Quote:
Originally Posted by dmaul1114
I just see that as selfishness on the part of consumers who only care about paying as little as possible for everything, and care little to nothing about publishers covering costs/making profits, author's making profits etc.
No one likes spending more money than they have to. But I respect talent and always try to pay a fair price for books, movies, cds I love vs. say buying used, checking it out from the library etc. as I like to reward the creators for the enjoyment I got out of their work.
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Adam Smith would disagree with selfishness being a bad thing. Hell, even Keynes argued from the point of self-interest being a great motivator, burying gold and all that.
At any rate, the first thing you learn in Econ 101 is that everything has a different utility to different people. So,
a fair price to you is not necessarily a fair price to another. Arguing that authors are special and should not have their wages cut, ignores the sheer supply of newly written material out there
on top of older stuff. When supply goes up...
Publishers understand this, and use their power as gatekeepers to enforce stupid contracts on the rabid author who just wants to get their stuff out there. Until authors wise up and stop agreeing to stupid contracts (it's their freewill signing that contract), they'll continue getting raked over the coals.
Publishers are not evil, they simply act as self-interested corporations whose real duty is to increase profits. Authors need to either realize they have tons of competition and they aren't special, or find another route to monetizing their thoughts that don't include publishing contracts in their current form.
I support all customers whose legal actions, and preferences, lead to lower prices. It's freshman level economic theory.
And yes this has happened in my field. Witness all the whining about technological jobs going to H1-B visas. My answer is the same, adapt to changing circumstances or be left by the wayside.