Liberals, please, I seriously need your feedback here:?

Question

I only received a couple answers, so i will reword the question:

If an artist creates a piece of art, what is the maximum amount of markup he should be allowed to charge?

Lets say his paint and canvas cost 50 dollars, and it took him 20 hours.

Is there a maximum amount of money he should be allowed to charge for his painting?

Answer 1

What ever he wants to charge, he is free to charge. Ain't it great to live in a free country.

I'm at a loss to see the liberal connection here?? Does it have anything to do with the gouging our oil companies are screwing us with? There is a huge difference between a necessity and a piece of art.

Answer 2

Your question turns on these words: "Should be allowed."

Frankly, I think an artist should be allowed to charge whatever the heck he wants, whatever the market can bear. If he uses $50 of materials and does 20 hours of work, and three millionaires are trying to outbid each other for his work, why should anybody limit how much he can receive?

Now if you asked, "How much should an artist charge," instead of "should he be allowed to charge," that would make things more interesting. I know a lot of artists who trade works with other artists, or who barter for supplies ("I'll give you this painting if you'll let me use your kiln on Saturday") or who even give things away, taking more value from the appreciation of those who receive it than they would from the money they would earn. If they can already feed and house themselves, more power to them. But if they want to live comfortably or take foreign vacations, why not allow a bidding war? Isn't that the American dream?

The only "liberal" spin I can think to put on this is, once the artist gets those millions of dollars, I'd like to think s/he would donate a lot of it to charity of some sort, and try not to spend much of it on companies that harm the world. But how much is still a personal opinion.

Answer 3

I think you need to draw a distinction between luxuries and the necessities of life. It's outrageous that oil companies can boast to their shareholders about their record profits while telling consumers it has nothing to do with the price of gas, and insurance companies can brag about their record proftis while denying people health care. I don't think owning an oil well should give you the right to charge whatever you want, even if people are freezing to death for lack of heating oil. But as much as I appreciate art, nobody's going to suffer unduly for lack of an original painting. On the other hand, if a company (or an individual) can afford to pay $60 million to buy the latest Van Gogh to come up for auction, I would consider that adequate proof that their taxes are too low.

Answer 4

A great political question/
After 20 hours work with $50 invested, your work will be worth...

Placed in the right high class location, you can ask thousands.
In the wrong location, $25 (This is without allowing for whether its any good)

Answer 5

Why do you think this has anything to do with political affiliation?

Liberals don't usually care how much mark-up a company puts on a product, as long as the company is not engaged in racketeering or monopolies. As long as its a free market, and especially for luxury goods and other non-necessities of life, it's not a political issue that falls within the liberal philosophy.

More specifically, except for areas related to protection of the environment and fraud, liberals also generally oppose regulation of business activities.

Why do you think this is an issue that liberals as a whole would have any constistent opinion on?

Answer 6

Look..its pretty easy. Marx said that all things of value belong to the people...that way everything is equal. Orwell said some folks are more equal than others (paraprhase). So, let the "people" decide...at least those who are more equal than others.

Answer 7

as a liberal, there's no limit i would want to put on it.

there's a wise level--the highest that someone would pay for it, but that's not a ceiling for how high he should be allowed to price it.

a new question--

if 10,000 people want to pay michael jordan $10 each so they can watch him play golf, should he be allowed to take their money if he plays a round?

Answer 8

No, he made it so he can charge whatever he wants.

Answer 9

Sorry Buddy, you're asking the wrong Political party if your looking for tips to rip someone off. The question would start off "Conservatives, please. . ."

Answer 10

i think he should charge whatever he wants if its good and unique