A friend recently pointed me toward this post after a series of status updates on Facebook where I bragged about my 50 cent yard sale finds. I never intended to resell my yard sale scores, I just like finding them. I’m not like that you see. I’m anti capitalist. I’m not a flipper. I don’t go scavenging trash piles just to turn around and make a profit. That’s cheating. I give the trash away. I got it for free, I give it away. Isn’t that what a good socialist does? Isn’t the whole point to share?
Except….wait a minute. I used up 40.00 in gas last week cruising around on trash day, and spent 15.00 at the coffee shop supporting my local indie coffee roaster. I worked at least 15 hours on three cars that I will give away to cousins over the next few months.
I do subscribe to “the wash” theory, as in “it all comes out in the”. I do. But. But. We do have to feed ourselves, don’t we? I can hate capitalism all day long, but the fact remains, I live in it. I exist in a capitalist country, and I buy and sell goods to survive.
Tomorrow I’m going to buy a junk car from someone for double what the scrap man would pay her. I might be able to fix and resell the car for a massive profit. If that happens I’ll feel a little guilty. At the very least, I’ll get my money back over the next six months or so, slowly picking the parts off the car and selling them individually. In the short term, my friend will get the cash she needs very desperately right now.
There’s nothing wrong with finding a passion, in my case rescuing trash, picking through yard sale piles, or perusing the “for sale” and “wanted to buy” sections of craigslist, and trying to make magic happen. Is there? Is there an ethical way to be a capitalist?