I Remembered! It was about economics

[wolven7]

Just want to plant this in your brain, let it wriggle around in there, for a while:

When economists say "what the market will bear"... You do realise that YOU'RE the market, right? That, if you stop bearing it, it'll change? You get that, yeah?

Just throwing that out there.

Comments

i'm not an economist

[raoin.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry but i do somewhat feel as though that's a bit of a simplification of the situation. looking at it, i believe that i dont have an option but to make do, to bear it, as it were.

its true, the price of gas has become such a burden that i drive as little as possible, but that's not to say i've stopped driving entirely. i merely am more attentive to how i get where i'm going and my reasons for going there. and i'm a lot more unwilling to offer others a free ride.

the cost of food has become difficult, but that has simply made me manage my food better, what i eat, how i eat it, when i buy and what i buy. and where food is concerned, unlike luxuries, i dont have an option to not bear the cost, i dont qualify for food stamps (even if i were starving, i have too many assets to get on the govenment tit), so if i dont have money for food that means i dont eat, and since not eating isnt an option that means i have to work my way around the problem. boycotting eggs will not lower the price of eggs, merely drive up the cost of things which would replace the protein need that eggs used to fill. beans would be a better option to get protein than eggs (less perishable, more plentiful) and i have more than few cans of those in my pantry waiting to meet my need. that wont stop me from buying a dozen eggs when i can, because i like eggs and i can do far more enjoyable things with them than i can with beans.

a round-trip ticket to new york city right now costs around $350. a ticket to japan costs $3000. yet planes are filling. the truth is that while those prices may keep many people home (forcing them to enjoy what are now playfully called "stay-cations") there are plenty of other people for whom the trip is a necessity and as such they will "bear" the price.

to conclude (for now) i think that choosing not to bear the price is not going to change the cost, merely it will change our habits, cause us to re-prioritize.

Re: i'm not an economist

[wolven.livejournal.com]

My basic point is just that with enough of a push, yes, people can change the course of the market.

But people are too complacent, at base. They do, in fact, bear it.

[mendori.livejournal.com]

Yes, but "bear" does not equal biting a leather strap while someone rapes your wallet with a giant spiked vacuum cleaner hose.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't, but there it is :\

[tearsinger.livejournal.com]

email/paypal?

[wolven.livejournal.com]

fenryswlf at yahoo.

Whafor?