Get Your Politics Out of My Face

Look at me, contradicting myself again…  Just a couple of days ago, I was complaining about how Trickle-Down Economics is unnecessary in the current economic climate.  We need some restrictions and roadblocks.  But at the same time, restrictions can be as annoying as a mime chasing you around for revenue.

However, I will be biased here.  I will be using non-economic policies but you can get the picture.  BBC published an article titled “Why are petrol prices spiking in North Korea?”  Don’t worry.  It’s not a rhetorical question.  The article answers the question posed.  China, under pressure from Trump’s America, has been considering a halt of all crude oil sales to North Korea.  Although these are rumors, it has already made an impact.  Crude oil is now considered a scarce and sacred good in North Korea.  Sooner or later, they will worship crude oil more than Kim Jong-Un and he won’t like that but fat dictators aren’t as hard to find.

We can all praise China or criticize them depending on what our goals are but think about the innocent North Koreans for a second.  There are just good innocent people in the country looking to fill up their empty gas tanks but they can’t because of political fist-fighting.

Urgh…  Don’t we all get that feeling when politics threaten our daily lives?  “Hey, political parties, stop fighting over healthcare.  Let’s just all agree that Grey’s Anatomy is boring and repetitive now.”  Just so you know, I’m not saying China is wrong but it’s affecting shoppers in North Korea, right?  Shoppers who can’t say anything too I might add!

Sometimes, you can understand the purpose of the policies implemented.  However, they still piss you off as a shopper.  The U.S. government bans Kinder Eggs as a choking hazard.  That repels away any Kinder Egg enthusiasts from going to the US, among other things…  Ahem, Trump, ahem, Alt-Right, ahem, guns…  As such, shoppers are forced to change their spending behavior due to politics.  When they said politics is everywhere now, they sure weren’t kidding.

Another example can be found in another BBC article titled “Emirates to Cut US Flights After Trump Travel Restrictions”.  Due to the instability and insanity going on in the U.S., there was weaker demand for US travel.  Who could blame them?  The United States took extra measures to make the country less desirable for residents in that side of the world, like banning electronic devices larger than a mobile phone from cabin luggage.  Rational or not, it’s something I do to make sure my friends don’t want to come to my pig sty.

Basically, balance should be achieved.  You cannot be too lax on policies and you cannot implement too many.  And I mean that from a shopper’s perspective.  There are also other factors like health, security and whatnot.  But if the objective is to create an environment where shoppers are free to roam, then you need a balance.  You know what shouldn’t be free to roam?  Mimes chasing us for tips…