Welcome back to “The Ethical Minute.” Today we’re asking: Is it wrong to buy used books and music instead of new copies that directly reward creators? The New York Times Ethicist says: absolutely not. Buying second-hand supports what she calls “the low-cost democracy of art’s second life.” Physical media are built to endure and be shared, and when works circulate widely—passed from reader to reader or rediscovered in a thrift shop—they boost an artist’s reputation and create new audiences. She reminds us that what artists truly need is “a system that gives them a real opportunity to sell their work, to build a career, to find a public.” After that, books and records belong to the wider cultural world, like paintings in a museum or volumes in a library. Vintage bookstores and record shops even spark conversations and community, nurturing the next generation of fans. So go ahead—shop used, share your treasures, and keep the art alive.
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