We Don't Have Any Money

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We don’t have money because everything in life has a limit. We are still driving old cars and they warn us when the gas gauge approaches empty. People who dabble in drugs know when it’s enough. They ought to stop, but they can’t. That’s when we call them addicts. Even kids, the greatest gluttons in the world, know when they’ve had enough. “Mama, my stomach is painful.”

Not when it comes to shopping. Online retailers and stores at the shopping mall think we have unlimited amount of cash, like Donald Trump. That is why we have these sales.

1. Black Friday sales still on

2. Before Christmas 60% off sales

3. Boxing Day sales

4. New Year’s Day sales

Where do we find money to do all this shopping? Wait. It’s not even real money. We carry plastic cards that allow us to shop till we reach the limit, the bank gave us. These cards give us an illusion of wealth, but they also have limits. My limit is smaller than yours, because you own a house and even an island in Hawaii. How do you go to another country and buy a whole island? What happens to people who have lived there since the beginning of time? Do you also buy them?

I digress. My point is, since any form of consumption has a limit, why don’t we have a limit on these back-to-back sales from November to January? No, we can’t. It’s free enterprise. Let retailers off-load the clothes you guys didn’t buy. These sales are not by force. I guess not, but it’s another matter if you have kids. They are attracted to 70% off. Their math is very good.

Solution? I guess we have to train them very early that nothing is infinite. There’s a limit.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

 

 

 

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