[anigbrowl]

Sure they would. Fair isn't some objective measure, it's what the market decides. If multiple market participants see that one player is trying to corner the market, raising their price is fair. It can equally be argued that those swampland owners bought the land in the first place because they had a vision that it could one day host a unique commercial enterprise.

If your business strategy depends on deceiving people, what does that make you?

[vinceguidry]

> It can equally be argued that those swampland owners bought the land in the first place because they had a vision that it could one day host a unique commercial enterprise.

Heh. On swampland? The amount of money you need to do anything with it is just huge. They bought the land for exactly what others were willing to sell it for. Nothing more, nothing less. If they thought it was worth more, they would have held out for more.

[anigbrowl]

And they made a huge commercial success out of it, as you originally pointed out. None of which is responsive the point that one should not engage in misrepresentation and deception, which undermine the competitive function of markets.

[solumunus]

They would have realised it was worth more if the true demand wasn’t obfuscated.

[comfypotato]

As if any negotiating business isn’t “deceitful”.

You’re basically arguing for discrimination to be legal.

[anigbrowl]

It isn't. I can ask for what I want in a negotiation and accept or reject counter-offers, as can my counterparty. I've never set out to deceive someone in such a situation. I don't know why you're trying to equate Disney with some downtrodden minority, but it's not very persuasive.

[comfypotato]

The laws are in place in part because of discrimination. It happens to be Disney in this case.

You confirmed that you’re dishonest by omission in your example. The fact that a counteroffer exists shows that it’s not implied you were forthwith with the price/value. Making/receiving a counteroffer implies that there was deceit, it’s just culturally acceptable deceit. If negotiations were completely honest, there would never be a counteroffer. Some Native American tribes were known for this sort of negotiation where the bottom line is stated and then accepted or rejected. They were often offended, by the implied dishonesty, by European’s counteroffers.

Extended to this situation, hiding an identity because it affects the business decisions of the other party is no different. (And I won’t continue the discussion if you want to defend your assertion that Disney is morally wrong here for being dishonest by omission.)

[anigbrowl]

Logic is not your strong point.

[comfypotato]

I only engaged you out of an interest in opening and expanding my viewpoint. (Just stating my perspective with no intention of offending:) I went into this under the assumption that you are jealous of rich folk and have a misplaced sense of entitlement. You’ve failed to change my mind. I’m not saying that’s necessarily true, please don’t be offended; you’ve just done nothing to convince me otherwise and’ve left me with a stronger sense that I’m correct. Consider that, from the standpoint of opposing your argument, I have no reason to believe otherwise.

That being said, my views aren’t your problem. I’m asking for help understanding an alternative look on things and giving you the benefit of the doubt that you aren’t immature.

You’ve done nothing to back up your stance. By all means, feel free to provide a breakdown of your argument in the context of my point regarding deceit. I’m genuinely interested. The discrimination aspect of the discussion could use some research and, ultimately, is only a sideshow to the concept of dishonesty in business (and can be disregarded). As far as the logic of the “deceit” portion, there is a leap of faith in extending the deceit of basic haggling/negotiation to hiding one’s identity. As I said before, if we differ in this belief, there’s no reconciling. Otherwise, my logic is rock solid.

To clarify my point with anecdote: I recently negotiated the purchase of a car; at no point did I practice deceit. I simply stated the price I was looking for and then negotiated to lower the price by pitting sellers against each other. Regarding deceit, I’m referring to what is more along the lines of “haggling” — an attempt is made to get a better deal on a purchase/sale than the bottom line of what you are willing to offer. This haggling would be present in Disney’s purchase of the land where there are no other current buyers for the seller to pit against Disney.