When it was just that Wal-Mart and Target couldn't get "junk" toys for Christmas, I wasn't too worried. I didn't care that much, either, when fast fashion shops were having trouble getting pre-ripped jeggings in for teenagers to use for risking frostbite in the Minnesota winters. Who knows? It might have gotten people to learn to enjoy decent toys like those I grew up with, and perhaps there's even a tiny chance that young people would learn that the "fashionable" damage to jeans that construction workers and such show off is done "on the job", not "at the factory", and that pants without extra holes are generally warmer and more comfortable than those with those extra holes. On a real stretch, we might wonder whether people might remember how workers at Bangladeshi factories were given a sandblaster, but no eye and lung protection--yes, resulting in fatalities.
So in certain ways, I've viewed the supply chain crisis as something of a good thing....well, until very recently, when the local liquor store didn't have any of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau. OK, so NOW the supply chain crisis is for real!
Seriously, we might remember that historically, trade is supposed to be for the things that are difficult to make at home, and I would hope that we would remember after this debacle that maybe, just maybe, long supply chains for necessary products are a bad idea when we can avoid them.
3 comments:
Oh, it's real now, huh? LOL.
It's very real. :p Everyone's going to feel a pinch, will it change things? I HOPE SO.
On the fun side, I work supply chain--and the extent of problem suggests to me that we've got a much bigger problem with COVID in Asia than people are letting on. That noted, I simply hadn't been that worried about the issues in my personal shopping because, well, I wasn't looking for a lot of the things like bicycles and consumer electronics that were shortest in supply. It's shocking, though, to see how empty car lots are. (and bike shops, and wine selections)
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