Is short-selling a necessary market evil?

WHAT is it about short-selling that evokes such strong emotions? Is it because the idea of profiting from fear and wealth destruction is abhorrent? Or is there simply a natural aversion to seeing prices plunge just as there is a natural tendency to feel good when seeing prices surge?

Here's another thought - is some fear because there is a chance that short-sellers may have actually gotten something right, something that a possibly complacent majority has missed?

Perhaps it's all of the above. Certainly it hurts the sensibilities of most fair-minded people to see a few profit from the misery of many but it has to be said that in some instances, stocks which have been targeted by short-sellers have weakened drastically and remained depressed for a prolonged period thereafter, suggesting that the pre-shorting prices …