More Panic Buying Stupidity
It’s hard not to run into someone who has been devastated by the panic buying pandemic. Just today, I heard about someone who had entirely run out of toilet paper, having to call his sister, who could only procure two boxes of man-sized tissues. All the stores were wiped clean.
As mentioned beforehand, panic buying is stupid on its face. Were it only stupid, though! In fact, it is outright dangerous and will imperil the lives of millions in this country unless people put a cap to their greed and selfishness.
Panic buying presumes that the country will face a shortage of toilet paper, soap, handwash, hand sanitiser, bread, and pasta as a result of coronavirus. This is pure nonsense. Coronavirus may affect shop assistants (who are being abused as I type this, trying to please greedy and aggressive customers), but as supermarkets have stated, there are *more* than enough food items and toiletries for everyone.
Have the panic mob forgotten that Britain’s supermarkets waste *hundreds* of millions of pounds worth of food and other products each year, because of surplus? Yet they believe that the coronavirus will imperil the food and toiletries supply.
Further stupidity can be found in the fact that hoarding toilet paper will not protect anyone from coronavirus. Firstly, there was no shortage of toilet paper (and other bathroom necessities) before panicking banshees raided the supermarket shelves. Secondly, coronavirus has no currently known impact on your digestive system. It is a respiratory disease.
Meanwhile, we have millions of vulnerable people, many of whom are more likely to contract coronavirus, who are unable to access crucial resources. While some pack entire shelves of toilet paper into their bags, others are running out and cannot afford to buy more. If they can, they discover empty shelves in every store-- even those further away.
I was lucky to get another packet of toilet roll yesterday, but only a 4-pack. I usually buy a 9 pack, which lasts a couple of weeks. Yesterday, the dazed shop assistants said that “people have gone mad”. So they have. Hoarding resources that will not protect them from the virus, as well as hoarding resources that other people also need to protect them from the virus, is not taking “precautions”.
Many panic buyers seem to think that hoarding bread and tomatoes will assist them during a potential lockdown. What they have failed to realise is that these products have a shelf life which will not last several potential months of quarantine. They also fail to realise that in countries experiencing a lockdown, shops are still open.
Why not? People will not suddenly stop needing groceries during a lockdown. This isn’t a nuclear apocalypse. We’re not at war. It will be necessary to continue to buy groceries during a potential lockdown. And for that to happen, we need stocks. All those who have hoarded will find much of their possessions useless. Even more ironically, by the time the danger has passed (and it will), they will be left with a giant, useless surplus of goods which could have gone to the needy.
A word on soap etc. hoarding. Panic buyers seem to think that if they can clear the shelves of soap, they will not contract coronavirus. Of course, their hoarding means that many go without soap, meaning that they are unable to practice the highly effective method of handwashing. Without this, they are more vulnerable to contracting coronavirus and more likely to spread this unknowingly to others.
Put simply, panic buying is endangering lives and making the potential number of infections *more* likely and the potential deaths *higher*. How people cannot see this is beyond me. If everyone bought a reasonable amount of soap, even a little extra, there would be *plenty* to go around. But never underestimate the power of greed, fear and stupidity in the midst of a crisis.
Another aspect of panic buying: if we face a potential lockdown in Britain, the last thing we need are empty shops. As mentioned earlier, we need access to groceries, toiletries, etc. during the height of the infections phase. Panic buyers, with their head full of alarming statistics and blaring media reports (but no common sense or compassion), have forgotten this (or are entirely unaware of this).
To survive coronavirus, we need a functioning economy. Essential shops must be open, and shop assistants kept in employment for as long as possible. This poses a risk (this can be mitigated using the lockdown methods of Italy and Spain), but will prevent the far more calamitous consequences of mass unemployment, increased dependency on welfare, and the health consequences associated with that.
Panic buying will inevitably lead to less shopping in the future, which will damage the economy. A shop assistant wisely explained to me yesterday that people won’t want to buy anything in a couple of months. So how is hoarding sensible? It isn’t. Anyone with a brain can see that unstable economies often suffer in the face of epidemics, let alone a pandemic such as this.
Supermarkets, dazed by the pestilence of greed (I have seen videos of fights over toilet paper in Australia) masquerading as “protection” and “precaution” (where does the NHS advice on coronavirus include hoarding 8 packets of toilet roll?), are now pleading with people not to stockpile resources.
Much of the damage has already been done, however. When people automatically assume that predictions and statistics are unchangeable, see rising death tolls, and accept any speculation on social media as fact, they will ignore practical solutions (such as the highly effective advice to wash your hands more often).
Panic will not save *anyone* from coronavirus. In fact, it will (and already does) make the situation far worse. We survive during a crisis by keeping a cool head, taking precautions, and if necessary, more severe measures to fight the problem. Hoarding, fighting, spreading nonsense, exaggerating predictions, speculating and other nonsense has never stopped the spread of a disease and never will.
I am embarrassed and disgusted by the wimpy greed shown by British people (as well as those in America and Australia). At the same time, I am encouraged by the large-scale condemnation of panic buying by sensible Britons (as well as other nationalities), as well as the courage and dignity being shown by the Italians, Spanish, South Koreans (and other nationalities). Where society isn’t run by greed and selfishness, people survive crises such as coronavirus.
Panic buyers should take note.
