General / Off-Topic GET WELL SOON!

Self pity and finger pointing to avoid responsibility. Let me set you straight: if you gradually started bulking up months ago it wouldn't have impacted the bare store shelves phenomenon we're seeing now. Bitterness, recriminations and self pity aren't going to help you at all old friend, they're an unpleasant and unhelpful aspect of an entitlement society that could very well be disappearing forever. Your attitude and outlook are going to be more important than what's in your pantry in the final accounting.

No doubt you'll only perceive an insult here but I hope that isn't the case. It's tough love, and the sooner everyone gets that message through their heads the sooner they'll actually be prepared for what is bearing down on us.
Again. you are talking out of your bottom, when it comes to the poor. Stock up, put a little bit by, save. All of those words and ideas, are a joke for those living from hand to mouth. For those people, old and young alike, who live on the bread line, working out how to get money on the electric meter, or what they can afford to eat tomorrow are serious issues. Until you have been there, month after month; you can have no idea of the struggle involved.

Self-pity and finger pointing and avoiding responsibility, are fine statements to make. When talking about those with enough, or those in charge and maybe even fitting, for the welfare dependents, that you hate so much. But to label pensioners, that have worked hard all their lives, or the millions, working on '0' hours contracts, is just out of order and as always, out of touch. Yes you have worked hard to achieve what you have. Yes you have 'the means' to put by, to plan ahead and to be ready, for such events. You are telling us, this all of the time and long before the latest 'we are all doomed' crises arose. Others however. Have to do the best, with what they have now and if that means, getting up early, to be at the store as they open, then that is what they will have to do. It would be nice idea that, while they are there, they 'stock up' and buy a few bags of rice, but unfortunately, one bag, is all they can afford.

Rant over, people are so stupid; but I guess that that is the human race in general and we should expect no less, from them. However: When someone looks down, from their warm carriage and wonders, why don't they just have cake, instead of the daily bread, they cannot find. The stones will fly and no amount of guns, or walls and other defenses, will save them.
 
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A third of Americans have no savings or surplus of any kind and at least one-in-six have a negative net worth. For many of these people the choice between buying a little extra to stockpile for some vague future possibility, or making ends meet in the here and now, is no choice at all...neglect the latter in favor of the former and one may end up having to carry their pantry with them on to the streets.

In hindsight, I'm sure there are a lot of things a lot of people could have done differently, but that's not of much practical use for them now.
True. And our own government doesn't make it easy for them either. For example, I've noticed that WIC forces those on it to buy the smaller sizes, when it would be more economical for them to buy the same item in bulk.

But then again, I see people shopping at work who look like they can't afford new clothes buy a new 50" 4K TV and the smallest pack of toilet paper, when I know that the 30 pack of the exact same brand and type is on sale for just $2 more. When I was in their position, I shopped thrift stores and got most of my entertainment at the library, which was free, so I could scrape enough money to invest in my future, and eventually buy luxuries.
 
The idea is that you start when there is no emergency in sight, not when its riding at full gallop towards your doorstep.

All well and good for those of us fortunate enough to be in a position where emergencies are few and far between, but for those 40+ million people in the US (and upwards of a billion globally) for whom basic existence is a perpetual emergency, or one step from one, it's impractical, if not outright fantasy.

But then again, I see people shopping at work who look like they can't afford new clothes buy a new 50" 4K TV and the smallest pack of toilet paper, when I know that the 30 pack of the exact same brand and type is on sale for just $2 more. When I was in their position, I shopped thrift stores and got most of my entertainment at the library, which was free, so I could scrape enough money to invest in my future, and eventually buy luxuries.

No doubt there are those that squander what they have while they have it, but there are plenty more who never had anything to squander.
 
^^^
This.

Having a safety stock of the basics isn't expensive, as long as you build it up a little at a time. Keep an eye on sales and coupons, buy in bulk, and replenish before you run out. Once you've got a months' supply on hand, or however much you feel safe with, then you can start buying at replenishment rates.
Sales and coupons, are what many many people, have to use to just get by, day to day. One local sport here, is waiting for the reached sell by date items, to be reduced.
 
