Demand & Survive
We are Selfish, It’s not our faults.
Remember the introduction to economics course that you took in the first year of university where the instructor explain that scarcity of a product drives demand upward on the graph even at an increased cost. Well, he wasn’t telling you the whole truth, he wasn’t telling you why. Scarcity wasn’t the reason for increased price and demand, selfishness was.
I went for a retail therapy last night, stressed out from an assignment. I really didn’t have any grocery needs but I carefully canvas every aisle in the hopes to destress. That’s when it happened, I found a note on the shelf in aisle four (4) where the kitchen and home products where stocked, it read:
We are currently experiencing a shortage of foil supplies from our distributors, we apologize for any inconveniences, please bear with us. Signed Management.
Instinctively I became more alert, my survival mode has kicked in, fight or flight; my primal need to protect myself as I started to feel under attack. I was going to pick as much foil trays and rolls as I could before I stopped to ask myself, do I really need it? Upon careful evaluation, I realized I don’t even use any of the products which were undersupplied.
Puzzled for a bit, I decided to do what I do best and ask myself questions, arguing for and against in the courtroom I had set up in my head. Then I realized that my instinct was to purchase a whole lot for myself so that I am not at a disadvantage in a crisis rather than to figure out a way to solve the problem so everyone can benefit. It was all about me instinctively.
What is your first approach to a problem? Is it selfish or solving? This is the root cause for the demand curve going up and prices skyrocketing, our “Selfishness” not scarcity.
