- The (In)Visible Hand, Scarcity, Venezuela, And The PlayStation 5 Archived Message
Posted by sashimi
on December 22, 2020, 9:34 am
|
Dakotah Lilly, 21 December 2020 (quote) As Christmas approaches around the world, lines get longer, prices fluctuate, and everyone wants to get their hands on the seasons hottest gift or toy for their loved ones. This holiday seasons most sought after gift appears to be either a Sony PlayStation 5 or a Microsoft Xbox Series S/X, with price ranges from $299-$499 depending on the model. However, as of this writing in December 2020, it is almost impossible to acquire any of the models for anything less than several hundred more than the suggested retail price, with some scalpers and speculators selling them for thousands of dollars on online marketplaces. It is estimated by some that these speculators have made almost 30 million dollars on a reported 60,000 resold consoles. This type of greed and unadulterated resemblance to the 'Grinch Who Stole Christmas' is unconscionable and unfortunate. Artificial scarcity is of course nothing new for a capitalist economy, one recalls the millions of tons of food products destroyed by large producers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of tons of food are also destroyed on the daily in capitalist economies in order to artificially inflate prices at the expense of consumers and workers alike. ... Because Venezuela has had a popular workers government over the course of the Bolivarian Revolution, prices for subsidized food and household products have been much lower than neighboring Colombia with which Venezuela shares a border of 1,378 miles. Much of this border is porous and hard to monitor. This combination of factors has caused gangs of 'Bachaqueros' to emerge, people who are willing to buy up the subsidized products and cross the border into Colombia where they increase the prices dramatically, but even still workers of Colombia are offered steep discounts from their own capitalist markets. While it is annoying and upsetting that many kids and adults alike will be extorted or made to simply do without the next best game console, the workers of Venezuela are forced to play the same game but with meat, vegetables, detergent, diapers, and other products. Do not believe the lies that it is the government interference that has caused shortages in the past, for if this was true, where are the products that end up in Colombia or on the black market coming from? Not only that, but production of agricultural products in Venezuela has increased dramatically since the 90's, as has the state budget allocation to food production, the amount of imports into the country, as well as the amount of foreign currency allocated by the state for importers. What we have been seeing the oligarchy do ever since Hugo Chavez was elected president, is unmasking the myth of the "invisible hand", an economic concept so asinine it is laughable. (/quote) -- Cont'd at https://popularresistance.org/the-invisible-hand-scarcity-venezuela-and-the-playstation-5/ |
| Message Thread:
|