Im surprised he found the time to stock up on anything given he seems to spend a lot of time thinking and ranting about teenage environmentalists.
Actually, jasonbaron was the first person on this forum weeks ago urging people to begin stocking up. And you know what happened? People with the same outlook as red jumped all over me as a prepper who was harmful to society.

Sure guys. We had no warning, and you have to be rich to buy a bag of rice to supplement your normal shopping.
 
Actually, jasonbaron was the first person on this forum weeks ago urging people to begin stocking up. And you know what happened? People with the same outlook as red jumped all over me as a prepper who was harmful to society.

Sure guys. We had no warning, and you have to be rich to buy a bag of rice to supplement your normal shopping.
Again. OUT OF TOUCH and now flippant. One stupid word. Supplement. No, the bag of rise, 'is' the shopping. Not supplementing it.
 
All well and good for those of us fortunate enough to be in a position where emergencies are few and far between, but for those 40+ million people in the US (and upwards of a billion globally) for whom basic existence is a perpetual emergency, or one step from one, it's impractical, if not outright fantasy.



No doubt there are those that squander what they have while they have it, but there are plenty more who never had anything to squander.
Again true.

But what I wrote really wasn't intended for them, but to the kind of person who has enough disposable income to buy computers, high-speed internet, video games like Elite: Dangerous, and sufficient idle time to post on their online forums.

Solving institutional poverty is another matter entirely.
 
I've had an update from a friend in France - which is running about a week ahead of the UK. He says that now the panic buying has passed the supermarkets are back to being well stocked.

There never was any shortage of everyday basics, except the one 'we created for ourselves', so I'm predicting a toilet paper glut in about 3 weeks as supermarket stocks remain untouched.
 
Again. OUT OF TOUCH and now flippant. One stupid word. Supplement. No, the bag of rise, 'is' the shopping. Not supplementing it.
No, I'm completely in touch. I pay tons in taxes much of which goes to supporting those who can't or won't work. Further, about a third of my business involves remodeling government subsidized (see above comment re my high taxes) apartment complexes where I spend weeks at a time defying death and gravity working on these buildings and observe the all to common denominator of the same people day after day emerging from their apartments just to suck down a smoke (the butt of which ends up without fail on the lawn) and yell some more at their kids, but not go to work themselves. Spare me the romanticized lectures.

And I'm pretty sure red wasn't saying he was in that income bracket anyway, so you're utterly missing the point of our exchange on top of being uninformed about the above issue.
 
the question is... who is stupid enough to buy toilet roll for £27.80? 17 people apparently... (just on that one listing!)

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the simple solution is not buying it, therefore there isn't a market for these people to flog it and they will be left with spare rooms such as this;

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There's some selfish people in the world, i have no idea where they are hoarding all the fresh produce, but ultimately once peoples freezers are at capacity shops will be full again.

I hate to think what Covid-19 will do to the worlds food waste because of these people hoarding food they cant actually consume in time.

Funny you should mention that, my tanker driver this morning was telling me about a delivery he did to a site recently where the shop adjacent to the site had marked up the little bottles of hand sanitiser to £19.99, once the locals found out and started talking about it he's done no trade in over a week.
 
No, I'm completely in touch. I pay tons in taxes much of which goes to supporting those who can't or won't work. Further, about a third of my business involves remodeling government subsidized (see above comment re my high taxes) apartment complexes where I spend weeks at a time defying death and gravity working on these buildings and observe the all to common denominator of the same people day after day emerging from their apartments just to suck down a smoke (the butt of which ends up without fail on the lawn) and yell some more at their kids, but not go to work themselves. Spare me the romanticized lectures.

And I'm pretty sure red wasn't saying he was in that income bracket anyway, so you're utterly missing the point of our exchange on top of being uninformed about the above issue.
Once again, we get your normal rant. About how you're working your fingers to the bone, just to fund all those scroungers and their happy lives. Not sure how many times we have heard this from you, but it is few, over the years and each and every time, you fail to get the point. Agreed: Yes there are benefit scroungers and yes, no doubt, some of your 'high taxes' fund them, but we, (including red) are not talking about that minority. We are talking about the millions, of pensioners and genuine hard working poor. All tax payers and have just as much, if not a greater relative tax burden, as you do.

