Fair enough, Mr. Fish. It
is a cruel, and IMHO needlessly so. But sir, I'm not an idealist... I'm a realist. You have to protect yourself from being had, because whether you like it or not there are people out there that make their living out of conning people. But the people that bought the tickets were not conned, nor were they even sollicited.
The buyers of those $500 tickets sorted out the seller, on EBay and other avenues. They wanted that ticket, they wanted to see Pink Floyd play for the first time in 24 years, and they were quite prepared to pay $500 to make that happen. The sale, quite simply put... would
not have occurred, lest the buyers opened EBay, looked up Live8 tickets, logged into their account, and bid for them. Supply and demand, Mr. Fish... it's the American way, and quite obviously the English way as well.
...and doing what's right? Oh yeah, I know what you mean. You don't want to go to the show, so give away the tickets. I'm sure that Pink Floyd would be happy to know that you gave away $500 that could feed your children, bail your ass out of debt (of which none of the organizers know NOTHING about, except the cause they're peddling for), paid your wife's medical bills... don't judge the seller. And FWIW, here's my take on life, in general... when you can, be Utilitarian. When you can't...
fuck everyone else, save yourself. Money keeps food on your plate, Mr. Fish... it's ALL about money.
You know, I went to Chicago a couple of weeks ago to see Doves pay, and spent $500 over the course of that evening. Had a SMASHING fun time too. But tell me... are the people that I gave my money away to thieves and con artists? Or am I a glutton with too much money to spend?
