Its been said that a fool is defined as one who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. Philosophical minutae aside it is indeed fascinating to see what people will pay for certain product or service in context of their circumstance. Clearly circumstances at time of purchase are a key determining factor in transaction completion.
They can be attributed to -
1. Net worth of an individual
2. Disposable funds available at time of decision making
3. Competitive standing within society (Jones or Li or Phadke or Gupta phenom depending on your continent)
4. Ignorance (of the buyer that is about to transact about the product or the actual transaction in question)
5. Influence (of the very society that he or she wants to transact in)
Lets focus on items 4 and 5. We know that there is no point in discussing 1 or 2 since there is a debate on whether anyone is worth anything these days and besides the government is giving it away at 0% so go forth and froth. 3 is for another day another blog.
What happens often is that Marketing machinery of the tout takes all available vacuum created by the total ignorance amidst the populace as a whole to whom the product is being sold. The more the ignorance at the individual level the better the success for the marketeer. Then again it depends on the mindset of the marketeer as to whether to go for the single large kill or attempt to drain the ignoramus over a period of time thereby creating an annuity income for themselves.
Wonderful examples of brainwashed consumers stateside and more increasingly outside of the states are showing signs of fatigue against the onslaught of the marketing machine. They are both tuning out but also getting sucked into the whirlpool created by gems like planned obsolescence and supplementing their existence with doses of ubiquitous chemicals.
American media largely runs promotional campaigns on three distinct types of commodities trying to outsmart the other...
1. Automobiles - from high gas mileage to state of the art consonant combinations (RDX to QX to SkyACTIV) there sure is a lot of hot air blowing from the pipes;
2. Drugs - as in pharma - from ones to assist with memory loss (or prevention I think) to erectile malfunction to vision impairment clearly these guys are not sure what letter of the alphabet is yet to be explored to sell a new pill before you go crazy or can fall asleep (no worry we have a pill for lunatic sleepwalkers too - Lunesta or some such);
3. Weight loss ideas - If you have gained too much weight as a side effect of consuming above mentioned pills and sitting in traffic in the QZX enabled gas sipping ride of yours we need to let you buy this uniquely formualted Swedish belt that vibrates each time you exhale and reduces your belly fat. If you order now we will send two so your car pool partner can also enjoy the weight loss phenom thereby further improving gas mileage and reducing the need for the memory loss pill since you will always have the belt on you. We make it easy. Price only $19.99.
You want to know the value of this monologue to the next OTC med consuming CTX driving BP watching and Texting goofball? Priceless!
On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...
ha, ha, the e. malfunction cure is one which 50% of the population will easily fall for..therefore it's sheer genius!
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