Capitalism and Civility.....pardon my rant.

["Scott Christensen" <scottc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pardon me while I jump on the soap box for a moment, I hope this does not
come off as  idealistic, but I think what has upset so many people about
the reselling of the Jim C. chip/flash memory upgrade is this.			
The idea behind this digest and the entire club for that matter, is that
through the generosity and goodwill of other enthusiasts (thanks Richard)
the experience of owning a BMW is heightened. It gives each of us the
opportunity to meet and exchange idea's with like minded people. It allows
each member the access to expert advice from some very selfless people (Jim
C, Brett A, Richard M, John F, Ben L) just to name a few. Not one of these
people or the technical advisors receive a dime for the time they devote to
the digest and the club. True, some of them have started businesses as a
result of the enthusiastic responses to the services or products that were
created as a result of their own hard work and ingenuity, but only after
providing, and continuing to provide, a tremendous amount of advice and
support GRATIS!
Now there is nothing wrong as I see it with selling a door prize that you
won legitimately. BUT when you offer it to a member of the group, and then
decide to raise the price, you have strayed from what makes this such a
great organization, and at least appear to be putting your own interests
above everyone else, and people become rightly offended. It has NOTHING to
do with capitalism or a free market economy. Obviously there are Merchants
and private sellers out there who will try to sell auto parts or cars
through the Roundel classifieds that believe that most members of the club
are idiots willing to pay an inordinate amount of money for anything BMW,
but I believe most of us would rather not fleece members of our own group,
and when we see someone who appears to take that point view, it is tough to
swallow. Just my opinion flame away if you see fit.

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