Beware the media and politician who beats the price gouging drum

Imagine you are a gas station owner and a disaster happens.  Suddenly you have control over the most valuable resource around.  The rich would give $100 / gallon just to get out of dodge.  But no, you have to worry about being labeled a 'gouger'.  It could be that you need to hold some reserve for yourself or loved-ones.  But no, that  would be hoarding when people need what you have.  Do property rights end when its convenient?  You have a choice to make - do what the government backed masses want and suffer fees and harassment OR sell the product at the deFacto market rate demanded by the disaster.  The premise is that you are going to be greedy and bad to people.  You are going to deny gas to the old lady, the orphanage bus, or a pregnant lady.  That you on a personal level can't choose when its right to be generous, you need the government to make you to do that instead.  Plus, as you watch your last gallons being sucked up by frantic customers at 'reasonable' prices, you see people fill containers you know will spill.  You see precious gallons squandered by big honking trucks with only the driver trying to get out of town.  That driver doesn't have to worry, he pays just as much as the packed minivan behind them.

The point here is that increasing price is a necessary downside to optimizing supply in the face of scarcity.  Without the fear of prosecution, you instead steadily increase the price as demand increases.  The natural consequence is that scarcity is managed and squandering is eliminated.  People start making decisions -- do I really need to travel further,  should we carpool, should I spend my emergency fund to get enough gas to get to safety?  Also, you find the lines are manageable, there is no fighting among customers, and there is always that last 100 gallons in the tank to sell to those who pay the price.  Suddenly it all makes since!  Property rights!  Now ask yourself, with the pandering of  government agencies and the media, who long is it going to be when every inconvenience is an emergency?  Let's not let a good disaster go to waste?  Austerity measures?  How dare 7-11 deprive them of food!  Bored?  How dare we deprive them of entertainment at such a cost!

When you here the media harp on this and the governor promising to 'get those gougers!' you think about the consequences of that.  The governor is going to have gas.  That media is going to get better ratings.  But you will suffer.  One day it will be your home, business, family!  Stand up know to this BS.  When it start call them right away and defend the stations.  Tell them instead they should send the National Guard to defend the owner instead of billing them later to condemn them.