I would honestly prefer to get a PDF (or some other format of book) and just pay the writer directly…cut out the middle man.

The influx of money wouldn’t be any more steady, but at least you’d get a larger chunk (100%) per book.

Piracy already exists for books and likely wouldn’t increase because of a shift like I suggest and while a person might not be able to pay $20 for the newest book, most would be willing to chip in something (as compared to nothing).

Is this horribly naive?

Up until the last few years, banks made money on mortgage loans based on borrowers actually repaying said loan plus interest. It was in the best interest of the banks to ensure the borrower’s ability to repay, so they required all kinds of financial information from the borrower before making such a loan. The bank also used that financial information to determine what amount the loan should be to meet their level of acceptable risk. The bank’s success, if you will, was directly tied to the borrower’s success. So the borrower relied on the bank to know what it was doing. While this does not excuse the borrower from the responsibility of understanding his/her own financial situation, neither was it an unusual approach. I would go so far as to say that it was more common than not.

What caused much of the mortgage crisis was the ‘uncoupling’ of the bank’s and the borrower’s best interest. The bank no longer relied on the borrower to repay in order to make money; it made money by repackaging and reselling that loan, along with many many others, to another entity. Suddenly, it was possible for the bank to make money regardless of the borrower’s ability to repay, so it made as many loans as it possibly could. No amount of basic financial knowledge could have educated your average, or even above-average, borrower about this dramatic shift in the mortgage/banking business. And still, the “I just assumed that the bank wouldn’t offer me a risky loan…” part holds true. It’s just that the bank is only concerned about risk to itself, not to the borrower.

None of this absolves the borrower of responsibility, of course. As I said before, one should have a basic understanding of finances and one’s own financial situation. But is it a “pitifully poor excuse”? Not so much.

Whatever one may think about the relative culpability of individual, lender, and policysetter in the mortgage crisis, I strongly believe that a major component was a lack of basic financial knowledge on the part of the consumer and that our educational system is primarily at fault for that ignorance. “I just assumed that the bank wouldn’t offer me a risky loan and so I didn’t try to figure out what I could actually afford” is a pitifully poor excuse, in my book.

“I think that writers write because they love it. That is problematic because it conflicts with the goal of any business, to make money.”

Well, I think they are two different goals. I would write even if I didn’t make money from it; but since I can make money from it, I try to. I do think people who decide to also engage in commerce when they engage in writing need to be aware of the business aspects of it.

“Only the writers could live in such a delusion and pretend what happens in politics doesn’t affect their pocket book.”

Only the fatuous, hiding behind the names of their betters, would confuse the pointless political bloviating they’ve offered for a serious discussion of politics and the economy, Bill.

You run along now.