Quote Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla View Post
If someone in need, in an emergency, petitions you for help and you have the help, you give it. You don't consult the market first.

If the next person petitions you for help and you have none left to give, sorry, but you have none left to give.

If everyone plays by these rules, I guarantee we out perform a society playing by yours in crunch time.
The problem with your logic is that need isn't objective, but subjective. There are a limited number of generators and a greater number of people who need generators. However, they need these generators in varying degrees. One person needs a generator to so he can use facebook and play Playstation. Another needs it to continue doing his business which he feels is vital. Yet another needs it so he can keep his insulin refrigerated. A small medical practice might need it in an even greater way because it has ten patients and needs power to vital systems in order to continue treating them.

So, a society in which people with generators give them to people who "need" them without asking for remuneration of any kind sort of breaks down in the face of this. Market-based price coordination is not a perfect way to distribute a vital resource in short supply. After all a really rich kid who wants to play playstation could still pay 1300 for the generator, but its better than forcing people to give them away at a cost much lower than the subjective value to the first lucky person that comes along to grab it.