On the topic of hoarding, I have a couple of parallel definitions:

--The procurement of supplies, usually in limited supply, that you have no-to-little likely need for and/or lack the proper understanding of thier usage to utilize them in a safe and effective method. I apply this to medication and anything with a very short storage life.

--Procuring supplies, in moderately lmiited quantity, in volumes that greatly exceed your resonable needs, and may hamper the abilities of others to be safe, without intention to redistribute without excessive profit. I would apply this to fuel during an evacuation, or to perishable food items in the "day after" phase.

This is different from stockpiling, which I apply to items with relatively great quanties during normal situations that are procureed in said normal situations, for your own purpose, to which I will include trade. That would be the guy who has eightteen jerry cans of gas and an Escort in his garage, and during an evacutaion, might trade some of the gas for, say, coffee or smokes. Or he's diggin in, and has a generator, or will be suppling fuel to his relief organzation. That I can deal with.

But if he leaves it behind in his garage becuase that is more gas than he has car, I'm not going to be terribly offended at a meeting between him and his bad karma. If I know it's in there, and he's bugged out, I'm not ashamed to say that I will return the cans to him, full, at a later date. Maybe by dropping them on his feet.

Profiteering is like hoarding, but you do it to take undue advantage of a crisis. For example, if the person in the above situation was charging 10 bucks a gallon, that would be profeteering.

Now, part of hoarding is the question of if it part of your normal supply. My grandfather carried a four tires, on rims, and something like six jerry cans of fuel in his truck, but he was a forester/naturalist before he retired. He just always had that with him. I can deal with that. But that also is part of what kind of person you are. In something like the Rita exodus, he might not have had much pity for someone out of gas who is driving a two-seat sports car that gets really lousy milage. But a station wagon full of kids... Yeah, he would have passed over at least a partial fuel can, and a couple gallons of water. In that situation, with that rig, I would to.

What really pisses me off, pardong my French, are people who buy pharmesuticals that are in limited supply, and don't need them, or they plan on self-diagnosing whatever illness they might be (semi-)specific for. Or selling for an insane profit. Those people, IMHO, are more likely to waste the drugs by using them inappropriately, frequently after storing them improperly, which frequently puts more load on the medical system. And they are taking a number of doses out of circulation that could have been used to contain an outbreak to the first couple of ttiers (I can't rememeber the proper term) of patients. As a result, I don't think any higher of them than I would someone who accidetnly released that infectious agent outside of a safegaurded area.

I don't know if this is an answer, or a theamatic rant. Probably both.