfunded and manned operations to help the people in need, the same is being done in Texas.
Our friends at the The Crypto Show and Unsung.org have fired up an RV loaded with food, water, and other supplies to help hurricane victims all paid for with cryptocurrency. Two nights ago the show’s listeners decided to contribute 10 BTC to help individuals struggling with the hurricane’s destruction. In addition to the $42,000 donation, Bitcoin.com’s CEO, Roger Ver, donated bitcoin towards the effort as well.
Danny Sessom (follow him and his recovery effort on Facebook here) is manning the operation and he took the opportunity to mock the mainstream media’s view on cryptocurrencies while he was at it.
He even took a small swipe at Peter Schiff who says that cryptocurrencies are a scam and as useless as Beanie Babies.
If you wish to donate to Danny’s effort you can with Bitcoin (1LnYrNLReuVH8juU1Cs21NTQ9uwqPcQXki)
Or Dash (XqDcecymX1LaTG4DJNgJfRCcaBpZMgWCbA).
We’ll be donating the funds we earn from this post on Steemit.com and will double it with our own Steem holdings as well.
Danny and the guys from the Crypto Show are regulars at Anarchapulco, which will be held again from February 15-18th, 2018. And you can get a discount on registration if you register before September 1st at www.anarchapulco.com.
In closing, though, you’ll never see a headline like ours on propaganda outlets like CNN. You’ll never hear the truth of how price gougers, private people, big business, insurance companies and anarchists are contributing to help in times of emergency.
There won’t be any movies made about how raising the price of scarce supplies ended up ensuring that all those who really needed it received them. That’s because Hollywood is just another propaganda arm of government.
And, none of the women being saved by mostly men this week in Texas seem to be complaining too much about the evil patriarchy.
And, other than the Huffington Post, which can find a racist angle to a story on kittens, there is no major race problem during the emergency in Texas. People come together, for the most part, in times of need.
That’s anarchy. And it’s beautiful.
