There is No End to a Circle
And for those who want higher wages to afford the cost of higher products, we will have to raise the cost of products to pay higher wages, to pay for the higher……
OK, I’ve been sitting back watching this shit show go down for a few months now. I once heard a great sailor say, “I’ve had all’s I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” Or something like that.
What a joke, all this tariff crap that’s coming to a store near you. “But I don’t want to pay more for all the crap I have to buy.” Neither do I, but at least I know why it’s happening and don’t put the blame on the wrong people. Ever since the first stock was issued, people have been fighting to make more money from trading goods. Otherwise, you would have socialism, then nobody would care who has what since everyone owns nothing and the “state” allows you to survive.
Capitalism and Americas form of government allows for individuals to have their say in what happens to the majority. Unfortunately most people have forgotten that they as a group have the power to influence what happens in their lives. ((Explicit warning: This is what you need to know about everything that is happening. Carlin knew it)) We have been convinced that how things are is the way they will be. Example: If you own a business, you want the highest profit for your product (duh, that’s why you went into business.) The problem is that three other businesses offer the same thing that you do and now your profits are falling. Either you make a better product for the same cost, cut wages, find less expensive material (which leads to inferior products), Take a loss for a short time to get consumers to buy your product and then raise the cost when the market turns in your favor, or you can sell out to a competitor. Lastly your remaining option is to close the business and declare bankruptcy. That’s a lot to consider, and not all options were covered!
Let’s dissect the example now.
If there is competition from other businesses, you can either change locations to a less saturated market or do better serving your customer. People have a choice in today’s market they seem to forget. Vote with your wallet! Yes, you may have to do more with less (but we have been doing that for several years now). You can shop at another store with similar products, or you can find an alternative to using what you have. It is generally the convenience of an item that we fall in love with. Bottom line is shop somewhere else to cast a vote of disgruntlement to the establishment you generally use, force competitive pricing to retailers. Purchase a better product even though it isn’t “the latest and greatest” thing on the planet. Most high-volume productions are made with inferior materials that break when you open the package! Purchase a product with longevity and keep it maintained, it might last for years! “But how will I ever have something to show off to my friends that’s new and shiny if I never buy new things?” My suggestion is, that when you get home from one of your many vacations per year (since you saved so much money from not buying new crap), show them the pictures you took from ______ and then go back to enjoying a less stressful life!
“There is NO WAY I can survive making less money than I do now!” This is true in the current economy. What if people started buying these monstrous homes that have 30 bedrooms, 4 kitchens and 20 master baths. Then they start sharing expenses with other people? “Are you serious? Give up my own home (that you can no longer afford) to live under the same roof as “other” people? You have to be out of your mind!” Maybe, but I bet your housing expense would be lower, and you would have a closer sense of community. Besides, I’ll bet you only really use 3 maybe 4 rooms of your house on a regular basis anyway. Bedroom, bathroom, and for some people the kitchen. The “living room” is somewhere we don’t need to be if budgets are tight and is it really living (in that room?). Use the money spent on that gargantuan TV and buy a computer. Research things you are interested in, learn, live, and have a more fulfilled life! Instead of “getting by” watching another mindless rerun, or the next episode of….. TV ranks (pun intended) with alcohol, tobacco, and drugs that are used by most to “cope” with the “hardships” in their life (hardships can be anywhere from the daily mundane to very personal and complex). I bet you’ll have more money not doing any of the 4 (TV, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs) mentioned! The rest of your time is spent at work, driving somewhere to buy more crap, and staring at your phone! Am I wrong? Cut living expenses for 3 years, get out of debt, get involved with nature (it’s relaxing), save money and buy your own house! Oh, did I mention there could be a housing price crash if fewer people needed to rent and fewer commercial properties had the market cornered?
Now for the main event.
What about inflation and these damn tariffs? To be honest, you are the solution and the cause for these issues. “I call B.S. on you Skinny! How dare you say I’m the cause of this mess!” I also stated that you are the solution as well.
What do you spend most of your money on? Products from the U.S., China, or some other foreign country? If you didn’t say the United States, then you are the problem. “Damnit, I can’t afford stuff made in the U.S.” Then I guess wages need to be lowered and people need to buy local. “But how can I survive on lower wages?” Spend your money on stuff that is only a basic necessity, then you can manage. “Then I wouldn’t have a life!” Maybe, but you would have the extra cash needed to get by, possibly even thrive, and in a nearer future than your current reality.
Tariffs are not meant to bring unwanted grief to the consumer or the middle class. Greed is where sellers raise prices so they can have higher profits (think local vs. imported, if I sell stuff locally and imports are now 30% higher, and I raise my prices to match the imports then I’m greedy and the process does NOT work). Tariffs are meant to bring attention to the consumer that what they are purchasing is from another country where the labor is cheap and often people are forced to work in unsafe jobs. If your answer is, “I wouldn’t work like that”, then you missed the point of unfair labor practices across the globe just so you can have that “new and shiny”. Most people in other countries are so poor from working in a place that pays low or no wages that they can’t leave even though they have three less fingers to “make that for you.”
So, you see, there is no simple solution to lower inflation, unless all Americans are working, no matter the wage or job. Sadly, most people don’t or won’t work crappy jobs because it is “beneath them”. Instead, they live off the people that DO WORK and then gripe about how unfair the world is. Until corporations’ lower costs (but then they would have to lower wages), we go back to using oil that isn’t making other countries richer (to have lower energy costs), Start producing products that have a longer life span (if a product lasts 5 years instead of 20, the manufacturer makes a bigger profit when you buy 4 instead of 1. As an added bonus of inferior products, landfills are filled, air and waterways are polluted more!)
There is a solution to all of our problems, BUT most Americans are either to “proud”, lazy or just don’t have the necessary skills to be useful in today’s marketplace. Other than being a consumer and working until they die! How fun is that?!!
Conclusion.
If people come together and demand better products that last longer (current practices are meant for you to buy more to increase their bottom line), are inclined to live on less (financially and consumer wise), willing to live in smaller homes (big homes are nice but use more resources to heat, furnish, and A LOT more material to build and keep maintained), drive automobiles that actually are fuel efficient, instead of relying on batteries (sadly bigger isn’t always better and batteries are more detrimental to environments than gas powered), demand higher quality foods (you don’t want to know how bad our food is), actually interact with other humans face to face and in a kind way (f-book and social anything sites are NOT human interactions and are NOT beneficial to anyone), take more pride in keeping trash off the ground (rivers, lakes and streams don’t count as not on the ground), be less wasteful in general (recycling is only there to make people feel better about being wasteful. Transporting it to manufacturers that use your “saved trash” only put pollutants somewhere else on the spectrum), Be less concerned with global warming (if you won’t buy better products that last longer, yes, they cost more initially. You don’t have to have the latest greatest thing to come along either), take a pay cut instead of demanding a pay increase. Yes, we all love our raises, but have you noticed every time wages increase so do the things we need to survive? Coincidence? I think not.
When you buy from other countries, the United States loses money that could have been beneficial to all Americans!
