A Short or Long doesn't relate to time. It relates to the...

A Short or Long doesn't relate to time. It relates to the relationship of a quote value to the actual value if you look at it on a longitudinal line. If you believe in 12 months the value is going to be less, than you are short of that position. If you believe it will be higher, then you are long on that position. Alternatively known as Calls and Puts.

Shorting is Healthy
Shorting a market introduces efficiency to the marketplace. The 1930's economist Joseph Schumpeter introduced the phrase Creative Destruction to describe why it is healthy for poor performing and outdated businesses to be destroyed and replaced with new business models that are more in line with the new economy. Shorts accelerate this process by increasing the acceleration of share price reduction. If there is not future for the business, it is best to be removed as early as possible. Similarly Longs accelerate growth of relevant business ideas.