Toilet paper hoarding and inequality - what do they have to do with each other? During the CoVID-19 pandemic we saw lots of hoarding. People were buying not just toilet paper, but also hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies in volumes that were hard to imagine anyone being able to use in a reasonable amount of time. Of course, we then saw secondary markets arise, whereby people were selling these items with highly inflated prices. So what’s the big deal? Well, as researchers discovered, the amount of hoarding of these supplies, including food, was highest among the wealthiest people. Therefore, the elderly who were on fixed incomes, and also the most vulnerable to becoming ill, were least likely to have the resources or awareness that they needed to stockpile. Of course, by the time they realized that they actually needed some cleaning supplies and toilet paper, it was too late, as all the hoarders had purchased everything they could buy. 

Why is this bad? Because it shows us what will happen when “shit hits the fan.” Every man for himself. The wealthy will be fine, and the poor and elderly will perish...too bad for them. This is not a world that I particularly like. Are we honestly telling people that if you don’t make lots of money then you don’t deserve to live? Are children worthless because they don’t make money? Isn’t there something else in the world that’s valuable besides money itself? 

Peering further into the mind’s of these hoarders, however, one sees fear as the root of the behavior. Fear of not having enough. Fear of someone else buying it up before them. Fear of having to ask a friend for help, or being without something for a few days. If we all let fear consume us during these crises, the whole system, economy, and country would disintegrate within a matter of days. We need to stay calm and live in the moment. 

When we were living in the rainforests of Africa, we hardly planned years in advance, or even months. Most likely, there was some mild planning for building structures, communal meals, hunting etc. But on the whole, most of us lived in the present moment. Yet once we began growing grain, and crops, the hoarding began. What if the weather wasn’t good and we needed grain to get through the winter? The person who saved the most would have the most control over the people. Instead of enjoying the moment, we began living in anxiety about the future. It started to separate those that were happy and spontaneous from those that constantly planned and strategized for the future. By letting fear grip us, it forces others to follow suit. It forces people who aren’t fearful to start hoarding as well, because the person next to them just bought an entire shopping cart full of toilet paper. There isn’t enough of anything for everyone in the world to have a year’s supply. It doesn’t work that way. We know this. Yet, fear is illogical, and once it grips you tightly, it’s hard to let go. 

We need to fight the fear, and live in the moment. Toilet paper will be made continually...the virus didn’t shut down production. Just calm down, and in time there will be plenty. But in the meantime, please don’t become a middleman of toilet paper just to churn a buck or two because you feel that you need a year’s supply. This is insanity. A global economy cannot operate on insanity. It needs a bit of self-control if we’re going to get through this safely and effectively. 

This leads me ultimately to luxury goods. I see the wealthy people who want their third and fourth home, as hoarding resources. If everyone in the world had 4 homes, we’d have such rampant global warming that the earth would be on fire. We’d have too little space left for those of us that wanted to live. We can’t just think about ourselves and what’s convenient for us. We need to consider that we share this planet with 7 billion other people, and consider how our actions not only  immediately affect us, but affect others now, and in the future.

Let’s decide to push away from fear in the face of crises, and instead pull together. Let’s cooperate, consider, empathize, and help each other. Hoarding is selfishness driven out of fear. Luxury items are selfishness driven out of fear. Every human deserves to live, and once we have enough, let’s leave some left over for others. It’s the only way that we’re going to survive as an intact species.