I really do see your point. I'm inclined to agree to disagree, though, and tap out of this one.

This was fun, though. Spirited debate!

Please take this in the spirit in which it is intended, which is as a funny comparison, not a personal attack.

So your sister's a whore, right?

She makes her money by being sexy and getting dudes off. Every time she gets a dude off, she gets paid. Now sometimes, she gets paid different amounts. Your sister giving me a handjob isn't too taxing on her (the same way throwing Star Wars on iTunes isn't as taxing as printing up DVD sleeves and shipping them to Best Buy), but because getting off is still worth something, she still gets paid for the rub. She gets paid more for a BJ, the same way you'd get paid more for going through the trouble of printing and mailing DVDs. More still for sex, because hey, that's the whole shebang, right? These film reels are really heavy to ship, and expensive to print, and we gotta recoup our expenses to make up for it. Not to mention the fact that the bedsheets are stained. (This isn't part of the analogy, I'm just implying that your sister would have a terrific time.)

Now! I take a picture of your sister looking her best. I spent a lot of money to have sex with her, so it's not like she cares, I've already paid for the orgasm she gave me. But then I start making copies of that picture and handing them out to my friends. Suddenly, the whole fucking savage town is shooting loads on your sister's face in the privacy of their own bedrooms, and she's not seeing a dime of it.  She has to deal with the fact that we all now live in a technologically advanced world where everyone can easily access pictures of her, but hey, buggy whips. She'll have to adjust.

All the while, no profit from the freebies. Eddie was never going to have sex with your sister, he didn't pay her anything to get his hands on a picture of her that he can use, he just has it now. So she doesn't lose anything, right? It's not cool that Eddie doesn't have to use tape to put the picture back on the wall when he's done, but she technically didn't lose money on the deal. And since people will always be willing to fuck your sister - I mean, they always have! - it's not like she's eventually going to run out of business.

But now I put that picture of your slutty fucking sister online. And the whole world sees it. The entire world is staring at your slutty fucking sister for free. None of these people ever intended to pay your sister for all the fucking she's done, so it's not a big problem really, except now, back in your sister's neighborhood, times are pretty tough for her. The world is full of forums of people arguing that not only were they never going to pay to fuck your sister, but she wasn't worth it anyway. The general tide has turned in such a way that now, all of the people she used to have as clients aren't paying her for fucking them anymore, now they're just going online and looking at her for free.

Eventually, one cold day, even I stop fucking your sister. Her last client. My last great act of generosity. And I just look at pictures of her online.

And her rent is due.

All of this to say, while it's generally (although not technically) a fair argument to say that your sister doesn't lose anything when everyone jerks off to her, it's a slippery slope that will eventually lead to her not being able to get paid fucking anyone, and then we don't get to see the new Star Wars movie.

Not to mention the fact that you don't use buggy whips and do watch movies.

I understand the fact that a joke and a cabinet are different types of commodities.

(Thinking now in terms of joke-writers for comedians.)

But here's the thing. That doesn't change the fact that you pay for either one of those. A trade constitutes at least two factions: the good or service, and the payment for the service. The fact that the joke writer doesn't scrape the joke onto a rock and sell you the rock doesn't make it any less a-thing-he-gets-paid-for. Or, in the case of someone not paying him for it, not.

I don't know how to break out a useful analogy to describe how a trade system works, because a trade system is about as simple as simple gets. But let's imagine, out of the possibility that it's simpler, the following.

I invite you and Dave and Zarban and Fireproof and Lamer over to my house tonight, for wine and hang-outery. I'm providing the wine, because I'm a cool guy, and all I ask in return is for some fun times and good conversation with friends. When everyone shows up and that's exactly what happens, we're square.

But if you show up to the party with a wine glass, pour some of the wine, and leave again... clearly the trade is out of balance. Now, is it your fault that the barter system allows for you to do this? Of course not. And I'm not going to chase and stab you as you walk away drinking my wine, so you see it as fair. But it's a system built largely upon mutual respect and an understanding of what a thing is worth. In this case, a few glasses of wine are worth a couple hours of conversation.

...

Ergo... things have... value? And taking them without turning over the agreed-upon worth is stealing?

That's what I mean. I can follow your lines of logic about why it's alright to steal stuff, but you know, I work in the movie industry. People paying for movies is something I'm inclined to care about.

I love ladyposters.

We actually have a handful of regular ladyposters, but as far as I know, you and Jen are the only ones whose usernames are straightforwardly female.

I always feel like an asshole mod when I break out the color formatting, but everyone has access to it.

Revolution! Revolt! Red letters!

I liked it whole-heartedly.