More Demand than Supply
Many economic effects were brought by the Pandemic, including spiking unemployment rates, which led to a tremendous downward spiral from there. With a huge shortage of labor, and demands now shooting back up from shoppers wanting to enter back into society, our country’s supply chains have simply not been able to keep up, leaving shelves of Walmart to even big-box retailers like Macy’s empty days after restocks. Additionally, aspects like getting raw materials to make the many available products has been difficult as well, resulting in raised prices, and inflation. Our demands could keep getting higher and higher, but with little to no workers at hand to produce the supplies we want, it’s only going to get worse.
Online Shopping Craze
Though we may not want to admit it, we all know it’s true. We don’t just love online shopping, we’re addicted to it. Now that may seem harsh, but going from the two-day shipping wonder of Amazon, to the crazy cheap prices of Shein, we as a society can’t seem to stop. There are more than a million options available, three times more than any store in the mall, and right from the comfort of your home, you can pick one out, and with another click of a button it’s paid for, packaged, and shipped, ready to be delivered to your front door. Whether you want to call it efficient, or come to terms with your problem of instant gratification, the obsession of online shopping is only getting bigger from here. Yes, it’s more than okay to embrace this amazing feature in our lives, but especially after seeing the effects it could cause, keeping someone from a job, or keeping your favorite item out of stock because prices are going up and employers don’t have the workers they need to fulfill the endless orders coming in, it is equally important to take a second, and see whether that purchase is worth all the hurt it could be causing on the other side of your screen.
Procrastination is something that will always stay in our lives to some extent, but when it comes to getting your holiday shopping done, don’t wait. The things you want can be very unpredictable in our current market, so you never know when something will be there, and when gone, when it will ever return back to the clothing rack. All said and done though, one thing that can also be said is this. As the years continue, it is easier to fall into the infinite pit of materialism, along with the other reigning issues like social media taking over our lives. This December, spend time with your friends and family, count your blessings after this tough year of covid tests and paranoia, and enjoy every moment, because there are more people then we realize who have much less, yet are content all the same, with what’s really important.
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