Memories of the 28th Century

Yesterday afternoon, I had an interesting conversation with a recent college graduate. I was surprised that he didn’t realize that marketing fluff had taken him in as much as it had. It all started because his so-called “smart phone” wasn’t working, but my cheap flip-phone was, so I told him the time, and he and I were waiting for the same bus (which was disgustingly late and, even worse, we got on the wrong bus, but that’s another story.)

I mentioned that it was not surprising that his phone’s battery had died, since was trying to do too much. He defended it. As if he had invented it, but he had no counterpoint for it being overpriced, and that most of the features aren’t very good. When compared with a low-end laptop, but apparently he didn’t realized that laptops start between $300 and 400. I just checked that and discovered that laptops start under $300, so maybe I should replace mine.
That led into a discussion of inflation, and he certainly hadn’t studied economics, and he seemed to be surprised at how much inflation there has been. Apparently, the policy of the U.S. government to reduce the value of the dollar hasn’t entered general knowledge, even though it has been policy for more than 100 years. When the U.S. converted to a debt based fiscal system in the late 1800’s, the Treasury Department started pushing up inflation, so that they could sell bonds at one price and pay them off thirty years later with dollars that were worth half as much; thus redeeming for half the cost of the sale, and the two and a half percent inflation rate that is the target rate does that quite nicely. I have written about inflation enough, so I won't go on.

The other part of marketting that costs many people a lot is brand discrimination. Some people think one brand is better than others. I just bought some denims, so I thought about that matter briefly. Most denim used in the U.S.A. is woven by Cone Denim Mills Corp. of Greensboro, NC. In the past, there were many companies that made denim, and there were real differences among the denim pants available, but these days the big difference is in the name of the brand. Knowing that, I went for the lowest price. Some people must have one brand or another, but that is a matter of which brand has better advertising. And the name and advertising is what gets people to buy iphones. Apple has been trying to make people desire their overpriced products since the 1980's, and I have avoided their over hyped and priced products that long, also. Whether it's a matter of denim, phones, or whatever, try to find the features that you want at the lowest possible price. And do the same with politicians it might be a good idea to do the same. Over hyped and over priced politicians don't usually do what voters need or want.

I bought Wranglers that were under $20, instead of Levis for twicethat. Women can waste more than a hundred dollars on jeans, still, but the prices for men's jeans has fallen. And I have a fifty dollar phone that does what I want, considerable savings over an iPhone. It may be partly a matter of some people wanting to show off how rich they are, rather than looking for what will best suit their needs.

The same principle is true for politicians. I want the ones who will run the government with fairness toward all and enforce laws well. If they find that some criminal laws catch only certain groups, thenmaybe the laws should be rewritten. Someone who rewrites tax laws so they give him, or her, advantages shouldn't be writing tax laws. I don't support many politicians, because most of themwant to give things to domr people. The purpose of government is not to give things to some people; it is to provide a situation in which people can live as they wish without laws getting in the way, as long as they do not harm or attack others.

You can add other examples of marketing hype from your own experience. I just remembered that in U.S. law marketting lies are called "fluff", and they are legal. That's something that politicians should consider.