Do you think poor people spend their lives wisely?
No, they tend to spend their money more lavishly than the average person.
Abhijit tells the story of Parker.
Parker was a farmer in Indonesia who was too frail to work for money and spent years in abject poverty.
But when Abhijit came to Parker's house, he was surprised to find it filled with all sorts of items: televisions, DVDs, cell phones, as well as tea, coffee and sugar ......
These expensive household items were in stark contrast to his distressed life.
People like Parker are not uncommon in the slums.
In order to buy a 62-inch TV, they risk being swept off their feet if they fall behind on their rent;
For a good lobster meal, they prefer to eat instant noodles every day for the next 29 days;
For a bottle of wrinkle-removing face cream, they can tolerate having their heating shut off in the cold winter because of unpaid gas bills.
No matter how much they are persuaded, the poor still run to shop as soon as they have a little money.
Unable to control their hedonistic desires and lacking the stamina for delayed gratification, they fall into the traps designed by the producers.
Some time ago, 520, shopping malls made a lot of money, florists are busy, but the holiday has just passed, the trash cans are full of discarded gifts, flowers, dolls, lipstick, perfume ......
Life, such a "trash can trap" is ubiquitous.
Have you ever found that no matter what holiday is now being marketed by merchants as a shopping festival, brushing the short video of the effort to unknowingly order a number of goods, thought to take advantage of the double eleven to pick up a leakage, but in the order to get together and then add a few more unplanned purchases.
There is a point in Making Consumers: A Global History of Consumerism that consumption is artificially created.
Capital is best at three things: 1) creating demand out of thin air; 2) dividing the social hierarchy with consumer goods; and 3) trying to speed up the rate at which you consume.
The first cup of milk tea in the fall, a trip you owe yourself, a once-in-a-lifetime luxury wedding ......
Producers are trying to find ways to empty your wallet, when you follow the trend of consumption crazy chopping without realizing it, it is the beginning of your journey to poverty.