due diligence is evil

[Advocate]

Caveat emptor - "Let the buyer beware." is the legal principle behind due diligence, which puts the responsibility of ensuring the validity of a purchase on the buyer when it should be squarely in the seller, especially in real estate. Land will always be a seller's market and there is no reason why the seller shouldn't be responsible for proving they're not hiding anything before a sale is considered valid. The current system encourages those who already have an unfair balance of power in the transaction to take advantage of hiding as much of any potential problems as possible which is clearly counterproductive to the good of a just society.

[Harbal]

This thread comes under the category of, "wouldn't it be nice if".

Wouldn't it be nice if the sky was always blue; Wouldn't it be nice if we never grew old; Wouldn't it be nice if no one ever cheated.

[Advocate]

[quote=Harbal post_id=473048 time=1600976325 user_id=9107]
This thread comes under the category of, "wouldn't it be nice if".

Wouldn't it be nice if the sky was always blue; Wouldn't it be nice if we never grew old; Wouldn't it be nice if no one ever cheated. :(
[/quote]

It also puts the burden of finding faults on those least capable of doing so and who have the most to lose, how is it not completely obvious to everyone? Well, everyone isn't in charge so it doesn't really matter how obvious it is.

[Harbal]

It also puts the burden of finding faults on those least capable of doing so and who have the most to lose, how is it not completely obvious to everyone? Well, everyone isn't in charge so it doesn't really matter how obvious it is.

So life isn't always fair; I think most of us already knew that.

[Advocate]

[quote=Harbal post_id=473138 time=1601053211 user_id=9107]
[quote=Advocate post_id=473094 time=1601031629 user_id=15238]

It also puts the burden of finding faults on those least capable of doing so and who have the most to lose, how is it not completely obvious to everyone? Well, everyone isn't in charge so it doesn't really matter how obvious it is.
[/quote]

So life isn't always fair; I think most of us already knew that.
[/quote]

Why do people like to present that as an end when it's actually the beginning of the problem?

[Harbal]

Why do people like to present that as an end when it's actually the beginning of the problem?

Because it's also the end of the problem; unless you have come up with a plan to change human nature.

[Advocate]

[quote=Harbal post_id=473152 time=1601056718 user_id=9107]
[quote=Advocate post_id=473140 time=1601053431 user_id=15238]

Why do people like to present that as an end when it's actually the beginning of the problem?
[/quote]

Because it's also the end of the problem; unless you have come up with a plan to change human nature.
[/quote]

If the "answer" is to find a way to change human nature, that's still the beginning, not the end. You've only redefined the problem, not actually given any insight to a solution. Is finding a solution not a priority for you, or what?

[Harbal]

If the "answer" is to find a way to change human nature, that's still the beginning, not the end. You've only redefined the problem, not actually given any insight to a solution. Is finding a solution not a priority for you, or what?

There is only one solution, and you've already identified it: "Let the buyer beware."

[henry quirk]

Let a purchaser beware, for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another party.

[Advocate]

[quote="henry quirk" post_id=473163 time=1601059237 user_id=472]
[b]Let a purchaser beware, for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another party.[/b]
[/quote]

It's bullshit because the other party has the balance of power and can usually ensure that ignorance despite the buyer's due diligence. Time and information resources are also typically on the side of the seller. It's immoral at every layer in every sense. There is no such thing as a free market, the reality of which is assumed in most current law. That's where the evil part comes in.

[henry quirk]

Let a purchaser beware, for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another party.

It's bullshit because the other party has the balance of power and can usually ensure that ignorance despite the buyer's due diligence. Time and information resources are also typically on the side of the seller. It's immoral at every layer in every sense. There is no such thing as a free market, the reality of which is assumed in most current law. That's where the evil part comes in.

i got the money, he's got the car: where's the imbalance?

[Advocate]

[quote="henry quirk" post_id=473178 time=1601061272 user_id=472]
[quote=Advocate post_id=473173 time=1601060676 user_id=15238]
[quote="henry quirk" post_id=473163 time=1601059237 user_id=472]
[b]Let a purchaser beware, for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another party.[/b]
[/quote]

It's bullshit because the other party has the balance of power and can usually ensure that ignorance despite the buyer's due diligence. Time and information resources are also typically on the side of the seller. It's immoral at every layer in every sense. There is no such thing as a free market, the reality of which is assumed in most current law. That's where the evil part comes in.
[/quote]

i got the money, he's got the car: where's the imbalance?
[/quote]

He has a mechanic on call who will support whatever he tells you, and at the scale he's operating on it's minor expense. You have to pay a much more significant portion of your available funds to find someone to check the vehicle and with no guarantee they aren't on the same side because they operate in the same industry. Examples are infinite. There is no balance in a typical contact but especially at scale. You don't have an equivalent ability to gain or check the information that the seller has, ever.

[Harbal]

He has a mechanic on call who will support whatever he tells you, and at the scale he's operating on it's minor expense. You have to pay a much more significant portion of your available funds to find someone to check the vehicle and with no guarantee they aren't on the same side because they operate in the same industry. Examples are infinite. There is no balance in a typical contact but especially at scale. You don't have an equivalent ability to gain or check the information that the seller has, ever.

Although you overestimate the seller's advantage and underestimate the buyers possible resources, in principle, you are right. In the case of a car, or perhaps a house, the buyer could well, at some stage, become a seller, and will very probably go about it with the same ethical standards as the guy he bought from. Some of us are more honest than others, that is the way of the world. It is an unfortunate truth, although I would stop short of calling it "evil".

So what is your point?

[Advocate]

[quote=Harbal post_id=473184 time=1601062578 user_id=9107]
[quote=Advocate post_id=473181 time=1601061540 user_id=15238]

He has a mechanic on call who will support whatever he tells you, and at the scale he's operating on it's minor expense. You have to pay a much more significant portion of your available funds to find someone to check the vehicle and with no guarantee they aren't on the same side because they operate in the same industry. Examples are infinite. There is no balance in a typical contact but especially at scale. You don't have an equivalent ability to gain or check the information that the seller has, ever.
[/quote]

Although you overestimate the seller's advantage and underestimate the buyers possible resources, in principle, you are right. In the case of a car, or perhaps a house, the buyer could well, at some stage, become a seller, and will very probably go about it with the same ethical standards as the guy he bought from. Some of us are more honest than others, that is the way of the world. It is an unfortunate truth, although I would stop short of calling it "evil".

So what is your point?
[/quote]

What definition of evil would that sort of thing Not fit? Pick a context. It's Bad. for society.

[Harbal]

What definition of evil would that sort of thing Not fit? Pick a context. It's Bad. for society.

I avoid the word "evil", it suggests something that I don't think exists.

Is it bad for society? I certainly don't like it when I'm a victim of it, so I would instinctively tend to agree that it is, but how can we know that a society where every single member was scrupulously honest would actually function?