A few days ago I was sitting where I am currently sitting, at my computer. My daughter was taking her nap and in front of me, in the same room, my wife was watching one of her shows. It's no secret that she watches garbage TV, and she knows it. But I try not to give her a hard time about it because being a stay at home mom is not only a tough job, it's unpaid and credit rarely is given, so she deserves to zone out and enjoy whatever crap she deems entertaining enough to watch.
This specific day, it happened to be a show on FOX called 911. 99% of the time my ears completely zone out what the TV is saying because like I said, it's garbage. Straight trash. But this day was different. My subconscious heard the term 'price gouging' and I immediately started to pay attention. Where was this show going to go with this? It didn't take long to find out. Take a few minutes and watch this clip I was able to find from this specific part.
I couldn't find the full version, where Athena goes on to threaten the bodega owner with jail time if he doesn't discount all of his goods to 50% off. Insanity. Ludicrous. I don't know how else to describe it. Talk about propaganda. I was a little surprised it was coming from FOX, and not a more liberal outlet like NBC or CBS, but nothing really surprises me anymore when it comes to information peddled by the MSM.
I really enjoy the work done by John Stossel, coincidentally he recently did a short video on the subject of price gouging. Take a few minutes and watch it, it's worth your time.
My favorite part of his whole video is of a young girl who states that 'price gouging' is really just another term for supply & demand. Which is so true. The well prepared people on the coast don't care what the prices are when a hurricane comes, because like a squirrel putting away nuts before winter, they are prepared for the inevitable.
The bodega owner is 100% correct in his assertion, if the demand is super high (like it is during a hurricane) and his prices don't reflect the demand, a few people will buy up ALL of the items leaving none behind for anyone else. A rise in prices in accordance with the demand ensures that most people will be able to get the items they need. It also is an incentive to people not living by the hurricane to bring in supplies that are low in supply and high in demand, like water and generators.
The sad and unfortunate part of this episode, is that a bunch of people, unwilling to do their own research, will take this episode as fact. They will repeat these same lines to friends the next day at the water cooler. They will loudly applaud the officer for threatening a man with violence if he doesn't do what she wants. They will share memes depicting price gougers as evil doers. They will ruin a good Thanksgiving dinner by getting into an argument with another family member who actually has done the research.
The propaganda is strong in this country. It's on you to decipher fact from fiction, and the fastest and easiest way to do that it to turn off your TV. Do your own research and stop letting the media tell you what's good or bad. In summary, think for yourself.
Thanks for reading and Steem on! Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Have a wonderful day.