Ayn Rand said there are two kinds of people...

...Traders and Looters.

Traders are people who get what they want through contract, negotiation and consent.

Looters are people who sieze what they want through coercion, theft, deception, and government favoritism.

In my book, the Red Cross just placed itself firmly in the Looters column.

Acting on an emergency request from the American Red Cross, the FCC on Friday handed over control of the toll-free number 1-800-RED-CROSS to the nonprofit group, unceremoniously plucking it from the hands of corporate digit-squatters who'd been hoping for a six-figure payday.

If the Red Cross wanted it, it should have laid claim on the number when 1-800 numbers first came into being. It certainly had the means and the opportunity to do so, even more so than the guy who got it.

Hat tip to Kippy.

[On a (barely) related note, I'm trying to crystalize my own models of people in my own mind -- Hosts, Brokers, and Parasites. I'm
having problems integrating the Mutually Beneficial Trade into that model, though.]