A man who buys grain during abundant harvest and sells it during the dry spell is a speculator. He is more rational not only in thinking but also in doing. For wisdom tells him that a time will come when people will lack the grain they presently have in abundance. The pleasantness that accompanies plenty of what to eat, complimented by the forces of the market favors this speculator to buy at a very low price.
After a while, when nearly all is exhausted in our stores, the attitude of the society changes from one of joyous sharing to one of adversary and eating alone in secret. This too, a climate of selfishness during deficiency that segments the society in groupings based on what one has in store, favors the speculator to sell at exorbitant prices to individual consumers who once sold in togetherness.
Shall we gang together during this time of scarcity against the speculator? Evaluating things keenly will prove this as a misleading line of thought. It is not the fault of the speculator to take advantage of the negligence of others. In fact, if we single out the speculator as our cause for our fall from glory, we would be compelled by the same yardstick to include a farmer who plants in time to harvest abundantly in this list of enemies of the society. We owe him thanks for saving us from our own negligence. By taking risk, he stores for us for the future.
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