To prove a point, let’s imagine the following:
The most exciting, most amazing and the greatest movie ever is playing at the movie theater. Everyone under the sun is exploding to see this movie. Let’s call the move, “America.” You are desperate to see “America,” the greatest movie ever. Because “America” is the greatest movie ever, you know that there are going to be a ga-zillion people waiting in line to see it, and the theater room will be packed. So you have three options:
1. You wait in line to purchase your ticket, and then use your purchased ticket to wait in line to get seated in the theater room. No matter how early you get there, the word is out and people are flocking from everywhere to see “America,” the greatest movie ever.
2. You find an alternate way of purchasing your ticket. So you skip the line to purchase a ticket and wait in line to be seated in the theater room. You realize that you may pay a premium price for your alternate methodology of legitimately purchasing your ticket, but you believe it is worth the extra money.
3. You say screw waiting in line, and forget purchasing a ticket. You sneak your way into the theater room where they are playing “America,” the greatest movie ever.
Okay, which option would you choose?
Now let’s reflect briefly on all three options. Option 1 is the “normal” legitimate way the vast majority of people go to see “America,” the greatest movie ever. Because it is the greatest movie ever, demand to see this movie will always be high, but for the vast majority of people, the wait is worth it. Option 2 is the “alternate” legitimate way that some people, who can afford it and have the means to acquire it, go see “America,” the greatest movie ever. Because everyone wants to see this greatest movie ever, the reality is that there are some “privileged” people who just have or take advantage of what they have or have been given. This is just a reality of life. Option 3 is the illegal and immoral way that a few people go see “America,” the greatest movie ever. Usually these individuals are teenagers, who because of their rebellious nature, try to “give it to the man” and skirt authority and reject order. Generally speaking the rest of the people who have legitimately made their way in line and to their seats are on the look-out for these “hooligans” who are few and far between.
What happens if these “hooligans” were rarely caught, and eventually were allowed in by those running the movie theater? Less purchasing people would be getting access, prices for tickets and concessions would eventually go through the roof, and purchasing people would be wondering why bother paying for “America,” the greatest movie ever.
No what would happen if the parents of these teenage hooligans began to petition the movie theater to allow their teenagers repeat access to “America” without ever waiting in line and without ever purchasing a ticket? Furthermore the teenagers embolden by the system then begin to demand that the concessions be given to them for free! How do you think real movie goers, who love experiencing the whole movie theater atmosphere, would react? How do you think legitimate consumers of “America,” the greatest movie ever, would respond? What is the inevitable fate of “America,” the greatest movie ever?
Reason tells us that movie theaters would eventually go out of business because they could no longer afford what it costs to run a movie theater. They could not pay their electricity bill, they could not afford to hire staff, they could no longer purchase food to sell. Worse of all, the movie theater would no longer be able to show “America,” the greatest movie ever. Why? Because the reality is, even watching “America,” the greatest movie ever, costs money.