Your taxes contribute very little to the welfare system. You pay far more towards, the expense accounts, of politicians, lawyers and the pockets, of the 1,000s of parasites, living very comfortably, off of the public purse.
 
Once again, we get your normal rant. About how you're working your fingers to the bone, just to fund all those scroungers and their happy lives. Not sure how many times we have heard this from you, but it is few, over the years and each and every time, you fail to get the point. Agreed: Yes there are benefit scroungers and yes, no doubt, some of your 'high taxes' fund them, but we, (including red) are not talking about that minority. We are talking about the millions, of pensioners and genuine hard working poor. All tax payers and have just as much, if not a greater relative tax burden, as you do.

Your taxes contribute very little to the welfare system. You pay far more towards, the expense accounts, of politicians, lawyers and the pockets, of the 1,000s of parasites, living very comfortably, off of the public purse.
Breaking news: people are disagreeing about things on the Internet!
 
Funny you should mention that, my tanker driver this morning was telling me about a delivery he did to a site recently where the shop adjacent to the site had marked up the little bottles of hand sanitiser to £19.99, once the locals found out and started talking about it he's done no trade in over a week.
During the fuel blockades in the UK some stations hiked up the prices massively, everyone bought there while there was a shortage. Once the blockade was over they went out of business
 
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Your taxes contribute very little to the welfare system. You pay far more towards, the expense accounts, of politicians, lawyers and the pockets, of the 1,000s of parasites, living very comfortably, off of the public purse.

Much individual taxation, especially in the form of payroll taxes, in the US goes toward compensating for revenue lost to decreasing corporate taxes (which is currently less than half of what it was in the 1970s), ultimately subsidizing businesses and the wealthy at the expense of the middle and working classes. Wealth flows up, trickles down.

The idea that poor people, or the virtually non-existent US welfare state, are responsible for any of America's hardships is patently false, but remains a widely held fallacy...blaming the disenfranchised is easier than blaming what one aspires to be.
 
You're utterly trashing my life experiences and world view point. If you don't like flippancy, would you prefer brutal honesty? Pretty sure that wouldn't be within forum policy:)
No I am not.

You stated: People were fools for not 'stocking up' or preparing for this event. I said, some cannot afford to do such things. These are facts. There are many many people, in the developed world, that live below the poverty line. This has nothing to do with you, the way you live your life, the hard work and success you have made, to be able to pay the massive amount of taxes, we all hear about you paying. These people are out side your own sphere, you own nice cozy bubble, but this does not give you the right, to ridicule and blame, them for their own unfortunate circumstances.

If you don't get it, you don't get it. This is not your fault, but how you react to it, dismiss it and even, pour on the scorn, is down to you.
 
No I am not.

You stated: People were fools for not 'stocking up' or preparing for this event. I said, some cannot afford to do such things. These are facts. There are many many people, in the developed world, that live below the poverty line. This has nothing to do with you, the way you live your life, the hard work and success you have made, to be able to pay the massive amount of taxes, we all hear about you paying. These people are out side your own sphere, you own nice cozy bubble, but this does not give you the right, to ridicule and blame, them for their own unfortunate circumstances.

If you don't get it, you don't get it. This is not your fault, but how you react to it, dismiss it and even, pour on the scorn, is down to you.
I never said "people are fools." I asked a reasonable question about personal responsibility where it intersects with preparedness and was told to "screw myself."

No harm done; I got my answer, even if I need to read between the lines to interpret it.
 
I never said "people are fools." I asked a reasonable question about personal responsibility where it intersects with preparedness and was told to "screw myself."

No harm done; I got my answer, even if I need to read between the lines to interpret it.
"Self pity and finger pointing to avoid responsibility." Ok, you did not call them foolish.
 
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