A Fair Trade

From spent years on Pacific islands
Bob had become a flaming Socialist
Bearing witness to land traded
For a pittance of its market value.

He saw properties, with the potential
To become ocean front condos.
American developers offered pennies
To Islanders unaware of the value.

I wondered, “What was stolen”?
How much ignorance warrants intervention?
As a buyer is there an obligation
To share my most positive assessment?

I shan’t defend the buyer.
Indians sold Manhattan for a few dollars' worth of trinkets
If the price was inadequate
What of the seller, who did not own the property?

In a successful trade sometimes all parties
Are left uneasy,
Thinking they surrendered too much.
Should we conduct ourselves accordingly?

Should the tenant insist on paying above the market value
Because the market was once higher?
Should the landlord offer a price lower than market
Because the market was once lower?

If we can not live ethically in a market driven world,
What will define fair?
If not the buyer and seller,
Who will define fair?