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*i posted this as a reply to yet another thread in SF bitching about gaia and money*

all this recent bitching about whether or not gaia has a right to charge money or not reminded me of the movie "the festival express". the festival express was a documentary about the Trans Continental Pop Festival which was a tour back in 1970 of some of the worlds biggest bands.

for some reason, by the time the festival started a large amount of the north american youth were of the opinion that large concert festivals should be free and showed up with no intention of paying the admission (it was $14 dollars to get in). this also happened at woodstock and the promoters of both events took a pretty big financial hit because of it. concert tours are expensive.

there was a scene where a member of the grateful dead (i believe it was bob weir) asked some protesters why they felt they shouldn't have to pay to see the show. they said that music should be free. he pointed out that this was how they were making a living and supporting their families and asked how they would feel if he showed up at their jobs and demanded that they work for free.

even so, when riots threatened to break out in toronto, the grateful dead put on a free concert in a park to appease the masses.

i think the parallels here are obvious. websites cost money to run. they require people to run them and those people should not have to work for free. equipment is not free, neither is rent, electricity, internet service, etc. it costs money to put on the show. just like the festival, the site is taking a hit financially and yet the show still goes on. and just like the dead putting on their free show for the protesters, gaia has done their damnedest to offer up a ton of stuff for us for no charge.

i suspect that many of the folks who are currently bitching haven't really had to sing for their supper yet and eventually reality is going to hit them hard. and for those of you who have - shame on you! you should be old enough to know better by now. sad