And I kinda came down to an overview of how I view the American consumer...
The consumer system, big businesses, marketing... these are like the farmers, and they are out looking for profits...
And the American consumer... is the cattle...
Now, of course all big businesses don't get together, sit down and discuss how to fleece the sheep, but somehow when "the system" works together the end result is the same...
You see, there's really A LOT of marketing in the American consumer economy.
There's a lot of free stuff, they want you to try their stuff, so that if you like it, you will continue to buy it.
There's a lot of credit being offered to consumers, there's credit cards being sent around to induce people to spend... and somehow, Americans seem to LOVE spending. They don't seem to have any self control.
Based on some quick research, depending on which site I see, the percentage of Americans carrying credit card debt is somewhere around 37%-47%. That's some insane numbers.
Americans somehow love monthly payments. They earn their salary and they spend up to the limit of what they can afford. They will buy big ticket items on credit and pay monthly, up until what they earn. The problem is, this kind of spending and installment, is locked in. It's not like they can suddenly stop purchases when they lose their jobs. They have already purchased the item months ago and need to consistently pay their dues monthly.
So there's this complex network of advertising and rubbish marketing that drives Americans towards this end state of being like cattle.
The bottled drinks industry is big in the US. Bottled water, bottled sweet drinks, etc...
Soda, of fizzy drinks as we know it, is free flow at fast food joints. You pay for a cup, and you can top up all you want. Sodas are cheap at supermarkets. It's common for people to buy cartons home as their normal drink.
Warren Buffet drinks 5 cans of Coke a day.
Junk food, processed food, frozen foods are big in the US, they are marketed as time savers, easy, cheap meals... They aren't really cheap gram for gram, but they are affordable as a meal. A frozen stuffed crust pizza costs me US$7 which will feed me and my wife for the whole day.
Whereas I could alternatively buy 5kg of raw chicken at US$5 and I could cook this for days.
And yet, US$7 for a pizza is affordable and convenient.
Similarly, fast food is also cheap and convenient, it's not cheap dollar per gram, but it's affordable and convenient.
All these builds up to poor health for Americans...
It's estimated that around 40% of Americans are obese.
Around 9.4% of Americans are diabetic.
Generally incurable and ongoing, chronic diseases affect approximately 133 million Americans, representing more than 40% of the total population of this country. projected to grow to an estimated 157 million, with 81 million having multiple conditions.
Americans are unhealthy and they have to pay for it.
They pay for it in healthcare costs and insurance.
The problem with US healthcare and insurance is that the problem is cyclical.
Healthcare costs are high, Americans are unhealthy, they go to hospital, the hospitals know they are insured and charge them ridiculous charges to get as much out of the insurance as possible, then in-turn insurance companies charge even higher premiums and the consumers have to pay for the increased premiums.
It's an on-going cycle.
Then there's the typical consumerism, buying STUFF. LOTS OF STUFF.
They love stuff. They buy stuff for Christmas, Valentines day, whatever day, anniversary, etc...
They have those TV marketing, where they can call in and buy clothes, knives, vacuum cleaners, etc.
Amazon, etc... buying stuff is so easy.
It's part of the culture. They love to buy stuff.
Companies market to adults, market to kids, market to parents, make parents doubt themselves, "You need XXX for your kid's well-being", or "You need YYY for your pets' well-being".
Credit is easy to obtain.
Credit cards are easy to get, not so easy for me, cos I don't have a credit score, but most Americans have a credit score and they get credit cards really easily.
Payday loans are easy to obtain. People just pledge their next paycheck to obtain some cash NOW, for a fee, so that they can spend.
49% of Americans expect to live paycheck to paycheck this year.
Americans are paid every 2 weeks, cos they are notoriously bad at holding on to their money.
So they end up spending everything before the end of the month. So most companies pay every 2 weeks so that the people have money regularly.
Ok, back to topic... I'll combine all the above points...
The consumer system has made the typical American consumer like cattle.
They milk, fleece, bleed the consumer dry.
They sell rubbish food to the consumer, the consumers love the idea and buy into it.
Then they are in poor health, and they have to pay for healthcare or insurance.
Then they buy rubbish items and new cars, new phones, new TV, etc...
They live on credit, they live paycheck to paycheck...
They get into debt, they feel depressed with the debt, they go and see the doctor, they doctor prescribes medicine, anti-depressants, more bills, more consumption...
Essentially, the consumer system has sold the consumer everything that they can sell the consumer.
The consumer has been bled almost dry. There's nothing else the consumer can give to the system anymore. They have spent all/most of their current and future health, they have spent all/most of their current and future pay, cos almost half of the people are in debt.
And the system is still looking for more things to sell the consumer.
So if I look at it from an overall consumer system.
The system looks at the 37%-47% people holding credit card debt...
Or the 40% unhealthy...
If I'm the system, what would I do?
Well, I'd want to make more people even more unhealthy. If 50% of the population are sick, then there's more healthcare to sell to consumers. The more sick there are the more profits there are.
If more people are depressed, then I can sell more pills.
I'd also want to make more people indebted. If I can tap into the future earnings of these debt-free people. That would be wonderful.
For those people who are unhealthy and maxed out with the credit cards, these people are no longer useful to the system. They can't afford anything else. They have paid with their current and future currency.
I need to move on to sell to those who can afford what I'm selling.
I need to sell to the healthy and ruin them.
I need to sell to the debt-free and make them indebted.
I need to make these people pay me with their future health and future paychecks.
If I'm "the system" I'd want to destroy more lives.
Everyone has pretty much the same things that they can buy stuff with.
People only have so much money NOW... Once that's spent, that's it...
The best way for companies/"the system" to make even more money, is to tap into the future earnings of the people.
What a brilliant idea.
The typical American consumer is really like cattle.
"The consumer system" milks them, fleeces them, bleeds them and when they are useless, the consumers are left out to die and "the system" looks for it's next victim.
<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>
Did you like this post? If so, could you "blanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls.
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right.