A man who buys grain during abundant harvest and sells it
during the dry spell is a speculator. He is more rational not only in thinking
but also in doing. For wisdom tells him that a time will come when people will
lack the grain they presently have in abundance. The pleasantness that
accompanies plenty of what to eat, complimented by the forces of the market
favors this speculator to buy at a very low price.
After a while, when nearly
all is exhausted in our stores, the attitude of the society changes from one of
joyous sharing to one of adversary and eating alone in secret. This too, a
climate of selfishness during deficiency that segments the society in groupings
based on what one has in store, favors the speculator to sell at exorbitant
prices to individual consumers who once sold in togetherness.
Shall we gang together during this time of scarcity against
the speculator? Evaluating things keenly will prove this as a misleading line
of thought. It is not the fault of the speculator to take advantage of the
negligence of others. In fact, if we single out the speculator as our cause for
our fall from glory, we would be compelled by the same yardstick to include a
farmer who plants in time to harvest abundantly in this list of enemies of the
society. We owe him thanks for saving us from our own negligence. By taking
risk, he stores for us for the future.
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