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this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
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The problem is that when everyone is "shopping sensibly" then people lose their job because there's no demand for whatever product sale their job depends on. That goes for pretty much every sector.
Macroeconomics isn't as simple as you seem to think.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades
Capitalism is unsustainable. That's the heart of the matter.
People should be shopping sensibly, buying what they need at a price they can afford.
Any other form of spending is likely driven by pressure tactics that are harmful to individuals.
If there is demand brought on by true need, the sales numbers will remain the same.
And to your point, impulse buying today also means you aren't spending tomorrow, in effect creating the same "problem" as shopping sensibly.
There's a difference between looking at the price of things and buying what you want/need if you're comfortable with the price VS the situation during a deflatory period where you look at the price, you're comfortable with it, but you know it's not an absolutely necessary purchase so you figure you'll just wait because the price will be coming down some more.
One of the two leads to people losing their job as demand crashes as people expect prices to go down.
If people only buy what they need and not what they want then I hope you have a plan for all the people who suddenly won't have a job. We don't need many things in life and we produce more than enough of it for everyone already... So, what do you do with the pool salesman or the network tech that works for Valve now that their job is unnecessary because people don't buy stuff they want anymore?
Heck, you wouldn't be here giving lessons on capitalism and wants vs needs if you followed what you're preaching because you wouldn't have whatever device you're using to type on.
Again, this problem only exists because capitalism requires rampant spending with no breaks. It's a failed system that should be corrected.
History has seen shifts in consumer buying patterens, and entire industries go under. You know what else happens? Other industries come up, and jobs change.
If industry isn't adaptable, then the result will be failure. Can't blame someone else for not keeping their unsustainable business model afloat.
No. There is nothing about private ownership of capital that requires rampant spending. Hell, us in Canada are especially good at allowing capital to sit idle.
It is our debt-based economy that requires rampant spending.