Right now, politicians, economists, business execs, and consumers are worried about stuff not dashing. Snarled, clogged, tangled, backlogged… you name it; stuff is stuck in containers that are stuck on ships. Even with round-the-clock scrambling, woeful predictions of a not-so-merry Christmas persist.
It’s a matter of mismatched supply and demand, compliments of voracious consumers, stoked by a pandemic. Too much money chasing too few goods. So to the highest bidders go the increasingly expensive spoils. Those willing to pay a premium will be first in line.
Consumers pushing back from the trough and tanking the economy is unlikely. We’ve been trained to consume. We’re addicted to more stuff- some of it needed but much of it not. I wonder if the delays in delivery will serve as an intermezzo- just whetting appetites for more stuff or if delays will serve as a consumption reset. “Guess what. I’m stuffed.”
And I wonder how much of the stuff that’s holed up in all those thousands of containers will be in a landfill or donation box in short order. That’s the dash to trash. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Possibly. But it’s probable that one man’s trash is another man’s trash.
So back to the Rules. Fewer things, better things. Buy the best and you only weep once. Needs and wants are not the same. “What if I waited?” It’s always a good question, but especially when the snarls have been untangled.