Economics and life itself, shouldn't be that hard to deal with yet we get ourselves in situations where in most cases when we end up undermining our own existence and even others; Some sort of chaos that rebounds over and over again, indefinitely.
With the emergence of the aforementioned: Chaos, there are winners and losers, either individually, undividually, or in groups, even masses. For instance, the arrival of the Covid-19 virus has created chaos worldwide, still, in spite of that chaos: Who are, and who will be benefiting the most? Money is changing hands rapidly and we are in an unprecedent stage of our lives where every buying or selling decision, even if it's little, really matters!
Now, why do vices enter this equation? Or, What do vices have to do with chaos,money shifting hands, and global economic impact? Let's see!
Before starting I would like to clarify that this topic is not of my expertice. I'm just a lad giving his take as self-reasoning about something that in my humble opinion is quite interesting and even could be helpful in our daily spending.
What is a vice?
In my own words, a vice is the slavement of an individual towards something in particular. Basically we give ourselves in utterly and drastically upon something material or non material. Vices such as smoking, drug abuse, gambling, alcoholism, over eating, are very common and they not only damage ourselves but even our loved ones and the world itself. Having vices in our lives do create chaos thus they can create an effect in the the real existence, with many consequenses regarding several aspects; Among them is economics, for there is a huge market covering, feeding, embracing, and taking advantage of what most of the time ends up becoming a Need (vice)
Are vices a Need? Or Do we turn vices into Needs?
Objectively speaking, a vice is a vice, that simple, but there are many situations in real life that we must take into account.
Firstly let's see what are humans' needs overall, what do we basically need in order to survive. Let us disclose some of our most basic needs:
- Food
- Water
- Electricity
- Gas
- Shelter
- Education
- Healthcare
Among others...
Now, these are basic needs every country or goverment system should suffice in order to keep the population "Happy", that should be working towards individual or collective progress instead of preocupying about the aforementioned needs. If you live in a country that provides you publicly por privately good services, you should consider yourself a lucky one.
When all these basic needs don't satisfy people's agenda. Chaos, again, start to take over thus changing all the people that are dependant of decent services. Their lives change in ways you can't imagine. I'm just going to input my take, just concerning about the economic impact the lack of a need can do upon individuals and masses.
Let's take for instance the Venezuelan situation, especifically where I live. We have been receiving water service only during weekends, two hours on daily basis, again just on weekends (Saturday, Sunday) that means the rest of the week we lack the service. In my house we have a plethora of gallons of old plastic soda bottles plus some big drums of water to satisfy our needs. Now, getting to economics, it's pretty clear this chaos created by the lack of water surely has made the need, actually more than a need, a necessity. Thus the prices of clean water skyrocketed and few pockets are filling their depth thanks to this situation. Same with electricity; The increase of sales of power plants have risen as their price becuase the chaos created by bad management of the goverment because they haven't provided what they promised. But why should we believe in promised fantasieñ and not taking things by our hands? That's for another topic.
Now if we use this example in crypto, economics for instance, we could infere that most crypto projects do have to create some sort of need so users can be dependent on their projects, and ultimately rely on them and even invest. If there's no need they surely create one yet is that need? A real need?
Here is where vices make their entrance, let's see this example: A person that doesn't always gamble, who enjoys playing occasionally, having a blast at the Poker or Black Jack tables. That we can call it a "luxury" more if you don't lack the basic needs we previously mentioned, but what then, what if that person ends up gambling more, and more? That my friends is a viced person, that individual really badly needs to gamble. Again, he needs it, but is it really a need? That's when vices become a need to the accounting sheet generating in the process a type of chaos or even an economic distortion (vaguely speaking) because that money the gambling business is taking out of their pockets, could've been spent in other things with more valor, like a new washing machine to replace the old one, having a date with your wife and kids, and that way you'll be feeding up another industry, maybe one that helps like fixing your own House or by supporting the ardous work of your favorite restaurant.
Same can be said about smoking or drugs, people usually start using them for fun, or just to fit, and they end up slaving themselves, turning themselves into those vices, thus converting them to a de-facto need, so needy that even though they may be in situations where the basic needs are missing, they still would put any vice over any need, REAL NEEDS!
What are the economic consequences vices may bring?
The disgrace of others is the happiness of a few, industries like tobacco, casinos, sports books, the drug industry, are pristinely profiting from weaker minds, yeah, weaker minds because in the end we are the ones who choose what to consume and what to get rid of and at what price (buying and selling) so a cocaine addict is an easy prey for someone who wants to sell it at a higher price, had cocaine ran out of market, heck, way overpriced. Same can be applied with a person with soda addiction. Let's imaginé Soda is somehow scarce; I'm pretty much sure that soda lovers would pay a higher price to get what they "need" yet again, do they need it? Do we need it?
Are cryptocurrencies a vice or a need?
Speaking of my experience and the country I live, I guess that crypto has become more than a need. It's actually part of our everyday life and It has proven to be a money safe haven in times where the traditional financial system prints money unprecedently, that doesn't mean everyone is a good actor so we must be wise in what crypto projects we decide to invest in. Don't fool yourself by the necessity most crypto projects offer, in the end they want the same which is to market their project and exit when other believers get in, instead of improving the damn thing just like the good people of Hive are doing.
Not all is pink and roses though. Cryptocurrencies certainly can be a vice, and a very expensive one. Given crypto's nature and volatility, we could say that this is some sort of gambling, especially for traders that have fell shorter on shorts. Cryptogames can be loving at first but one can surely get addicted to them, thus living other things that are far more important behind.
This is an interesting which I'll be dwelling un the future and hopefully blog about it.
In the end is a free market and everyone is entitled to spend their wealth (little or much) as they please. But always remember:
What you do in life
echoes in eternity"