"Selling of shares does not, imo, drive prices down.

As I see it, he will only profit if he can replace the shares at a lower price.

But the simple act of selling to an active buyer, does not, in itself, drive the price down."

Technically I would say this is correct, however, the act of selling a share is not necessarily simple as it is tied to differing motivations with which the sale is made. It is in the interest of a shorter to see the price go down as this is how they make money. Selling into the bid helps to achieve this. It is the opposite of the situation for those buying, when they see an sp rise, to get in before it gets too high, and in the process contribute to the rising sp. Point is that holders benefit from this action as opposed to a declining sp where the majority lose. There is, I think, a moral difference between getting out of a stock because one believes that they need to protect their capital if a company's actions or inaction brings about reduced value, and selling specifically to make a profit having borrowed shares that someone else paid for and without their consent. This system has been around for so long that people accept it the way it is without questioning the principles behind it. If you don't think that selling or shorting a stock brings the sp down then I would wonder why the US outlawed the shorting of various stocks after the big crunch. The ability to put fear into the market is easy and many stood to gain from dropping prices and holding short positions. China doesn't allow it because they are smart, no one can mess with their economy from the market side. Another gov't can't go in and take down gold stocks or anything else by shorting them into oblivion.... mind you the Chinese are still in a position to do that to others.

We accept a lot of things today without giving them much thought because they have been presented in such a savoury way, usually making our lives wealthier or easier in some respect. There is always a price to be paid for such wealth or ease and it most often comes at someone else's expense or ultimately our own some time down the line. We all have to pay the piper one day.

The above is just my personal perspective.